Place an image or photo inside text in Adobe Photoshop!

Published on January 17, 2022

Image or photo inside text

I’ll show you a very fast and simple method to place an image or photo inside a text in Adobe Photoshop.

If you want to download the image I used, click here. Now, let’s get started!

Step 1: Type text

Create a new file (it doesn’t matter what size your file is). Select the horizontal type tool and pick a font you like. It’s best to pick a bold and thick font, this way you can clearly see the photo or image once it’s inside of your text.

Type your text. It doesn’t matter which color you use, as long as it’s different than the background color (otherwise you obviously can’t see your text). Change the leading to place the sentences closer together. To place the letters closer together, adjust the tracking.

Select the move tool and press CTRL+T to free transform. You can resize your text and pick the correct placement.

Step 2: Image or photo inside text

Now open the photo or image that you want to place inside of your text. Select the move tool and drag your image/photo to the file you’re working on. Place it over your text, make sure it completely covers the text. To change the size of the image, press CTRL+T (with the move tool selected) to activate free transform.

Select your photo/image layer. This layer should be directly above the text layer. Navigate to ‘Layer > Create clipping mask‘ or press ALT+CTRL+G to create a clipping mask. Your layer panel should now look similar to the one below. As you can see, there’s an arrow next to layer 1. This means that the image is now only visible inside your text.

You can still resize the image inside your text. Select your photo/image layer, then select the move tool and press CTRL+T. You can now adjust the size (and placement) of the image, without changing or moving your text.

If you want to flip or rotate your image, right click on it (with free transform activated). Select one of the options. Again, this will only affect the image/photo inside of the text and not the text itself.