Type Tool in Photoshop 5.5
Adobe made significant changes to the Type Tool in Photoshop 5.0. This version adds little, but it does kill a few type display bugs, especially in the PC version. Here are some tips on using this tool for Web site design.
Instant Editing
If your design layout has the same text that will be used in the final HTML page, you can update and alter the text on the fly, as long as the file isn't saved as a bitmap graphic. This feature saves a lot of time, especially when you're presenting to clients who keep making changes but who want to see a design layout that accurately reflects what the end product will look like on the Web.
Accurate Typesetting
Utilizing the Type Tool's powerful kerning, leading, and sizing parameters, Photoshop can easily represent HTML text. For instance, Photoshop's size 11 in Arial is comparable to the HTML font size of 1. This feature will help designers create layouts that accurately reflect how HTML text appears in a browser.
If you want to be even more precise, you can also address cross-browser and cross-platform issues. With the use of Cascading Style Sheets on the rise and the 4.0 browser community growing, an HTML font size standard to consider is pixel units, rather than point units. Pixel units are supported across browsers and computer platforms, but they can only be manipulated in CSS--and in the Type Tool for Photoshop.
To change the size units from point to pixel:
Applying Dynamic Effects
Dynamic effects provide quick ways to apply drop shadows, bevels, and glow to text. These effects can provide attractive details to graphic titles and typography. We recommend that you use dynamic effects sparingly, since it's very easy to get carried away and compromise the integrity of design and legibility of the text. Further, we recommend using dynamic effects only on display or title text, since some results will make copy text unreadable.
To use dynamic effects, text must already be generated in a layer:
To remove an effect, right-click on the small effects icon in the layer and select Clear Effects; Mac users, hold down the Option key while double-clicking.