How to add text to an image so it stays readable
The most common mistake is text that disappears into the photo. Readability comes down to contrast between the letters and whatever is behind them.
- Look for calm space: sky, a wall, a table top. Put the text there with top, center or bottom.
- Use white on dark or busy photos and black on bright ones. Colored text works best on plain backgrounds.
- Keep it short. Up to about six words at a large size reads better than a sentence at a small one, and long lines can run past the edges of narrow images.
- Bump the size for phones. Text that looks big on a laptop is often tiny in a feed.
Font size guide for text on photos
Size is in pixels, so it depends on the image. These starting points work for common sizes.
| Image | Caption or credit | Title or headline |
|---|---|---|
| 1080 × 1080 (Instagram post) | 28–36 px | 60–80 px |
| 1080 × 1920 (story) | 36–44 px | 72–96 px |
| 1920 × 1080 (slide, YouTube) | 28–36 px | 72–96 px |
| Phone photo (3000+ px wide) | 72–96 px | Use the meme or poster tools |
Text overlay, meme or watermark?
PicX has three tools that put text on images, each tuned for its job. Use this one to add text to a photo anywhere you like, in any of six colors. Use the meme generator for the classic top and bottom caption. Use the watermark maker for a soft, semi-transparent © or @handle that marks the photo as yours without dominating it.
Need two lines in different places, like a title at the top and a credit at the bottom? Add the first line, download, upload the result and add the second. Or open the photo editor, which stacks several text edits on one photo and lets you undo any of them.
