7 Practical Ways to Add Text to a Photo (With Settings)

Text on a photo does far more than make memes. It turns a picture into an announcement, labels a screenshot for a how-to, records who and when on an old family photo, or puts a price on a product shot. Each job needs slightly different settings, mostly size, position and whether the text gets an outline. Here are seven practical uses, with settings you can copy into Emojar's Add Text to Image tool.

First, how text size works

The Size slider sets the font size as a percentage of the image's width, from 1% to 30%. The default of 8% gives:

• a 1080 px wide image: 0.08 × 1080 ≈ 86 px text
• a 4000 px wide photo: 0.08 × 4000 = 320 px text

So a setting that looks right on one photo looks proportionally the same on another. Keep in mind that a portrait photo is narrower than a landscape one, so the same percentage gives smaller text on a tall image.

1. Turn a photo into an event announcement

A photo of the venue or the band with "Open Mic Night / Friday 8 pm" across it makes a quick flyer for a group chat or notice board.

Settings: Sans-serif, Bold on, 8–12%, center position, Outline on. Press Enter in the Text box to put the date on its own line. The outline is black around light text (or white if you choose pure black text), which keeps letters readable on any part of the photo.

2. Label screenshots and how-to photos

Writing "Step 2" or "Click here" on a screenshot saves a paragraph of explanation.

Settings: Sans-serif or Monospace, 3–5%, top-left or top-right, outline on. Small text in a corner labels the image without covering the part you're explaining. For several screenshots, see use 6.

3. Caption old family photos

Scanned prints lose their context fast. A line such as "Grandma's 80th, Lisbon, 1994" along the bottom keeps the story with the picture wherever it's shared, because the text is part of the pixels, not a file name or a note that gets lost.

Settings: Serif, Bold off, 3–4%, bottom position, outline off. With the outline off, the tool adds a soft shadow behind the letters instead, which looks gentler on a portrait than a hard outline.

4. Make a quote card

A strong photo plus two or three lines of a quote is a staple for social posts and presentation slides.

Settings: Serif or Handwriting, 5–7%, center, a short line break every few words. If the middle of the photo is busy, move the quote to a calmer area with the top or bottom position rather than fighting the background. Keep Opacity at 100% here; faded quote text is hard to read on a phone.

5. Mark up a product photo

Selling a bike or a camera? "SOLD", "$120" or "Like new" on the listing photo grabs attention in a crowded marketplace.

Settings: Impact or bold Sans-serif, 10–15%, a corner position, and a Rotation of around −15° for a sticker-style look. Rotation goes from −90° to 90°, so you can also run a label vertically up the side of a tall photo.

6. Add the same line to a whole set

Upload several images at once and the same text, with the same settings, goes onto every one. Think "Project Alpha – draft" on a set of mockups, or a property address on every photo from a viewing. The preview shows the first image, and the download is a single ZIP named images-with-text.zip.

Settings: whatever suits the first image, but check that the position works for the others too. A bottom-right label that sits on a plain wall in one photo might land on someone's face in the next.

7. Stamp a draft or sample

To mark an image as "DRAFT" or "SAMPLE", switch on Repeat across the whole image (tiled). The text repeats in a staggered pattern, and if rotation is at 0° it switches to −30° automatically for the classic diagonal look. Use Spacing to control how dense the pattern is, and lower the opacity to around 25–40% so the image stays visible. If what you really want is a © credit line or a logo mark on a batch of photos, the Watermark Image tool starts with defaults tuned for that job: a small, semi-transparent credit in the bottom-right corner.

Quick settings table

Use	Font	Size	Position	Extras
Event announcement	Sans-serif, bold	8–12%	Center	Outline
Screenshot labels	Sans or Mono	3–5%	Top corner	Outline
Family caption	Serif	3–4%	Bottom	Shadow
Quote card	Serif	5–7%	Center	Line breaks
Product photo	Impact	10–15%	Corner	Rotate about −15°
Draft stamp	Sans-serif, bold	6–10%	Tiled	25–40% opacity

How to add text, step by step

1. Open Add Text to Image and choose an image, or several.
2. Type into Text. Each new line becomes a new line on the image.
3. Pick a Font and Colour, and toggle Bold and Outline.
4. Adjust Size, Opacity and Rotation, then click one of the nine squares under Position.
5. Click Download image, or Download N images (ZIP) for a batch.

Images are processed in your browser and never uploaded. PNG files stay PNG and WebP stays WebP; other formats are saved as JPG at 92% quality.

FAQ

Why did the Handwriting font turn into a plain one?

The tool uses fonts already installed on your device. Handwriting relies on Brush Script MT or Segoe Script, and if neither is installed, your browser substitutes its own cursive or default font. Try another device or pick a different style.

Can I drag the text to an exact spot?

No. Text snaps to one of nine positions with a small margin from the edge. Combine a position with rotation and line breaks to get close to the layout you want.

Why did my HEIC or GIF come back as a JPG?

Only PNG and WebP are written back in their own format. Everything else, including HEIC, GIF and BMP, is exported as a high-quality JPG so it opens everywhere.

Put your words on a picture with Add Text to Image.