The first type of basic element you can add to your graphic template is a "Text" element. Clicking on the text element icon will create a new layer within your graphic template. Once you click to add the text element, it will populate a text box in your graphic builder that you will be able to move freely around the graphic as well as make a new menu appear on the right sidebar where you can adjust color, font style, font size, animations, and more.
Before we dive into the formatting details, let's start on the left sidebar of the builder. Now that you have selected your "Text" element and it is in your builder, look under "Layers". We will walk through some ways to customize each layer.
- Double click to rename your layer. Carefully naming your layers is important because when you produce with your templates in Producer, you will edit your template based on the layer names.
- Click the 3 vertical dots on the right side to open additional options. On this dropdown you can:
- Lock or unlock the layer
- Check whether or not you want this layer to be editable. If this box is checked, you will be able to update or change the text within Tagboard Producer. If the box is unchecked, you will not be able to make any changes to the text layer in Tagboard Producer.
- Rename, duplicate, or delete the layer.
- Hide or unhide your layer with the eye icon.
Once you add a text layer, the individual layer will have a series of customization options on the right sidebar. Let's walk through those, from top to bottom:
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Position: Everything on your canvas works with a drag and drop workflow, or in the upper right corner you can set an exact X and Y axis.
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Size: Click to select the text box and drag the corners to adjust the border size, or set exact width and height.
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Snap To: Use this feature to snap your text to one of nine exact locations on the canvas (center, center-top, center-bottom, center-left, center-right, bottom-left, bottom-right, top-left, top-right)
- Nudge: Click to move the text layer one pixel at a time, to get exact placement.
You can hold shift + click on several layers to select multiple layers at once. If multiple layers are selected, you will see additional options in the right rail for size and placement:
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Align: You need to have at least two layers selected to use align. Align all selected layers (Left, Center, Right, Top, Middle, Bottom).
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Distribute: You need to have at least three layers selected to use distribute. This will allow you to make the horizontal or vertical spacing between selected layers even. Best practice of this is to first align the layers, and then distribute the spacing.
Text and Text Box Resizing
When creating a text box in a graphic template, you will see the following options.
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Autosize Text Box: The width and height of the text box would grow to fit the text within.
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Fixed Size Text Box: The width and the height of the text box that is defined is fixed and would only change if done so manually in the canvas.
Under Text Layout, you will see the following options.
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No-Wrap: You can set so the text does not wrap when it overflows.
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Wrap Text: You can set so the text does wrap when it overflows.
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Autosize Text: The text increases or decreases in size to fit the text box.
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Max Text Size: This option is only available when the Autosize Text is selected. If you define a max text size, the text size will not exceed the specified size and only get smaller.
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If a max text size is defined, then the text will behave the same as the current ‘shrink to fit’ as more text is added.
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You can also define how you would want the text box to behave, or the text, or a combination of both.
For example, if you want a fixed text box where the text wraps when it overflows, then you would select the options Fixed Text Box and Wrap.
Or, if you want a fixed text box where the text scales to size, then you would select the options Fixed Text Box and Scale.
Style
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Opacity: On a scale of 0-100% set the transparency of your text layer. 0% will be completely transparent, 100% will be completely solid.
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Font: Start by selecting which font you want to use from the dropdown menu. Then you can adjust the size, kerning (space between letters), and color of your font, if necessary.
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Text Styles: Options to make your font bold or italicized.
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Text Options: Options to underline or strikethrough your text, or stylize your text with uppercase or lowercase only.
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Text Alignment: Align your text left, center, or right justified, and set the vertical position of text to top, center, or bottom.
Text Shadow
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X: Adjust the shadow on the horizontal axis, left and right
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Y: Adjust the shadow on the vertical axis, up and down
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Blur: Adjust how harsh or feathered you want your shadow to be
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Color: Set the color of your text shadow
Background Color
By default your text background is transparent, but you can select this box to give your text a solid or gradient background. If gradient option is selected you can set the degree you want the gradient change to happen (180 is top to bottom, 90 is left to right).
Animation
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Animate In: Select from the dropdown menu how you want your text to animate onto the screen. The duration (set in milliseconds) determines how long your animation will last. The delay determines how long after selecting this graphic, the individual layer will begin to animate. Easing will allow you to change the acceleration of the animation, to be smoother or more natural. select from the dropdown to make a smoother and more realistic animation. The two most common easing options are "ease in", meaning the animation will start slowly and accelerate, and "ease out", where the motion will start quickly and decelerate.
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Animate Out: Select from the dropdown menu how you want your text to animate off the screen, followed by same customizable options as above.
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Looping Animation: If you check this box you can set a layer of the graphic to continue animating a certain way while the graphic is displayed on screen.
Now that you're all set with the "Text" element, you can move on to the next element to add your graphic template. Next up is the "Image" element. If you're finished, you're ready to produce with your template(s). Feel free to take a look at "Getting Started with Producer" if you're not already familiar or you can head to Producer to begin building out your playlist in order to take your content live.