In this lesson we will be covering the Text tool.
Before you start extract the filez from the b08textzjh_v8-dl.zip file, which contains 3 button images I created for use with this tutorial.
The text tool is used to add text to your images. In this lesson we will learn how to use it.
Open (File || Open) b08button1.jpg. Duplicate (Windows || Duplicate [Shift+D]) it and close the original. Promote the background (Layers || Promote Background Layer) and name it button. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it Text.
Click the Text tool 
in the Tools toolbar reset to default. Now lets change some of the Options in the Tool Options palette. Change Create As to Selection. Change the Font to something you like I am using Balloon. Change the Size to 36. The rest of the options we will leave alone.
We don't need to worry about the material options because we have the Create As set to selection so all we are going to get is a selection which we will need to fill using the Flood tool.
Click somewhere in the button which will display a text entry window. Type Home and click on Apply. You will now have a selection forming the word Home on your image. Before we fill it we need to move the selection where we want it.
Click on the Move tool. Since we are moving a selection we need to use the RIGHT mouse button instead of the left. Click on the selection with the right mouse button and hold it down move the selection where HOME is centered in the button and release. Click your Flood tool and reset to default. In Tool Options set the Match Mode to None. Fill the selection with the color, gradient or pattern of your choice. I used Black. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).
Tip: If you want to be sure that your text layer is exactly centered in the image select the Text layer in the Layers palette. Click Edit || Cut (Ctrl+X), which will delete the text and copy it to the clipboard then click Edit || Paste || Paste as New Layer (Ctrl+L). The text will be back exactly centered in the image. Note: Pasting as a new layer automatically centers the clipboard contents in the image. In this case the entire image is the button so it will centered in the button.
Save (File || Save) and Close your image.
Open (File || Open) b08button2.jpg. Duplicate (Windows || Duplicate [Shift+D]) it and close the original. Promote the background (Layers || Promote Background Layer) and name it button. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it Text.
Click the Text tool and set Create as to Floating. This will create a floating section of your text. The major difference between creating as Selection and creating as Floating is that the material choices will be included. With that said lets explore how the Materials palette works with the text tool.
The Foreground is the outline around the letters. The size of the outline is determined by the Stroke size set in the Tool Options of the Text tool. The default stroke size is 1. The Background sets the fill of the letters. If you don't want an outline around the text click the Null 
button under the Foreground box. If you want just an outline and not a fill click the Null button under the Background box. Note: If the Foreground is set to Null you have to click to Null button to turn it off before you can set the Background to Null and vice versa. The null button does NOT work with every tool.
Set your materials how you want them. I set my Foreground to Null and my Background to black but you can use any color, gradient, or pattern you want. In most cases it is easier to set your materials and tool options before entering the text but you do NOT have to as I will show you in this lesson.
Click inside the button to get the Text Entry dialog and type E-mail. Do NOT click apply. After you type your text in the Text entry box you can go back and change materials and tool options for each letter, word, or sentence in the box. We are going to change the letters so you can see how this works. The thing to remember is the changes are applied to whatever is selected in the Text entry box.
Click in front of the E in the Text Entry dialog. Select the E by either holding down the Shift key and hitting the right arrow once or position the mouse in front of the E and holding down the left mouse button drag to the right of the E and release. Note: In this case the first option is easiest but if you are selecting an entire word or several words the second option is easiest.
If the Remember text option in the Text Entry dialog is checked the next time it opens it will have the same text that was in it the last time it was applied. In this case it would have E-mail. I usually leave mine UNchecked.
With the Text Entry dialog still open and the E selected change the Size to 48 in Tool Options. See how just the size of the E changed. You can change other tool options as well such as Font, Stroke, Font Style, and so on. Do NOT click Apply.
The E should still be selected in the Text Entry dialog. In your Materials palette change the Background to a different color I chose Red. Do NOT click Apply.
Now using one of the methods above select "mail" in the Text Entry dialog. In your Materials palette change the Foreground to the same color as you used as the Background for the E and change the Background back to something different then the Foreground. I set my Foreground to red and my Background to black but again any color, gradient, or pattern will work. In tool options change the Stroke to 2.0. Do NOT click Apply.
Now practice selecting different letters and changing things in the tool options and materials palette until you get something you like. You can see how the text will look in the image as you make the changes in materials and tool options. If your image is hid behind the Text Entry dialog then left click in the title bar of the Text Entry dialog (where is says Text Entry) and holding down the left mouse button drag the Text Entry dialog where you want it.
Once you have your text how you want it click Apply. The text will now be selected in your image. Using the Move tool with the right mouse button as you done before move the text into the desired position. Remember since we used Floating there is no need to use the Flood tool. However, if you decide you want to change the Fill you can fill the selection just like you did before. Deselect (Selections || None[Ctrl+D]). Save (File || Save) and close.
A very important note here once you click Apply in the Text Entry window you lose the ability to change the tool options for individual letters or words. You can change the materials for the individual letters or words by selecting what you want to change with the selection tools (last lesson) and filling the selections with the new material. If you want to change the outline you have to select just the outline using one of the selection tools.
This brings us to the last Create As type in the Text tool options which is Vector. Personally I use this Option EVERY time. One of the main reasons I use this option every time is because it does not have the limitations that the other 2 options have. I can change the tool options and the materials for each character as long as it is a vector. I can also go back and change the text and even more. Plus you have the added benefit of resizing and rotating without any distortion and you can use the tools on the Objects menu. However there are some people who hate vectors and will not use them. I encourage you though to use vectors for text!
Open (File || Open) b08button3.jpg. Duplicate (Windows || Duplicate [Shift+D]) it and close the original. Promote the background (Layers || Promote Background Layer) and name it button. You don't need to add a new layer because when using Vectors it will create a vector layer.
Click the Text tool set the Create As to Vector. In the Materials palette set the Foreground to null and Background to a Color, Gradient, or Pattern you like.
Click in the button and type in Back. Note: You can use the same selection and change method in the Text Entry dialog as you used for Floating. Click Apply.
You should have a bounding box (dashed rectangle) around your text with handles (little boxes). Note: You can click on the handles around the outside and holding down the left mouse button drag the box to resize the text. (You can also use the right mouse button and hold down the Ctrl or Alt keys to produce different effects but that is beyond the scope of this lesson). The circle in the middle will let you move the text. There is a line running from the circle that is connected to another little box, this is your Rotate handle. Click the handle and holding down the left mouse button drag it to rotate the text.
Personally I don't want to resize my text and I am going to align it the easy way. Click Objects || Align || Center in Canvas. Your text is now centered. The Object Selection tool [O] and the options on the Object menu only work on vectors.
Back to the vector text we were working on. Let's make some changes. Click on the + sign beside the Vector 1 layer in the layer palette. Double click or right click on the "Back" sublayer and choose Edit Text. Either way the Text Entry dialog box will popup with the text already selected (highlighted). You can select individual letters and make changes like you did when we were doing Floating. You can also completely change the text to something else such as Contact.
That's the basics of using Vector text so if you want Save (File || Save) and close your image. However those wishing to stay with me I will give a mini lesson on vectors that will work with all vectors not just text.
Right click on text layer in the Layer palette and choose Convert Text To Curves || As Character Shapes, Note once you convert to Character Shapes (or Single Shape) you lose the ability to change the tool options however you still have the ability to change the materials. If you click on the little plus sign in front of the Text layer you will see that each letter is on its own sublayer now and they have been grouped in the back sublayer. If you double click on the Back sublayer you can change the materials (include stroke) and other options of all the layers. You can double click on one of the letters to change the materials for just that letter. You can also right click on a sublayer and choose Properties.
In the Properties dialog try changing the stoke, change the materials, or whatever you want until you get something you like. I turned off the Stroke (remove the check) and changed the fill of each letter. I know it isn't a work of art but this is just to give you some idea what you can do using the Vector properties dialog.
Click the Object Selection tool [O] then left click on one of the letter sublayers in the layer palette. The letter will now be selected. You can select more then one letter (vector) at a time by holding down the Shift key and clicking on the sublayer in the layer palette. You can move, resize, and/or rotate the selected layer. I moved my letters around.
If you want to apply an effect such as Inner Bevel or Drop Shadow to the letters or words you can right click on the main vector layer, the Back group layer, or any of the sublayers and choose Create Raster Selection. Save the selections to alpha channel or disk (Selections || Load/Save Selection || Save To Disk/Alpha Channel). You cannot apply effects to vectors.
Right click on the Vector 1 layer in the layer palette and click Layers || Convert to Raster Layer. Once you convert to Raster layer you can use your saved selections to apply the effects you want. If you are going to apply an effect to the entire Vector layer simply right click on the Vector layer and choose Create Raster Selection then right click on the Vector 1 layer in the layer palette and click Layers || Convert to Raster Layer. You selection will still be there so you can go ahead and apply the desired effect(s), there's no need to save the selection.
That's it for the mini vector lesson. I didn't cover several options on the Text Tool Options. You should take some time and explore these on your own. Try changing the Alignment, Font Style, Line Style and so on. I hope you enjoyed this lesson.