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Using PaintShopPro 10.00/X, I'd like to add some 12 point text to an image, but for some reason..

  1. It's tiny, to the point it's unreadable
  2. the two lines are spread apart instead of one after the other:

enter image description here

Does someone know the cause of this, and what to do to solve it?

And incidently, if you know of a newbie-accessible, free/affordable alternative (Windows, edit pictures and draw text and icons like arrows), I'm interested. Paint.Net apparently only handles pictures, just like IrfanView.

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I don't use PSP - but I would guess it's because graphics packages often work on a much higher DPI setting that your screen (they are aimed at printing - so might be 600 or 1200, versus ~96 for screens) so 12pt on a screen is ~0.125in (12/96) whereas in your image it is maybe only 0.02in (12/600). – DMA57361♦ Aug 2 '10 at 10:56
Thanks, it appears that there were significant changes betwen PSP5 and PSP10. I didn't have to worry about DPI when typing text in PSP5. I'll see if I can figure out where to set this so it matches the default Windows 96DPI setting. – OverTheRainbow Aug 2 '10 at 11:20
Got it: Just choose "96,000" in Resolution followed by "Pixels/inch". As for the big vertical space between the two lines, set "Leading" to 0 or 1 – OverTheRainbow Aug 2 '10 at 11:25
@over Hurrah, in that case I shall upgrade my comment to an answer and flesh it out a bit more for future readers. – DMA57361♦ Aug 2 '10 at 11:47
PSP5 was much easier to use, but doesn't support Presets (arrows, etc.) – OverTheRainbow Aug 2 '10 at 11:49
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It is probably because graphics packages can work on a much higher DPI setting than your screen, because they are often aimed at having the correct resolution for printing.

This means your image might expect 600 or 1200DPI, but your screen (and so other applications drawing fonts) are likely to be at about 96DPI. This means a 12pt font on a screen is ~0.125in (12/96), whereas in your image it is maybe only 0.02in (12/600).

You should either reduce the DPI of your image or increase the DPI of your text (depending on if you intend to show the image on screen or via printing).

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