how to make white text look so crisp and clean/visible on a background ?

what kind of things do you do to the background?

it's kind of a bad example but yeah

This post was edited by MajinVegeta on Jun 22 2015 05:01am

you just put it on top of an image... theres literally no other steps?

Can you elaborate on what you don't understand? Place text on dark background or on the dark areas of a background image, then it will pop. Add a super subtle outer glow, such as 10-15% black for a little more contrast.

the typo pops out because it's white text framed by contrast in the background

futhermore the overall image is washed out save for the typo, so it makes it pop a bit more

thank you

i guess i don't understand contrast and what not that well

The original, unedited picture you showed would've had obvious contrast on the head, because white text on black pops, but the text that overflowed into the brighter areas around the head would've been hard to read, which is why the entire image was muted/darkened. Try to find the darkest and brightest parts of the image besides the text. There are multiple ways to fix this. You can adjust the brightness/contrast of the image by going to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast, and if you want to add an adjustment layer, which allows you to back up without ruining the image, then click the little circle icon at the bottom of your layers palette that is half filled in, then select Brightness/Contrast. You can also use the Burn/Dodge tool in your tools palette to darken/brighten parts of the image. Another option would be to make a new layer, fill it with black or a dark color, then lower the opacity of the layer, exposing brighter parts of the image while maintaining the overall darkness. The last and most ideal solution would be to find a good image to start with, which has enough large dark parts on the image already, then strategically place the text on it. This way you wouldn't have to edit the image at all, but rather just place the text.