How to Simulate Bold and Italics in Photoshop

Here's how to simulate bold and italics typography in Photoshop

Updated on August 04, 2020

Using bold or italics in text is normally as easy as it gets, but Photoshop only gives you these options when the typeface includes and supports these styles and some fonts don't. You can simulate bold and italic formatting styles when these options aren't available, but you have to know where to look.

Instructions in this article apply to Photoshop version 5.0 and later.

Design professional using computer at home — Maskot / Getty Images

Find Your Character Palette

Select the menu tab on the tool options bar to bring up your Character palette if it's not already showing go to Window > Character.

The Character option under the Window menu

Select Your Text

Select the text you want in bold or italics by highlighting the words. Select the 3 horizontal lines in the upper right corner of the palette menu.

You should see options for Faux Bold and Faux Italic. Choose the one you want — or both.

Bold and italic options may appear as a row of letter T's at the bottom of the character palette in some downloadable Photoshop versions. The first T is for bold and the second is for italics. Just select on the one you want. You'll also see other options here, such as for setting text in all capital letters.

Potential Problems

Not all users are fans of the Faux Bold or Faux Italic options because they can prompt some minor problems. They can cause glitches in the text if you're planning to send the document out for professional printing. Most are easily fixed, however.

Don't forget to turn your selection off after you've accomplished your goal. Just uncheck Faux Bold or Fold Italic to get back to normal. It won't happen automatically — it's a "sticky" setting. If you use it once, all future type will appear this way until you undo it, even if you're working on a different document on a different day.

You can also select Reset Character in the your character palette, but this may undo other settings that you want to keep, such as your font and size. You'll have to reset the settings you want to keep, but your text should appear normal again after you do.

You'll no longer be able to warp type or text to shape after Faux Bold formatting has been applied. You'll get a message that reads: Could not complete your request because the type layer uses a faux bold style. In Photoshop 7.0 and later, you'll be advised to Remove attribute and continue.

In other words, you can still warp the text, but it won't appear in bold. The good news is that undoing the Faux Bold, in this case, is particularly easy — just select OK in the warning box and your text will revert back to normal.