A price in the corner, a "New" or "Sale" label, a short caption: small bits of text that make a product photo work harder in a shop, an ad or a social post. You don't need design software for them.

This guide shows how to add them with the free add text to image tool, which works in your browser: your photo isn't uploaded anywhere. It also shows the one thing that matters most with text on photos: keeping it readable.

A product photo of a spray bottle on a blue wall, with a yellow NEW label at the top left, tilted slightly, and a white $4.99 price in a dark rounded box at the bottom right
A price in a box and a tilted NEW label, added in under a minute.

The 30-second answer

  1. Open add text to image and add your photo.
  2. Type your text in the first text box, then drag it into place on the picture.
  3. Pick a font, size and colour; turn on Background box or Outline if the text is hard to read.
  4. Click Add text for each extra label, then Download image.

Step 1: add the photo and the first text

Drop your photo onto the tool, or click Select image. A first text box appears on the picture, ready to edit: white, bold and with a thin black outline, which is readable on most photos.

Type your text in the Text box on the right, for example a price, and drag the text on the picture to where you want it. You can also move a selected text with the arrow keys, and Delete removes it.

Step 2: choose a font, size and colour

The tool has six fonts, each shown in its own style: Inter and Montserrat (clean and modern), Playfair Display (elegant), Oswald and Bebas Neue (tall and bold, good for labels), and Caveat (handwritten).

For our example:

  • Price: Montserrat, bold, white, size 110, in a Background box.
  • "NEW" label: Bebas Neue, size 170, yellow, with an Outline, tilted by −12° under More options › Rotation.

Choose the colour from the swatches (white, black, yellow, red, indigo) or Any colour for an exact shade. More options also has the wrap width, line spacing and opacity.

The add text to image tool with the spray bottle photo, the NEW label and the price in a box, the price selected, and the text settings on the right
The price selected, with its settings on the right. Each text can be styled on its own.

Step 3: make it readable

Text on a photo is only useful if people can read it at a glance, including on a small phone screen. On a plain background almost anything works. On a busy one, the text needs help.

Here's the same white headline on a textured background, three ways:

The words SUMMER SALE in white over a grey textured background three times: plain, where the letters blend into the texture; with a black outline, where they stand out; and on a dark see-through box, where they stand out most
Top: no help. Middle: Outline. Bottom: Background box.
  • No help: the white letters fight with the light parts of the texture.
  • Outline: a dark edge around each letter separates it from the background. Good for short, bold words like "NEW" or "SALE".
  • Background box: a panel behind the text. Clearest of all, and great for prices and captions. Set its colour and see-through level with Box colour and Box opacity.

A few more tips:

  • Use few words. "−20%" beats "Now twenty percent off".
  • Make it big enough. Text that looks fine on a computer can be tiny on a phone.
  • Keep it off the product. Put labels in empty corners so the product stays visible.
  • Leave space from the edges. Platforms sometimes crop photos slightly.

Step 4: download in the right format

Under Save as, Auto keeps your photo's format, so a JPG stays a JPG. Choose PNG for graphics or when you need a transparent background, WebP for small files on websites. The text is drawn into the picture exactly where you placed it.

Our photo, 1067 × 1600 px, was saved as spray-bottle-text.jpg. The original isn't changed.

Questions

Can I edit the text after downloading? No. The download is a normal picture with the text drawn in. Keep the page open while you work; undo and redo work while you edit, and you can download again after changes.

Can I add the same label to many photos? Each photo is done one at a time. Once you have a style you like, Duplicate copies a text within the same photo.

Can I put text on pieces of a split image? Yes, in the image splitter: see how to put different text on each piece of a split image.

Is my photo uploaded? No. The text is drawn in your browser, on your device.