Collage Painter can be used to add captions or word bubbles to pictures. In this tutorial we’ll go through adding some words to the photo of Bender posing next to my thermos. Yes, that’s map of Skyrim in the background – I’m not very good with directions.

Let’s start from the beginning. Open Collage Painter app.

• Select Canvas layer.
• In Load/Save Canvas panel tap Load Image, and then tap Pick Photo.
• Pick a photo.

• Select Stencil layer next.

• In Load Stencil panel tap Collections button.
• Select Built-in Shapes collection.
• Tap on a word bubble-shaped image to load it into Stencil layer.

• We’re going to flip the bubble. Scroll down until you see Transform panel.
• Tap Flip Horizontally – bubble will mirror left-to right.

• Tap Flip Vertically to flip the bubble upside-down.

• Now let’s place the bubble under Bender’s mouth. Use three fingers to move the Stencil. You can place the fingers anywhere on the screen – you don’t have to “grab” the bubble. Sometimes when you’re manipulating small images this can come in very handy.

• Use one finger to paint the bubble onto the canvas. Note that images loaded from built-in collection already have a transparent background, so you don’t have to paint around the edges of the bubble. You can just quickly brush it over. Transparent areas won’t affect the canvas.

• Tap Load Image again.

• Tap Create Text to open dialog.

• Type some text in the box, pick a font you like, and tap Create Text button in the upper right. Note that you can create line breaks by using Return key on the keyboard.

• Let’s change the color of the Stencil layer, so the text can be seen on white background of the word bubble. Scroll down to reveal Color Tint panel.

• Set Tint Strength to 100%
• Set Tint Mode to Darken. This mode works best with mostly white images, such as our text. Color works well with photos, and Lighten with mostly dark images.
• Drag the color swatch around to pick the color. Use the slider on the bottom to change overall brightness of the palette.

• Use three fingers again to place the text inside the bubble.
• Paint the text into the bubble using one finger. Again – the text doesn’t have a background, so you can paint as sloppy as you like – only text will bleed onto the canvas.

• To save Canvas as a new image, select Canvas again, the pick Save Image from Load/Save Canvas panel.
• Save to Camera Roll, or choose another option that suits you. You can even copy the image to pasteboard, and then switch into another app (that supports image pasting, such as iMessage, for example), and paste it in.

We’re done! My eyes are burning from all the beauty.

Ways to improve your captions:

• Use various effects available in Stencil / Effect panel, especially Outline, and Drop Shadow.
• Use Stencil Transform / Perspective Warp to align your stencil to an angled surface, such as a wall in a photograph.
• Use Emoji icons when creating text to spice up your life.
• Use Canvas Texture picker to simulate rough surface, such as plaster or paper when painting text.