Making a collage with a photograph and text can be hard without either running into each other. There are limited options. You can add a border to the text, but it might make it look cartoonish. Another option is taking out unwanted objects from the background with the Stamp Tool in Photoshop.

Here is the example I used. The shadows of the steps and the people at the horizon are making the poem unreadable. If I make the text white, the clouds will make other parts unreadable. Using a bright color would take away the classy feel of this setup. Whether it is for a Senior Send Off or just for you, there is a simple way to fix this problem.

Open up the image and select the Clone Stamp Tool

The stamp tool requires two steps. First, hold down the Alt key and click in a clean area. You will pick up correct parts of the image to override the dark people I would like to remove. When you hold down Alt, you will see your cursor change like mine has in the screenshot below. Click a correct area.

Now, let go of Alt, and just brush away little bits at a time. You can see here that one of the people is already gone.

Use Alt again and pick up more good parts. Do this process with patience and make sure you pick up pixels often.

I have completed the removal of the people. Now, the only thing that will obscure my text is the shadow steps.

Use the same steps to complete the image. It might look a little smudged, but the focus will be on the text, not the image.

Here you can see is my completed collage. The text is easily readable but the brilliance of the photograph is intact.

Have fun,
Till next time.