Make part of text in photo variable

[nice2meetyou]

Hey folks,

I am a medium-experienced PSP user since ~ a decade (PSP 6 > X2 > X5) but never really worked with text.

Following scenario: I am a lapel pin collector and present my collection on my site (http://www.mypins.de/ibm). Several of my pins look identical, but have a different year in the text. To avoid taking a photo of every single pin I prefer to have one master photo and have a variable for the text (year).

Here is one example: http://www.mypins.de/ibm/pin_pho/pin1464.jpg

You see the year 1964 - I have copied the picture from another year and over-painted the digit 4 by hand (not good as you can see). Having the full text or just the year flexible would also have the benefit that all pictures look the same.

Questions:
Is it possible?
If so, How would you do this?

I would love to read your expertise. Thanks a lot for any reply.

PS: As you can see the photo was not shot directly from the top; there is an angle to get rid of reflections. But I would then start from scratch and re-create a new master.

Regards,
Manfred

[LindaSue]

If you save the images in PSP format and use vector text, you can edit the text later. Be sure that you don't flatten or merge the layers. When you reopen your image, make the text layer active then choose the text tool. Move your cursor over the text frame on the image and start typing when you see the cursor has a "T" next to it.

[nice2meetyou]

Yep - know the layer technique. This is not the real problem. Looks as if I should learn how to use wordart... to draw text in a circle, in a specific angle, along a curve, screw the text horizotally or vertically.. and so on. Would this really work?

Are there counter-proposals how to do it differently? I would be happy to read another approach. Thank you.

Regards,
Manfred

[LeviFiction]

So you want to put text on a curve so that it follows the circle.

Easy - tons of tutorials on making text follow a curve.

For the most part it's easy enough on its own. You draw a vector circle. Then with the text tool, hover over this circle and the icon for the text tool will change to a letter on a curve. Click and that links the text to the curve, letting the text follow it.

There's more to get it looking and working just like you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCeGowkRhRw