Graphic text — words into artwork
How graphic text generates stylised lettering from a plain phrase, how it differs from a text placeholder, and when to reach for each.
Graphic text takes a plain phrase and generates stylised typographic artwork from it — chrome lettering, balloon script, distressed varsity type, whatever style you point it at. It's not a font picker. It's an image generator that specialises in words, and it hands back a design, not editable text.
The Wrangler AI overview lists all the tools; this page is graphic text in practice.
Graphic text vs a text placeholder
This trips people up, so it's worth being blunt. They're different tools for different jobs.
| Text placeholder | Graphic text | |
|---|---|---|
| What it makes | Live, editable text in a font you set | A generated image of stylised lettering |
| Customer edits | Type, change font/colour/size/alignment | Re-generate with a new phrase or style |
| Best for | Names, dates, numbers, clean type | Logos, slogans, statement lettering with a look |
| Cost | Free (no AI charge) | $0.06 per design |
Rule of thumb: if the shopper needs to type "Sarah" onto a mug in a tidy font, that's a text placeholder and it costs you nothing. If they want "SARAH'S 40TH" as gold balloon lettering, that's graphic text.
📷 [screenshot: side by side — a plain text placeholder reading a name, and the same name rendered as stylised chrome graphic-text artwork]
Where it shows up
In the template builder. Turn it on for a template in the AI tools panel, and set the style presets shoppers can choose from. Generate graphic text yourself while building to see how it sits on the canvas.
On the storefront customizer. The shopper picks the Graphic text action, types their phrase, chooses a style, and the lettering renders onto the canvas as artwork they can move, resize, and rotate.
Turn it on for products where typographic personalisation is the pitch — signs, mugs, prints, event merch. It's the tool that makes "put my slogan on it" look designed instead of typed.
Output — it's transparent artwork
Graphic text comes back with a transparent background by default, like a generated image with its background removed. It drops cleanly onto a coloured background, a photo, or the blank product with no white box around the letters.
Because it's artwork, not live text, the customer can't retype it letter by letter afterwards. To change the words, they re-generate. Plan the placeholder for that — give the lettering room, and don't stack a critical live text field right on top of it.
What it costs
$0.06 per design. Graphic text shares one monthly volume counter with image generation, and the shared rate drops as combined monthly volume grows:
| Monthly generations | Price each |
|---|---|
| 0–500 | $0.06 |
| 501–2,000 | $0.05 |
| 2,001–10,000 | $0.04 |
| 10,001+ | $0.035 |
Customer runs bill to your account. See AI usage and billing. Per-session limits apply here too — set them in the AI tools panel to cap how many times a shopper can regenerate.
Getting good lettering
- Keep the phrase short. Three or four words render far better than a paragraph. Long strings get cramped or garbled.
- Match the style to the product. Chrome and neon suit statement prints; hand-script suits keepsakes. The presets you choose steer this.
- Check readability at print size. A style that dazzles on screen can turn to mush small. Use the Preview at the real placement size.
Common pitfalls
- Using it for names in a plain font. That's a free text placeholder. Don't pay $0.06 for tidy type.
- Long phrases. Keep it short — a slogan, not a sentence.
- Expecting live editing after generation. It's artwork. To change the words, re-generate; the letters aren't individually editable.
What's next
- The free, editable alternative for tidy type: Text placeholders
- Generate full images from prompts: Generating images with AI
- Costs and monthly billing: AI usage and billing