Text Layer Operations Migration

This guide helps you migrate text layer operations from V1's /documentCreate and /documentOperations endpoints to V2's unified /create-composite endpoint.

Overview

V1 Endpoints:

• /pie/psdService/documentCreate - Create documents with text layers
• /pie/psdService/documentOperations - Add/edit text layers

V2 Endpoint: /v2/create-composite with edits.layers containing text layer operations

Creating text layers

V1 approach: documentCreate

curl -X POST \
  https://image.adobe.io/pie/psdService/documentCreate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" \
  -H "x-api-key: $apiKey" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "options": {
    "document": {
      "width": 1000,
      "height": 1000,
      "resolution": 72,
      "fill": "white",
      "mode": "rgb"
    },
    "layers": [
      {
        "type": "textLayer",
        "name": "My Title",
        "text": {
          "content": "Hello World",
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "fontSize": 48,
              "fontName": "Arial-BoldMT",
              "fontColor": {
                "rgb": {
                  "red": 255,
                  "green": 0,
                  "blue": 0
                }
              }
            }
          ],
          "paragraphStyles": [
            {
              "alignment": "center"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "outputs": [{
    "href": "<SIGNED_POST_URL>",
    "storage": "external",
    "type": "image/vnd.adobe.photoshop"
  }]
}'

V2 approach

curl -X POST \
  https://photoshop-api.adobe.io/v2/create-composite \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" \
  -H "x-api-key: $apiKey" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "document": {
    "width": 1000,
    "height": 1000,
    "resolution": {"unit": "density_unit", "value": 72},
    "fill": {
      "solidColor": {
        "red": 255,
        "green": 255,
        "blue": 255
      }
    },
    "mode": "rgb"
  },
  "edits": {
    "layers": [
      {
        "type": "text_layer",
        "name": "My Title",
        "text": {
          "content": "Hello World",
          "antiAliasing": "smooth",
          "textOrientation": "horizontal",
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "characterStyle": {
                "fontSize": 48,
                "font": {
                  "postScriptName": "ArialMT"
                },
                "fontColor": {
                  "rgb": {
                    "red": 255,
                    "green": 0,
                    "blue": 0
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          ],
          "paragraphStyles": [
            {
              "paragraphStyle": {
                "alignment": "center"
              }
            }
          ]
        },
        "operation": {
          "type": "add",
          "placement": {
            "type": "top"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "outputs": [
    {
      "destination": {
        "url": "<SIGNED_POST_URL>"
      },
      "mediaType": "image/vnd.adobe.photoshop"
    }
  ]
}'

Key migration changes

1. Layer type name

V1: "type": "textLayer"

V2: "type": "text_layer"

type is required on every layer entry in edits.layers[]. V1 allowed omitting type for simple visibility or property-only edits on existing layers; V2 always requires it. Error when omitted: Missing required field 'type' for edit operation at path 'edits.layers[N]'.

2. Character styles structure

data-variant=warning

data-slots=text

Off-by-one example — styling the word "Hello" in "Hello World":

// V1: to=5 means length 5 → characters 0,1,2,3,4
{"from": 0, "to": 5, "fontName": "Arial-BoldMT"}

// V2: to=4 is the inclusive end index → characters 0,1,2,3,4 (same result)
{"apply": {"from": 0, "to": 4}, "characterStyle": {"font": {"postScriptName": "Arial-BoldMT"}}}

characterStyles with no range (implicit full-string in V1): If a V1 characterStyle entry has neither from nor to (applies to the entire content implicitly), V2 requires an explicit apply block. Set apply.from = 0 and apply.to = len(text.content) - 1. Omitting apply entirely causes the style to not apply, resulting in default font rendering and significant pixel differences.

V1: Direct properties in characterStyles array. The range is given with from and to on each item (no apply wrapper):

{
  "characterStyles": [
    {
      "fontName": "Arial-BoldMT",
      "fontSize": 60,
      "from": 0,
      "to": 3,
      "fontColor": {
        "rgb": {
          "red": 255,
          "green": 0,
          "blue": 0
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

V2:

• Put style properties inside a characterStyle object.
• Use apply.from and apply.to for the character range (0-based, inclusive).
• Use font.postScriptName instead of fontName.

{
  "characterStyles": [
    {
      "apply": {
        "from": 0,
        "to": 11
      },
      "characterStyle": {
        "font": {
          "postScriptName": "Arial-BoldMT"
        },
        "fontSize": 48,
        "syntheticBold": false,
        "syntheticItalic": false,
        "underline": false,
        "capsOption": "all_caps",
        "fontColor": {
          "rgb": {
            "red": 255,
            "green": 0,
            "blue": 0
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

data-variant=info

data-slots=text

3. Paragraph styles structure

V1: Range-based: each array item has from, to, and direct properties (e.g. alignment).

{
  "paragraphStyles": [
    {
      "from": 0,
      "to": 20,
      "alignment": "center"
    }
  ]
}

data-variant=info

data-slots=text

V2: Each item is a paragraph style range with optional apply.from/apply.to (0-based inclusive character indices) and a paragraphStyle object.

{
  "paragraphStyles": [
    {
      "paragraphStyle": {
        "alignment": "center"
      }
    }
  ]
}

With a range (V2 only): use apply.from and apply.to to apply the paragraph style to a specific character range (same inclusive 0-based indexing as character styles).

{
  "paragraphStyles": [
    {
      "apply": { "from": 0, "to": 20 },
      "paragraphStyle": {
        "alignment": "left",
        "writingDirection": "left_to_right",
        "firstLineIndent": 0,
        "startIndent": 0,
        "endIndent": 0,
        "spaceBefore": 0,
        "spaceAfter": 6
      }
    }
  ]
}

4. Font management and font options

Font management covers how you supply custom fonts (e.g. .ttf, .otf), set a default or fallback font when a referenced font is missing, and choose whether to fail the job or substitute the default.

V1 font options

Example (V1):

{
  "options": {
    "fonts": [
      { "href": "<SIGNED_GET_URL>", "storage": "external" }
    ],
    "globalFont": "ArialMT",
    "manageMissingFonts": "useDefault"
  }
}

V2 font options

Example (V2):

{
  "fontOptions": {
    "additionalFonts": [
      { "source": { "url": "<SIGNED_GET_URL>" } }
    ],
    "defaultFontPostScriptName": "Arial_BoldMT",
    "missingFontStrategy": "use_default"
  }
}

Property mapping (V1 to V2)

Font types

Both V1 and V2 support three font sources:

Default font value

• V1: If globalFont is not set and manageMissingFonts is "useDefault", the worker uses ArialMT as the fallback.
• V2: If defaultFontPostScriptName is not set and the strategy is use default, the worker uses ArialMT as the fallback.

In both V1 and V2, the default fallback font is ArialMT when no global/default is specified.

Missing-font strategy

Adding text to existing document

V1 approach: documentOperations

curl -X POST \
  https://image.adobe.io/pie/psdService/documentOperations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" \
  -H "x-api-key: $apiKey" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "inputs": [{
    "href": "<SIGNED_GET_URL>",
    "storage": "external"
  }],
  "options": {
    "fonts": [
      {
        "href": "<FONT_FILE_URL>",
        "storage": "external"
      }
    ],
    "layers": [
      {
        "add": { "insertTop": true },
        "type": "textLayer",
        "bounds": {
          "left": 25,
          "top": 42,
          "width": 977,
          "height": 267
        },
        "text": {
          "content": "NEW TEXT LAYER",
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "fontSize": 56,
              "orientation": "horizontal",
              "fontColor": {
                "rgb": {
                  "red": 0,
                  "green": 0,
                  "blue": 0
                }
              },
              "fontName": "AcerFoco-SemiboldItalic"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "outputs": [{
    "href": "<SIGNED_POST_URL>",
    "storage": "external",
    "type": "image/vnd.adobe.photoshop"
  }]
}'

V2 approach

curl -X POST \
  https://photoshop-api.adobe.io/v2/create-composite \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" \
  -H "x-api-key: $apiKey" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "image": {
    "source": {
      "url": "<SIGNED_GET_URL>"
    }
  },
  "fontOptions": {
    "additionalFonts": [
      { "source": { "url": "<FONT_FILE_URL>" } }
    ],
    "defaultFontPostScriptName": "Arial_BoldMT",
    "missingFontStrategy": "use_default"
  },
  "edits": {
    "layers": [
      {
        "type": "text_layer",
        "name": "New Text Layer",
        "operation": {
          "type": "add",
          "placement": {
            "type": "top"
          }
        },
        "text": {
          "content": "NEW TEXT LAYER",
          "antiAliasing": "smooth",
          "textOrientation": "horizontal",
          "frame": {
            "type": "area",
            "bounds": {
              "top": 42,
              "left": 25,
              "right": 1002,
              "bottom": 309
            }
          },
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "apply": { "from": 0, "to": 13 },
              "characterStyle": {
                "font": { "postScriptName": "AcerFoco-SemiboldItalic" },
                "fontSize": 56,
                "fontColor": {
                  "rgb": {
                    "red": 0,
                    "green": 0,
                    "blue": 0
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "outputs": [
    {
      "destination": { "url": "<SIGNED_POST_URL>" },
      "mediaType": "image/vnd.adobe.photoshop"
    }
  ]
}'

Editing existing text layers

V1 approach

{
  "options": {
    "layers": [
      {
        "name": "Existing Text Layer",
        "text": {
          "content": "Updated Text"
        },
        "edit": {}
      }
    ]
  }
}

V2 approach

{
  "edits": {
    "layers": [
      {
        "name": "Existing Text Layer",
        "operation": {
          "type": "edit"
        },
        "text": {
          "content": "Updated Text",
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "characterStyle": {
                "fontSize": 48
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Common migration patterns

Multi-style text

V1:

{
  "text": {
    "content": "Bold and Italic",
    "characterStyles": [
      {
        "from": 0,
        "to": 4,
        "fontSize": 48,
        "fontName": "Arial-BoldMT"
      },
      {
        "from": 9,
        "to": 15,
        "fontSize": 48,
        "fontName": "Arial-ItalicMT"
      }
    ]
  }
}

data-variant=info

data-slots=text

V2: Use apply.from/apply.to (inclusive) and characterStyle with font.postScriptName

{
  "text": {
    "content": "Bold and Italic",
    "characterStyles": [
      {
        "apply": { "from": 0, "to": 4 },
        "characterStyle": {
          "fontSize": 48,
          "font": { "postScriptName": "Arial-BoldMT" }
        }
      },
      {
        "apply": { "from": 9, "to": 15 },
        "characterStyle": {
          "fontSize": 48,
          "font": { "postScriptName": "Arial-ItalicMT" }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Multi-line text

Both V1 and V2 use \r for line breaks:

{
  "text": {
    "content": "Line 1\rLine 2\rLine 3"
  }
}

Custom fonts

V1:

{
  "options": {
    "fonts": [
      {
        "href": "<FONT_FILE_URL>",
        "storage": "external"
      }
    ]
  }
}

V2:

{
  "fontOptions": {
    "additionalFonts": [
      {
        "source": {
          "url": "<FONT_FILE_URL>"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Character style properties

V2 has expanded character style options beyond V1:

data-variant=info

data-slots=text

Paragraph style properties

In V2, all paragraph style properties below are optional; defaults are applied when omitted.

Text positioning

Frame types: point vs area

V1 only supported area frames. V2 supports both point and area frames.

Default bounds when frame is omitted

In V1 the default was a small area at the top-left; in V2 the default is a point at the middle of the canvas. To get predictable placement in V2, always set text.frame (either type: "area" with bounds or type: "point" with origin).

Using bounds

V1: Layer-level bounds with left, top, width, height. Only area frame; no point frame support.

{
  "type": "textLayer",
  "name": "Positioned Text",
  "bounds": {
    "left": 100,
    "top": 50,
    "width": 800,
    "height": 200
  },
  "text": {"content": "..."}
}

V2: Position and size the text using text.frame with type: "area" and bounds as top, left, right, bottom (no width/height). Convert V1 bounds: right = left + width, bottom = top + height.

{
  "type": "text_layer",
  "name": "Positioned Text",
  "operation": {
    "type": "add",
    "placement": {
      "type": "top"
    }
  },
  "text": {
    "content": "...",
    "frame": {
      "type": "area",
      "bounds": {
        "top": 50,
        "left": 100,
        "right": 900,
        "bottom": 250
      }
    }
  }
}

Font size units

Both V1 and V2 use pixels for fontSize. In V2 it goes inside characterStyle.fontSize.

Font color structure

Supported in both V1 and V2: rgb, cmyk, lab, and gray are all supported in both versions; all components use 16-bit integer values. Use the same nested shape in V2 as in V1.

Value ranges by color model:

All components are required and default to 0 when omitted.

V1 and V2 (same structure): rgb, cmyk, lab, gray:

{
  "fontColor": {
    "rgb": {
      "red": 32768,
      "green": 0,
      "blue": 0
    }
  }
}

{
  "fontColor": {
    "cmyk": {
      "cyan": 32768,
      "magenta": 0,
      "yellow": 0,
      "black": 0
    }
  }
}

{
  "fontColor": {
    "lab": {
      "l": 5000,
      "a": 10000,
      "b": -5000
    }
  }
}

{
  "fontColor": {
    "gray": {
      "gray": 16384
    }
  }
}

Migration checklist

When migrating text layer operations from V1 to V2:

• Change type: "textLayer" to type: "text_layer"
• Use apply.from/apply.to for character style ranges (V2); both indices are inclusive (0-based); wrap style properties in characterStyle
• Use font.postScriptName (inside characterStyle.font) in V2 instead of top-level fontName
• Wrap paragraph style properties in paragraphStyle object
• Font color: V1 and V2 both support rgb, cmyk, lab, and gray; use the same nested shape (fontColor.rgb, fontColor.cmyk, fontColor.lab, fontColor.gray)
• Update font management properties (manageMissingFonts → missingFontStrategy, globalFont → defaultFontPostScriptName)
• Update custom fonts: options.fonts (href, storage) → fontOptions.additionalFonts (source.url)
• Update inputs/outputs: V1 inputs[].href → V2 image.source.url; V1 outputs[].href → V2 outputs[].destination.url, and use mediaType instead of type
• Map layer placement: V1 add.insertTop (or insertBottom, etc.) → V2 operation: { type: "add", placement: { type: "top" } } (or bottom, above, below, into)
• Convert bounds: V1 layer bounds (left, top, width, height) → V2 text.frame with type: "area" and bounds: { top, left, right, bottom } where right = left + width, bottom = top + height

Common migration issues

Differences between V1 and V2 that often cause issues when migrating:

• Character and paragraph style range (from/to): In V1, to was incorrectly taken as a length. In V2, apply.from and apply.to are both inclusive 0-based character indices. When migrating, set apply.to to the last character index you want to style, not a length. Same applies to paragraph style ranges.
• Layer type: V1 uses "textLayer"; V2 uses "text_layer".
• Font name: V1 uses top-level fontName. V2 uses characterStyle.font.postScriptName.
• Bounds: V1 uses layer-level bounds with left, top, width, height. V2 uses text.frame with type: "area" and bounds: { top, left, right, bottom } where right = left + width, bottom = top + height.
• Default when no frame/bounds given: V1 default was an area frame (0, 0, 4, 4). V2 default is a point frame at the center of the canvas. Set text.frame explicitly for predictable placement.
• Font options: V1 uses options.fonts (href, storage), options.globalFont, options.manageMissingFonts. V2 uses fontOptions.additionalFonts (source.url), fontOptions.defaultFontPostScriptName, fontOptions.missingFontStrategy (e.g. "use_default").

Feature availability

Currently available in V2

• ✅ Add text layers
• ✅ Edit text content
• ✅ Character styles (font, size, color: rgb, cmyk, lab, gray)
• ✅ Paragraph styles (alignment)
• ✅ Multi-style text (from/to ranges)
• ✅ Custom fonts
• ✅ Text positioning (bounds)
• ✅ Expanded character properties (tracking, leading, etc.)

V1 features not yet in V2

• ⏳ fill_to_canvas property
• ⏳ Some advanced text effects

Complete migration example

V1 documentOperations:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "href": "<SIGNED_GET_URL>",
      "storage": "external"
    }
  ],
  "options": {
    "layers": [
      {
        "type": "textLayer",
        "name": "Headline",
        "text": {
          "content": "Welcome",
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "fontSize": 72,
              "fontName": "Arial-BoldMT",
              "fontColor": {
                "rgb": {
                  "red": 0,
                  "green": 0,
                  "blue": 0
                }
              }
            }
          ],
          "paragraphStyles": [
            {
              "alignment": "center"
            }
          ]
        },
        "bounds": {
          "left": 0,
          "top": 100,
          "width": 1920,
          "height": 150
        }
      }
    ],
    "manageMissingFonts": "useDefault"
  },
  "outputs": [
    {
      "href": "<SIGNED_POST_URL>",
      "storage": "external",
      "type": "image/vnd.adobe.photoshop"
    }
  ]
}

V2 create-composite:

{
  "image": {
    "source": {
      "url": "<SIGNED_GET_URL>"
    }
  },
  "edits": {
    "layers": [
      {
        "type": "text_layer",
        "name": "Headline",
        "text": {
          "content": "Welcome",
          "frame": {
            "type": "area",
            "bounds": {
              "top": 100,
              "left": 0,
              "right": 1920,
              "bottom": 250
            }
          },
          "characterStyles": [
            {
              "characterStyle": {
                "fontSize": 72,
                "font": {
                  "postScriptName": "Arial-BoldMT"
                },
                "fontColor": {
                  "rgb": {
                    "red": 0,
                    "green": 0,
                    "blue": 0
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          ],
          "paragraphStyles": [
            {
              "paragraphStyle": {
                "alignment": "center"
              }
            }
          ]
        },
        "operation": {
          "type": "add"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "fontOptions": {
    "missingFontStrategy": "use_default"
  },
  "outputs": [
    {
      "destination": {
        "url": "<SIGNED_POST_URL>"
      },
      "mediaType": "image/vnd.adobe.photoshop"
    }
  ]
}

Next steps

• Review Layer Operations Overview for general concepts
• Check Document Creation for creating new documents with text
• See Advanced Operations for text layer transforms and effects