Tutorial: Making text stand out

I figured I'd make a tutorial explaining some of the techniques I use to make text stand out on my icons. All of this is assuming, of course, that you want your text to be readable - if that's not what you're aiming for, this probably won't be much help! I use Photoshop CS2, but many of these tips are applicable to any graphics program. I've tried to go from the most basic topics to the most complex. The eccentric assortment of examples I'm using are just drawn semi-randomly from a variety of icon sets I've made - it's rather image-heavy. Please let me know if you find anything confusing or have any other questions :)

The mysteries of text UNVEILED!

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