The GIMP (text boxes), and Photoshop filters...

[Makoto]

I've been experimenting with The GIMP lately, and it's a decent editor... but I've wanted to do some comic/manga-style typesetting in images. The editor doesn't let me use styles with text (bold, italic, underline). One of the lettering fonts I'm using does have a separate single font each for bold, italic - but The GIMP won't let me change fonts within a text box, either (so I have to close it and create a new one). Heck, I'm not even sure it has a line-drawing tool, so I can't even fake an underline. ^_^;

Do I not have something configured correctly, or some extended option(s) not enabled?

...or should I just go back to Photoshop Elements?

As for Photoshop filters, I was wondering if perhaps there was a filter where, after selecting an area (magic lasso/wand or otherwise), with a predetermined light source (direction), you could apply a basic glossy white highlight effect to that area, like the highlights in Aqua-style buttons, or to make a metallic surface look glossy.
I've seen tutorials for the effect, of course, but I mainly just want to experiment - if I truly wanted to apply the effect, I'd probably insist on doing it the hard way.

[Spokavriel]

If you still want to be able to edit the text with multiple fonts being used at the same time you might have to have multiple layers of text with one font in a specific style being used on each layer.

[Makoto]

I don't really want to edit with multiple fonts, just perhaps be able to use a style now and then (mainly underlining, because bold and italic aren't always as obvious with block lettering ).

[Shanami]

As for Photoshop filters, I was wondering if perhaps there was a filter where, after selecting an area (magic lasso/wand or otherwise), with a predetermined light source (direction), you could apply a basic glossy white highlight effect to that area, like the highlights in Aqua-style buttons, or to make a metallic surface look glossy.
I've seen tutorials for the effect, of course, but I mainly just want to experiment - if I truly wanted to apply the effect, I'd probably insist on doing it the hard way.

I forget the exact method to do what you're talking about but you could always try to create an area on a separate layer of said glossy white and turn down the alpha on that layer. You'd get kinda a bleedthrough effect where you could still see the area underneath, but depending on the alpha of the layer, it would give an effect of highlighting it. I've done similar things with many colors to add color to black and white photos. Like making a shirt entirely red. It might be hard to get the exact gloss that you want but if you are using light sources, you should be able to manage it.

Again though, I've not played with photoshop in a long time so my explanation is probably both out of date and just nonsensical.

[Makoto]

I'll have to try that. Primarily, though, I was hoping for something I could just apply to a selected area, see how it looks, and then use Undo. Even if it just creates a solid white area (no dithering/feathering/etc to attempt to blend it with the coloring beneath it).

It's probably a bit like how I experimented with the effect on paper, using a white gel pen or even a white-out pen.