junyo

I've got what probably a simple problem, but I can't figure it out, and I've searched to no avail. I want to lay a title over a photo, consisting of a color bar with characters punched out of it and the image showing thorough the cutouts. Putting text on a colored layer and selecting/deleting it is less than optimal; if you use smooth characters you leave miscolored pixels on the edges of the cutout, it you use sharp edged text the cutouts are jagged. Can anyone help please?