diff --git a/paintutils.cpp b/paintutils.cpp
index 8f868d251..1e6457d23 100644
--- a/paintutils.cpp
+++ b/paintutils.cpp
@@ -47,19 +47,27 @@ void shadowBlur(QImage &image, int radius, const QColor &color)
     p.end();
 }
 
+//TODO: we should have shadowText methods that paint the results directly into a QPainter passed in
 QPixmap shadowText(QString text, QColor textColor, QColor shadowColor, QPoint offset, int radius)
+{
+    return shadowText(text, qApp->font(), textColor, shadowColor, offset, radius);
+}
+
+QPixmap shadowText(QString text, const QFont &font, QColor textColor, QColor shadowColor, QPoint offset, int radius)
 {
     //don't try to paint stuff on a future null pixmap because the text is empty
     if (text.isEmpty()) {
         return QPixmap();
     }
+
     // Draw text
-    QFontMetrics fm(text);
+    QFontMetrics fm(font);
     QRect textRect = fm.boundingRect(text);
-    QPixmap textPixmap(textRect.size());
+    QPixmap textPixmap(textRect.width(), fm.height());
     textPixmap.fill(Qt::transparent);
     QPainter p(&textPixmap);
     p.setPen(textColor);
+    p.setFont(font);
     p.drawText(textPixmap.rect(), Qt::AlignLeft, text);
     p.end();
 
diff --git a/paintutils.h b/paintutils.h
index 1927290d9..8a4ac5a41 100644
--- a/paintutils.h
+++ b/paintutils.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #ifndef PLASMA_PAINTUTILS_H
 #define PLASMA_PAINTUTILS_H
 
+#include <QtGui/QApplication>
 #include <QtGui/QGraphicsItem>
 #include <QtGui/QPainterPath>
 
@@ -47,6 +48,13 @@ PLASMA_EXPORT void shadowBlur(QImage &image, int radius, const QColor &color);
  * Returns a pixmap containing text with blurred shadow.
  * Text and shadow colors default to Plasma::Theme colors.
  */
+PLASMA_EXPORT QPixmap shadowText(QString text,
+    const QFont &font,
+    QColor textColor = Plasma::Theme::defaultTheme()->color(Plasma::Theme::TextColor),
+    QColor shadowColor = Plasma::Theme::defaultTheme()->color(Plasma::Theme::BackgroundColor),
+    QPoint offset = QPoint(1,1),
+    int radius = 2);
+
 PLASMA_EXPORT QPixmap shadowText(QString text,
     QColor textColor = Plasma::Theme::defaultTheme()->color(Plasma::Theme::TextColor),
     QColor shadowColor = Plasma::Theme::defaultTheme()->color(Plasma::Theme::BackgroundColor),