Troubleshooting – My Text tool is not working

Many projects in PaintShop Pro will include text, but occasionally, the tool does not seem to do what you want, or the text you work hard is causing issues. Let's look at some problems that can come up with the Text tool.

Is the layer visible?

When working with Text, it is possible that a new object will be created inside an existing Vector layer, alongside another object. If you "hid" that layer, any text you add to that layer will also be hidden.

Solution: just create a new Vector layer, and drag and drop the text object to this new layer. When they are separate, you can hide and unhide them separately too.

Is there something covering the layer?

Maybe you are working on a project and there is another element on the canvas. If you type your text and it does not show, check the Layers palette. Maybe there is a paper, or a photo above it.

Solution:  just drag your vector layer above that photo or that paper.

Is the "Remember text" enabled?

If you are trying to type something but a past message seems to appear instead, maybe you have accidentally enabled the "Remember text". It is a simple icon in the Text toolbar that is usually disabled. It looks like this:

If you want to repeat the same text over and over again in a project, it can be useful, but otherwise, keep it disabled so you can type in what you want.

Solution: disable that icon by clicking on it. If it is faint, it is disabled.

What is the Stroke Width?

When you write text, you can have a Fill and Stroke in the Materials palette. If you have the Fill set to anything, you will see your text when you type it on your project. If you have only a Stroke, you should see an outline of your text. But what if you don't see ANYTHING? If that is the case, maybe your Stroke Width is 0. In that case, you won't see anything, even if you typed your text.

Solution: change the Width and see if it reappears.

My wrapped text just disappeared

If you are resizing a project that included a wrapped text, it is not gone. The issue is that wrapped text does not resize like the rest of the project, so it might be outside of your canvas, in its original size, but just not visible.

Solution: undo the Resizing first. After that, once you have saved a .pspimage copy, merge all the layers, including your wrapped text. Then you can resize your project and the text will stay visible.

Read this article for a demonstration of what happens.

My wrapped text is no longer there!

If you have previously worked with wrapped text and saved a .pspimage format (without any resizing), your text might still disappear. If you saved the .pspimage format with a compatibility mode below version X7, PaintShop Pro will not be able to handle wrapped text. Therefore, it will not save it. AT ALL. Once you close that file, you have lost your text. Even if you re-open it in the same version, the text is gone.

There is no way to recover that lost text.

Solution: unfortunately, there is no SOLUTION, just PREVENTION. Make sure that you DO NOT save with a compatibility mode below X7 if you are using wrapped text. You can lose hours of tedious work!

My wrapped text is unwrapped

In PSP2023, you might encounter an annoying "bug". Once you have your text all done and wrapped, if you choose to edit it, it is possible that it will "unwrap" and become a straight line. Unfortunately, you cannot re-wrap it.

Solution: I am sorry to say that you will have to start over. At least, you can still highlight the text to copy and paste it. It will be on the clipboard and once you have recreated the selection, you would be able to paste that text.

My text size does not match

In PSP2023, if you overlap two identical text layers but you remove the stroke on one layer, it is possible that it won't match the other layer. This is a bug and affects some fonts and not others.

Solution: if you can try a different layer, the issue might disappear. On the other hand, if you need to use the specific font you have, try adding a Stroke of 0.1 pixels in the color of the Fill. That extra stroke will be barely visible, but will override the bug.

Have you experienced other issues with the Text tool? Share them with us.