Photoshop is an amazing App with fantastic capabilities. But sometimes a glitch can occur. In this article we’ll discuss how to get the type tool working again.
The text tool can stop working because the tool needs a reset or Photoshop needs an update, the text is off the Artboard, the font color is the same as the artboard or a font is corrupt.
There’s always a reason why something stops working, or isn’t working as it should. Let’s get to the bottom of why your text tool isn’t performing as it should.
Photoshop Artboard is Different
When typing in Photoshop, it works slightly differently than other Adobe products.
Selecting the type tool and clicking on the artboard will automatically generate a new text layer, and auto generate place holder text. This can be toggled on and off in Preferences – General – Type
However, you must place the Text cursor on the Artboard. Your text will not appear if you type on the pasteboard unlike InDesign or Illustrator.
You can move the text by adjusting the X,Y values at the top of your screen.
The other issue that sometimes occurs, is that your font color is the same as the background color. Again check at the top of your screen. Change the color of your text and hopefully you can now see your text and continue to type.
A General Reset
If your issue isn’t one of the above, it could be a problem with the App or the type tool itself. Let’s look at the App first. Adobe is constantly updating and upgrading their apps. This is one of the best features of their subscription. If there’s a problem they can quickly fix it and send an update.
Open Creative Cloud and Check for Photoshop Updates
If one is available, activate it. If others are available you can update them also. However, I like to do them individually. A restart of your machine is not normally necessary, but I always like to anyway.
You can set your Creative Cloud to complete Auto Updates.
Open Creative Cloud and Click on Files – Preferences
Check the Auto Update button and Click Done
Open Photoshop and check is your type tool back working. Hopefully it is.
If not you can try a reset on the Type Tool. Open Photoshop and Select the Type Tool. At the top Click on the T and right click. Click on the GEAR icon and scroll to Reset Tool.
This is an alternative to the full App update.
Font Corrupt
The reason Photoshop Type Tool may not be working is that the Font you have selected is corrupt. You can check this by going to your Search Bar and typing %windir%\fonts
This will source your font folder.
Search for the Font in question. If it has 0KB beside it then the font is corrupt and needs to be deleted. If you have the original reinstall it or else search on Creative Cloud Fonts for a replacement.
Clearing the Font Cache
Sometimes the Font Cache needs to be emptied. This can be done by going to the following file path
Windows – ServiceProfiles – LocalServices – AppData – Local
Search for the following file: FontCache.dat
Delete this file and restart your app.
In Conclusion
When something goes amiss with an App or a specific tool within an App, there’s usually a relatively easily explained reason or a workaround. Hopefully one of the above solutions has gotten you back typing again.
Here are some other posts you might find useful: