TomTom

Thanks to all that responded. Sorry for the late acknowledgement but I just received notification that there were any replies at all to my question. I'm just an occasional user of Paint.net so I've never taken a deep dive into the program, but I now see that having some sort of selection "away" from the text I'm trying to type does indeed re-create my issue. And the advice to type into a separate layer solves another problem I've had where I've typed directly on a photo, saved the file, and then realize I've got a typo in my text!

I've had this problem frequently over the years. I'll go to put text into a picture, having selected the text color, I start typing, and the cursor moves as I type, apparently recording my keystrokes, but it's invisible. Selecting a different color for the text doesn't make the text appear. The only "fix" I've found is to close Paint.net, start it up again, bring in the file and use the text tool again. It seems like a silly bug of some sort, but maybe it's user error or some sort?