type mask tool problem

@y4sem1n 

Thank you for this last screenshot. The reason you can't move the text after creating it is that this tool puts pixels on the current layer. It your case, that's the Background layer. It replaces the pixels that were there.

To use this archaic tool from the early days of Photoshop:

• Create a new layer
• Type with the horizontal mask tool
• Fill the selection with a color
• You now have pixels on a layer, not live text

When class is over, never use this tool again. You can even edit your toolbar to hide it, which is what I do. This is how text worked in Photoshop before it had live text. In those days, editing a typo meant delete and retype. Kerning meant select with a Selection tool and use the Move tool. Once we had live text, I never used it again.

A better way is to use the Type tool to get live text on a new layer. You can always rasterize it to get pixels if you need pixels.

Jane

Without seeing your instructor's screen we can't be sure. When you select the Type Mask tool and start typing, it shows up like a rubylith:

While it is like this, you can ediit and move it around like a regular Type layer. Once you commit the type by clicking the check mark in the Option Bar, it becomes a selection, and can no longer be edited as Type.