Font style getting reset to default/random in GIMP

Question

I have various text layers in GIMP, all with different formatting (boldness, size, font). If I write additional text in the middle/end of any of them, it keeps the original formatting that layer has. But if I delete/select the whole text inside the box, and write something, it replaces the formatting with the formatting of the previous text box. Or with the default. Or sometimes it still keeps the formatting.

What is going on? How is GIMP's mechanism working? It is super annoying to always check because I never get the behaviour I would expect. I would prefer that each text box keeps it's formatting, even if I delete the whole text.

Answer 1

It might seem random, but it's not.

There are two distinct ways to set a font in GIMP, either in the Tool Options for the Text tool, or in the Text Toolbox.

Both settings are different and have different behaviours.

If you set a font in the Tool Options for the Text Tool, GIMP remembers that setting per text layer. Different text layers have their own font setting, which GIMP remembers. You can think of it like the default setting for that particular text layer.

Example of the Text Tool Options:

If you set a font in the Text Toolbox, it applies only to the selected text. In this way you can actually have different fonts within the same text box. However this does not change the font set in the Text Tool Options (i.e the default font for that specific text layer). GIMP still remembers that original font setting for the text layer, even if you changed the font setting for all the text in the Text Toolbox

Example of the Text Toolbox

If you replace all the text in the text box, GIMP reverts to the choice of font made in the Tool Options (i.e. the default font set for that layer).

If you type some new text in the middle of the line, the font matches the adjacent characters and doesn't change.