Background missing when exporting from indesign to pdf

I'm a little late to the party, but I was having the same issue and the acrobat setting didn't fix it.

For me, the problem was with my export.

Make sure you have export layers set to All.

I'm very new to InDesign so im not sure why this works, but im guessing I messed something up when making my project.

This worked. THANK YOU!

But, how would it get changed? Never happened before?

YES!! So helpful thank you.

Same problem... Unchecking "Replace Document Colors" in Accessibility worked.

This was driving me nuts because the new Acrobat interface was driving me nuts ...

I thought it was a print spreads vs. print pages issue (spreads worked).

It turns out I clicked on "Acrobat>preferences>Categories>Accessibility> Replace document colors" earlier in the month because I was desperately trying to alter the interface contrast so I could differentiate the scroll bars from the tool sliders.

Uncheck this preference and it's all back to normal ... a crappy new normal.

Same problem, this worked for me

If background color disappears try Acrobat>preferences>Categories>Accessibility> (uncheck) Replace document colors 

This is still an issue with CS6 and Adobe hasn't figured it out. In fact, they don't provide support for CS6 anymore; nor, for any version of Reader at all. It is a random thing that happens on my computer and not Adobe's. It even is random on my computer. Sometimes it happens on certain files. Sometimes it doesn't. It happens in Acrobat and Reader, but the same file will look slightly different in the two programs. BCNisly86's solution is the only correct solution to fix this bug that Adobe ignores. The problem is that you have to hope or make sure that every single recipient of your PDF file doesn't change his/her background color settings in Reader or Acrobat because Acrobat and Reader have no clue how to differentiate the PDF page background from the object's background or a simple Illustrator color fill on the page. Note to Adobe: 1. Listen to your customers; 2. Test your product.

Hi,

I am having this same problem right now (2013) and trying to find a way to solve it. I have never had this issue in the past. The example file i am working on is a document that prior to now had no issue exporting the black box in the background. Its not just black as I have tried normal black, rich black, red etc.

I am working in CS5.5 with all software up to date.

I have tried saving the file as an IDML and reopening to see if it will 'debug' the file. I have exported the PDF as every kind of option. I have restarted the computer and the program several times.

Similar to the above replies, reducing the size of the box to something small fixes the issue. But obviously doesnt solve the problem as when you go back to a large box it disappears again. On a few tests, putting a different black box underneath the large one has made it show up, however this is not consistent as testing it a second time produced a different result.

I have also just tested this issue in a new file sent to me by a client. They sent me an Indesign file and a PDF (exported at their end) and my Acrobat does not show up the black background or a photo sitting on top of this. The whole page is just blank when viewing in Acrobat.

I have CS5 and I am having the same problem. Except even when I try to print directly from the PSD I still get no background color