Can I see transparency in InDesign?

Hi @Snowdog63 ,

another thing you can do is to export the pages to PDF/X-4 without reducing transparency.

Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro and enable the feature to show transparency.

In Acrobat Pro go to:

Preferences > Page Display > Page Content and Information
[ x ] Show transparency grid

That will give you also a checkerboard where transparency is.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

Hi @Snowdog63 , Also, not sure if this helps, but InDesign has the Flattener Preview panel which shows how a spread with any transparent object will be flattened for print using a selected Flattener Preset.

Hi Snowdog,

A page layout software is predicated on the assumption that there is a piece of paper behind all the text and images you place. It does not explicitly have a View > Transparency like AI and PS. You cannot print ink on nothingness. Hence, the way InDesign is philosophically designed favoring the printing press.

But you could:

1. Turn on the view of the Document Grid (having made sure the Preferences show the grid in back).

2. You can also edit the color of default swatch "Paper" to some other shade of colored paperstock. This is merely a simulation, since Paper is the absence of any ink in the printing process. But you cannot edit the Paper swatch to look like a checkerboard.

3. You could make a checkerboard pretty easily in Illustrator, then place it into InDesign document on non-print bottom layer of a Parent page, but that is a lot of trouble.