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meckstein227
Participant
July 13, 2026
Answered

I cannot export a PNG with outer glow effect

  • July 13, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 64 views

Hi all. I am trying to export a PNG file that is only one line of text with an outer shadow effect. No other layers or elements. Just the text with an effect. 

When I first created the file I tried a drop shadow. But when I exported it, I realized it didn’t look good and I continued working on it. However now every export looks like the version with the drop shadow despite all the changes I’ve made in the software. This has never happened before.

The design exports fine as any other file type (PDF looks fine). But it has to be PNG because I need a transparent background. 

When I add additional lines of text they show up in the PNG, but the drop shadow never goes away.

I’ve restarted my computer (MAC), uninstalled InDesign, reset preferences, I’ve even recreated the entire design from scratch using a new file name and the same image shows up whenever I export a PNG. I am losing my mind, please help. 

 

    Correct answer Abhishek Rao

    Hi ​@meckstein227,

     

    I wanted to share a quick update on this issue.

    The product team has confirmed that a fix for the drop shadow rendering issue is now available in the latest InDesign 21.5 PreRelease build. Since your PNG export behavior appears to be related to the same underlying issue, we'd appreciate it if you could install the latest 21.5 PreRelease build and let us know whether the problem is resolved.

    The fix will also be included in an upcoming public release, so if you don't have access to the PreRelease build, it will be available soon.

    If you'd like to test the fix early, you can join the InDesign PreRelease program here:

    https://www.adobeprerelease.com/beta/C6DFA254-C40C-4EEB-8F6D-F4AEDA2E6171

    Enrollment instructions:
    https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/invitation-to-indesign-prerelease/td-p/12371924

     

    Please let us know if the latest 21.5 PreRelease build resolves the issue. We look forward to your update.

    Abhishek

     

    (Moderator notes: Marking the answer correct for better visibility.)

    5 replies

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    leo.rCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 14, 2026

    InDesign 2026 has known issues with exporting PNG with drop shadow. I don’t think that users ever mentioned outer glow, but that’s maybe because nobody tried. That’s only my guess. Here are some threads on the subject:

     

     

     

     

     

    https://www.reddit.com/r/indesign/comments/1ozh63j/anyone_else_getting_wayward_drop_shadows/

     

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    July 13, 2026

    Hello ​@meckstein227 

     

    That does sound strange. Would you mind sharing more details, like the version of InDesign installed, a sample INDD and exported file, and screenshots of the export settings used, so we can check this on our end?

    Looking forward to your response.
    Anubhav

    M
    meckstein227Author
    Participant
    July 13, 2026

    This is what the file looks like every time I try to export. 

     

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    July 14, 2026

    Hi ​@meckstein227,

     

    I'm sorry you're experiencing this issue, and thanks for reporting it.

    I tried reproducing your workflow on InDesign 21.4.1, but I wasn't able to reproduce the behavior. After replacing the Drop Shadow with an Outer Glow, the PNG exported correctly with the updated effect on my end.

    As the expert mentioned, this could be related to the existing drop shadow rendering issue. However, before we conclude that, I'd like to first determine whether the behavior is specific to your document. Could you please check if the same issue occurs in a newly created InDesign document? If possible, we'd also appreciate it if you could share the affected file after packaging it (File > Package) so we can investigate further: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/preflighting-files-handoff.html#package_files. If the file contains confidential information, feel free to share it with us via Direct Message using a cloud-sharing service such as Google Drive or Dropbox.

    In the meantime, you can also try a few workarounds and update with your observations: 

    • Save the document as IDML, reopen it, and export again.

    • Move the page to a brand-new InDesign document instead of simply reopening the IDML.

    • Toggle View > Proof Colors and try exporting again. 

     

    Looking forward to your update so we can determine whether this is related to the ongoing drop shadow rendering issue or a separate problem.

    Abhishek

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    July 21, 2026

    Hi ​@meckstein227,

     

    I wanted to share a quick update on this issue.

    The product team has confirmed that a fix for the drop shadow rendering issue is now available in the latest InDesign 21.5 PreRelease build. Since your PNG export behavior appears to be related to the same underlying issue, we'd appreciate it if you could install the latest 21.5 PreRelease build and let us know whether the problem is resolved.

    The fix will also be included in an upcoming public release, so if you don't have access to the PreRelease build, it will be available soon.

    If you'd like to test the fix early, you can join the InDesign PreRelease program here:

    https://www.adobeprerelease.com/beta/C6DFA254-C40C-4EEB-8F6D-F4AEDA2E6171

    Enrollment instructions:
    https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/invitation-to-indesign-prerelease/td-p/12371924

     

    Please let us know if the latest 21.5 PreRelease build resolves the issue. We look forward to your update.

    Abhishek

     

    (Moderator notes: Marking the answer correct for better visibility.)

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