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Attroll
Inspiring
March 14, 2024
Answered

Seeing line on my monitor when using InDesign

  • March 14, 2024
  • 5 replies
  • 4292 views

Seeing line on my monitor when using InDesign

 

I am seeing lines on my 4K monitor when using Adobe InDesign and they are not always in the same place. They are only showing up when using Adobe InDesign right now. This tells me that it is an issue with Adobe and not the monitor.

The odd thing about the lines is that when I zoom in on the document that shows the line they disappear. When I zoom back out the line is gone.

This is irritating because it looks like lines in my document, and I have to make sure they are not actual lines in the document before I continue working on the document.

I will attach a few images to show what I am referring to.

 

I have a new laptop and 4k monitor.

I went overboard on this laptop just to make sure it would handle Adobe products.

 

Is there a fix for this?

Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

Sorry, I lost track of this thread or I would have replied much sooner. 🙂

 

You're correct in that Windows does not have any control of GPU acceleration — to the best of my knowledge, ID doesn't use the feature. (And from what I can tell, it's a hit or miss proposition on Macs and seems to be better/often recommended to be disabled.) This is not really the kind of fault GPU issues cause on Macs, anyway.

 

To complete what I said earlier, laptops in particular often have one or more utilities or display driver features that help optimize a standard video resolution to an exact display panel in resolution, color depth, slight blurring or sharpening, type enhancement etc. I don't know anything about your Dell, but if you go through all the video and display settings, you'll likely find these "helper" or enhancement settings; turn them all off. Anything that purports to improve the display, or type (with ClearType being the primary version of that) or anything... turn it off. I suspect that will eliminate the lines. And you can then selectively turn those features back on and adjust them until the one that is actually causing the problem is located and can be... dealt with.

 

If it's not in that general arena.... I have no idea why ID alone would be faulting in this manner.

5 replies

Participating Frequently
April 25, 2025

I am having this same issue in Indesign 2025 20.3, on a Dell PC with Windows 11, with 4K BenQ monitors. I wasn't having this issue until I got the new monitors, but at the same time, I also had my RAM upgraded. I tried turning off ClearType, and uninstall and reinstall of ID. I can't use HDR on these monitors because IT didn't order the right cords, but I'm using sRGB color profile on both. When I scroll, the lines change as shown in the pictures. Always randomly. I also get artifacts if I type sometimes. I'm assuming this is a monitor or graphics card issue. It is very frustrating. Any tips on how to remediate would be appreciated.  

Attroll
AttrollAuthor
Inspiring
March 16, 2024

Here is another follow up on something else I discovered.

When I scroll the line does not disappear, it scrolls with the text.

If I zoom in and back out the line disappears.

 

I also forgot to mention the operating system that I am using.

I am using Windows 11 Pro.

It has been suggested for me to turn off GPU Performance in InDesign.

From everything that I have read, there is no option to turn off GPU Performance for Windows users.

If there is, then could someone tell me how so I can try this?

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
March 16, 2024

Sorry, I lost track of this thread or I would have replied much sooner. 🙂

 

You're correct in that Windows does not have any control of GPU acceleration — to the best of my knowledge, ID doesn't use the feature. (And from what I can tell, it's a hit or miss proposition on Macs and seems to be better/often recommended to be disabled.) This is not really the kind of fault GPU issues cause on Macs, anyway.

 

To complete what I said earlier, laptops in particular often have one or more utilities or display driver features that help optimize a standard video resolution to an exact display panel in resolution, color depth, slight blurring or sharpening, type enhancement etc. I don't know anything about your Dell, but if you go through all the video and display settings, you'll likely find these "helper" or enhancement settings; turn them all off. Anything that purports to improve the display, or type (with ClearType being the primary version of that) or anything... turn it off. I suspect that will eliminate the lines. And you can then selectively turn those features back on and adjust them until the one that is actually causing the problem is located and can be... dealt with.

 

If it's not in that general arena.... I have no idea why ID alone would be faulting in this manner.

Attroll
AttrollAuthor
Inspiring
April 10, 2024

Here is another follow-up to what I have also noticed.
I use an external 4K monitor and this was where my lines were showing up, on the external 4K monitor.
And before anyone asks, yes, my laptop display and drives are set up for 4K.

 

I noticed this week that the lines are not only displaying horizontally in InDesign with text, but also vertical in InDesign with text, sporadically.

 

I also decided to unplug my external 4K monitor and see if these lines also appeared on my laptop screen. The answer is, yes, they do also appear on my built-in laptop screen.

 

It does not matter what screen or monitor that I use, the lines appear sporadically horizontally and vertically with text. It only seems to be text that is triggering the display of these lines.

 

Still hoping that someone can help me get this resolved.

 

Rick

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 15, 2024

Do you have GPU Performance turned on in your InDesign preferences? If so try turning it off and see if that makes a difference.

Attroll
AttrollAuthor
Inspiring
March 15, 2024

Bill Selbert

I investigated trying to turn off GPU Performance but there is no option for that for Windows users.

It seems that only MAC users have this option. If there is a way to turn it off in Windows, please let me know.

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
March 15, 2024

Looking at your screen snips, I'd bet on some form of screen optimization like ClearType or the like causing the artifacts. It's probably a Dell app, not a Windows/MS one; go through your display settings and turn all the "helper" stuff off to see if that cures the issue.

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
March 14, 2024

You don't say what platform, OS and ID version you're using — these details do matter.

 

Are you sure you're not seeing various guide lines fade in and out of view with the changing zoom? This is a known problem, especially with Macs on a Retina display, if the guide settings are in certain ranges.

 

(And FWIW it probably has nothing to do with the system power; InDesign is happy on most mid-range systems of the present. Added power is useful for other Adobe apps, though.)

Rishabh_Tiwari
Community Manager
Community Manager
March 14, 2024

Hi,

 

Thank you for reaching out. If the lines disappear after zooming, would you mind checking if the display drivers are up to date as per the manufacturer's website? If it still doesn't resolve the issue, please try re-installing the display drivers and let us know if this resolves the issue or if you need further assistance. 

Thanks

Rishabh

Attroll
AttrollAuthor
Inspiring
March 15, 2024

Rishabh_Tiwari

This is a new Dell laptop that is less than a month old. The Dell monitor is new to and less than a month old.  I have verified that my drivers are all up to date on the manufacturer’s website.

I have also reinstalled the drives for the monitor a couple of time and that did not resolve the issue.

Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
March 16, 2024

@Attroll 

 

Do you have a discrete / dedicated GPU?

 

What exactly is the model of your DELL?