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Participant
Oct 28, 2026 1:16 PM UTC
Question

Transparent PNGs showing white background in InDesign

My work PC has recently been updated and I’ve had a new profile created which has knocked off my InDesign settings. Now when I open my design files, all images which are PNG files and have transparent backgrounds (in the original file source, not InDesign clipping), now have white boxes behind them. 

 

When opening the PNG image file in Photoshop or Explorer the background is transparent.

When I export the file as a PDF, the white backgrounds behind my PNGs disappear. So it is a display / performance setting within InDesign that I’m not finding.

 

The background fill for each container is set to None.

I have explored the different Display Performance settings such as ‘Typical Display’ and ‘High Quality Display’ and all have the same issue.

 

Thank you! 

    1 reply

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Oct 28, 2026 1:19 PM UTC

    Try to toggle GPU Performance in preferences. Will it make a difference?

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