Help - Font changes weight on opposite page when using transparency

[nice_Dusk6035]

When I place a transparent rectangle behind some text, to make it more readable, the font of the text on the opposite page changes in weight. 

It's not only a preview error in InDesign, because when I export it as a PDF the difference in font weight remains visible.

This is without the transparency:

This is with transparency on the left page, and the font weigth on the right page changes. 

On the next spread, the font is normal again.

The font I use is Jost.

Why does it do this and how can I fix it?

Please help.

Kind regards

[BobLevine]

Where are you looking at this? Acrobat? What are your export settings?

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @nice_Dusk6035,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing the details of the issue you’re experiencing with font weight changes when using transparency in InDesign. I understand how frustrating this could be, especially when it affects the final export and not just the preview.

To better assist you, could you please confirm your system specifications and the version of InDesign you are using? Additionally, does this issue happen with just this specific file, or does it occur in multiple files? If it’s isolated to this file, can you share both the InDesign file and the PDF export so we can investigate it further on our end?

Looking forward to your response!

Best,

Anshul Saini

[nice_Dusk6035]

Alright, it seems to be an InDesign and export problem, because when exporting this with the PDF/X-4:2010 standard, the issue is gone when looking at the PDF file.

Before I exported without any standard and only changed some settings from the [High Quality Print] preset. Then the font weight was different.

I can't go into further detail, sorry for that, because the deadline is in about half an hour. 

But thanks for reminding me of looking at the export settings again.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @nice_Dusk6035,

I'm glad to hear the issue was resolved using the PDF/X-4:2010 standard. This preset manages transparency and color profiles more effectively, which likely fixed the font weight inconsistency.

For future reference, it's best to stick with export standards like PDF/X-4 for print-ready files to avoid such issues. If you encounter anything similar, feel free to ask anytime!

Best,
Abhishek Rao