Text disappears when typing in text box

[Elaine5E3A]

I'm getting this issue where when I make any changes to text within a text box, like typing within it, cutting/pasteing, editing, etc. the text disappears. Sometimes it'll come back if I click out of the text box. Sometimes it comes back if I switch between normal and preview mode.

It doesn't happen every time, but often enough to be incredibly annoying.

I'm running:

• Mac OS 11.4
• Macbook Air M1 2020
• InDesign 16.2.1

[VicPh]

I also have this problem on my new 14" MBP. It seems to help if I close other applications, including Photoshop. Pretty pathetic to see this issue has been around for 6 months. Adobe seems to be going down the same sewer pipe as Apple.

[Fearless_artist5E5A]

wow and the new mbp 14" has minimum 16gb ram and strong gpu.

def adobe dropped the ball on the new M1 architecture. 

must be worse than we think, and there have been quite a few updates the past year and no fix yet...

[kamielk19930890]

I don't have the problem anymore since I bought a MacBook Pro 14" with 10 GPU

[yarahindawi]

I'm having this problem, even tho I followed instructions with font book validation and updating to 17.0.

I'm running:

• Mac 12.0.1
• iMac M1 2021
• InDesign 17.0

Is anyone else still experiencing this? It's making it very difficult to do any work.

[designer1955]

Yes unfortunately. And i have a t2 chipo. Nothing works. Bloody annoying.

[HanHuman]

Could be that old fonts such as PostScript Type 1 fonts cause problems. Adobe already planned to stop support for these. I don't have the issue on a Macmini 16Gb RAM - 512 ssd. I only installed quality, and relatively recent OTF font. No TTF and no s.h.i.t.t.y free fonts. So far so good.

So solutions here but this could be the cause. Try removing dodgy fonts and emptying font cache.

[kamielk19930890]

This is bullsh.. The problem acures also with OTF even with an clean font cache.

[HanHuman]

Well, I never had the problem with that Macmini so far.
Good luck finding a solution.

[Crystian Cruz]

The problem is not the fonts. I've recently purchased two iMacs, one for
the office and one for home, and installed InDesign from day one on each.
Each computer uses different fonts and files, being one only Helvetica and
the second Gill Sans. So no dodgy fonts whatsoever.

[ubergreg]

The issue of clean or dodgy font files misses the forest for the trees, I think.

Our fonts don't cause this issue with any of our other software packages (correct me if I'm wrong) only InDesign. Not Illustrator, or Photoshop, or After Effects, or any other Adobe software that manipulates type. (Adobe TypeKit fonts also disappear, and surely it doesn't get much 'cleaner' than that...)

Only InDesign has this issue, and I think the biggest frustration, apart from it not being resolved after the best part of a year, has been the absence of any direct acknowledgement of the problem or communication with the user base to let them know if there is any progress being made toward a solution, or what that progress looks like, or even an admission that this is a fundamental problem with InDesign that will take significant time and resources to address.

Something within InDesign simply doesn't play nice with M1 macs, and I don't think it's unfair for subscription-paying professionals who rely on this industry-standard software to expect more in the way of an explanation, or progress toward a solution.

To me, this feels like being given a sticking plaster/bandaid for my internal haemoraging. InDesign users are currently bleeding time and money...

[curious_smarts5C8D]

I spent an afternoon going over every setting possible. I just had to find a solution. Or start working ourselves towards a fix 🙂 

I found that activating 'Overprint View' removes the issue completely for me. No more disappearing text. If I play around with the 'Flattener preview' options the bug also seems to  disappear. So at Adobe, please have a look at how text is drawn on the screen? Or the transparancy. I don't know. It's probably not the font. I tested it in all kind of documents and everytime I turn on 'Overprint View' it's 'solved'. I still have to see it in action working on long documents for an extensive amount of time, but at the moment it seems to work. Does have an impact on performance. And colours are 'weird' when working on RGB documents of course. And I don't like to work where I don't see the bounding boxes etc... But for making hundreds of text corrections, without loosing my mind, it seems a good fix for now? Let's hope.... to be continued

[designer1955]

You are right. I tested it and if i switch it off problem starts immediately. Swith it on and its okay. Brillant man

[ConciergeMarketing]

This is so frustrating!  I am not on a Mac and I'm not having success.  I'm working on a 320 page book and I'm stuck on page 15. I turned off Overprint Preview (It is different on a PC???) but it still doesn't show the text. When I go to Story Editor, the text is there, but it says it is overset.  When I look for the overset button, it is not there.  All the pages are threaded, but NO TEXT shows.  I am at the end of my rope on this, as I had gotten to the end of the document and just went in to change one font.  The author had done a TON of formatting in Word, which I was trying to undo by reassigning styles (varied indents and line spacing -- poets!)

I just want the text to reflow. Any advice?

[Laubender]

Hi ConciergeMarketing,

your issue is something entirely different to what is discussed here in this long thread.

Overset text is not the topic here.

I suggest that you open your own discussion.

Thanks,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[designer1955]

Congierge you turned overprint preview off, it should be on. (see andersmak contributiion.) Maybe make an idml and try again (maybe in older version of Indesign? With me usually scrollling up and down resolves the issue. I get your frustration. I had the same with a 600 page book. Took days to correct it.

[ConciergeMarketing]

I've turned it on and off and on and off for 2 days. Tried everything except the idml. That didn't work either. Thank you so much.  

[Fearless_artist5E5A]

Turn off your mouse and keyboard. And turn off your computer. Uninstall Adobe. Worked for me.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

@ConciergeMarketing  Select all the text and check that No Break is on or keep with next/previous paragraph is on. Message me if you can't figure it out.

[Raindogg]

I wasn't getting it before, but now I am after I just updated InDesign.  It only happens on my M1 iMac, not my M1Max. 

M1 iMac running 12.1  16GB Ram, 2TB drive. 

InDesign version 17.0.1

Works fine on my M1 Max Macbook Pro (24 Core GPU, 32GB Ram, 2TB Drive) running 12.1

[Design Proof]

It's now December and still no fix?   Everything suggested so far is a temporary fix and the problem comes back.  Not just sometimes - all the time.  Every single time I type in a text box, it goes invisible until you nudge it left or right.  Then returns until next time you type.  Cost per month of this program in a professional setting is killing my business!  

[imsg]

Unbelievable this, its been 6 months and theyve still not fixed it - im resorting to using illustrator more than InDesign now on my M1 MacBook! Im dreading upgrading my intel imac to the M1s now as InDesign is my daily driver - can you imagine having this isuue when designing 100 page + reports!! I might give Adobe a call and see what they say - better than ghost typing!!!

[Fearless_artist5E5A]

Agreed. As much as i have enjoyed leveling up on this community forum, i think it's time we take it to the higher courts. We need to call, email, and submit support tickets directly from our Adobe $$$ subscription accounts. It's clear this community forum is just that, a community forum. This is not going to attract their attention. But if you call your support agent and threaten to cancel your subscription, i think the response will be heard.

I'm contacting Adobe now.

[johng2900620]

A post earlier in this discussion had a helpful tip - not a fix - but a way to refresh (redraw) the text without zooming or scrolling. The quick keys to refresh the text are Option - Command - /. I've found this to be more conventient usually, and that as time goes by working within a document, that my text issues decline.

Adobe, fix this problem. I'm already moving on to Affinity Designer. As soon as I'm comfortable moving my clients, I'll be cancelling my Adobe pay-through-the-nose subscriptions for our tiny agency.

Happy holidays everyone!

[Design Proof]

This will speed things up a little - so thank you.  Yes, it should have been fixed by now.

[tinas9375709]

Thanks John. I'll give it a go. This is a huge flaw on Adobe's part. Disappointing to say the least that they haven't addressed it. I'll look into Affinity Designer as well. 🙂