Known Participant

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White box showing up behind .ai file in InDesign. There should not be a white box. It should be transparent.

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
May 23, 2017
9 replies
36819 views

I have a vector logo that I downloaded from Brands of the World. Dropped it into InDesign on top of an image and there is a white box. So I opened it in Illustrator and made sure there was no white background on the image. I couldn't see one, so I copied the logo and dropped it into a new AI file to make sure there weren't any background layers or something from the original. Saved that and dropped into InDesign. Same deal. So I went back into AI and put a box behind the logo and colored it to make sure there was nothing weird going on with the logo. Sure enough, it's transparent. But I can't get it to be transparent in InDesign. And yes, I do have Display Performance set to High Quality Display. Any ideas why it would show transparent in AI and not in ID? Both programs are up to date CC.

Import and export

Correct answer Frans v.d. Geest

Place the file and make sure to activate the import options: there you can turn on the Tranparent background option.

Scott Citron

Legend

The other reason the the .ai file may appear with a white background in InDesign is if its creator failed to check the Create PDF Compatible File in the Illustrator Options Save dialog, shown here.

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi Alison5CB4 and amoinette,

yes, there is a default option. It's in the Import Options if you use the Place command for an AI, a PDF or an InDesign Page. So if you want to change the background from opaque to transparent when using CC Libraries with PDF like graphics, first import a PDF file from your file system and change the Import Options to your desire.

Only then drag that item out of a CC Library.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

A

amoinette

Participating Frequently

Thank you, but I am asking if there is a default setting, so that this will be the same for every ai, pdf, etc image that is placed in IND and I don't need to use import options everytime...

L

Laubender

Community Expert

The answer is "no" if you think of a preference in the Preferences dialogs.

AI and PDF share the same import dialog. Let's see, there are PNG import options, that are a bit different, but I think, that's it. EPS, JPEG, TIFF or PSD have no option in that direction…

And it is also "yes", because checking this settings once in the Import Options defines it as default value.

( Until you have to trash InDesign preferences folder and files. )

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

A

Alison5CB4

Participant

This same problem happens when placing an AI image using CC Libraries. There are no import options showing up when I place the CC Library item. Is there a preference setting or workaround? BTW this didn't use to happen with AI files placed from CC Libraries and it's really causing me excess work to update old files.

Thank you,

A

amoinette

Participating Frequently

Is there a default option that can be changed?

O

orenzurshavit

Participant

Worked like a charm. Thanks!

Gribbsss

Participant

That doesn't work for me. My Creative Cloud .png and .ai graphics load with a white background. I tried placing into InDesign directly (with transparency selected, same problem.

j2studio

Participating Frequently

Thank you! Waw driving me nuts. Shouldn't there be a global setting to allow transparent imports at all times?

BobLevine

Community Expert

It's a sticky setting.

Frans v.d. Geest

Correct answer

Community Expert

Place the file and make sure to activate the import options: there you can turn on the Tranparent background option.

R

rickb71651099Author

Known Participant

THERE WE GO. That works. So odd. I've never had to do that before when dragging an image with a transparent background from the finder into an InDesign window. But now I know about that option. Thank you!

Dov Isaacs

Legend

Not when dragging from a file folder (in Finder) directly into an open ID window. Only when using the Place command. When dragging straight from a file folder into ID, because there are no options, it should respect the transparency. Again, not sure why it would want to put a white box behind a transparent image wether dragging a file into ID or using the Place command. Whats the point of that?

Quite frankly, dragon-drop of content into InDesign documents is really not best workflow practice. I am sure that we would get complaints if when doing dragon-drop from either the Finder (MacOS) or Explorer (Windows), we suddenly shoved an option-filled dialog box in front of you.

That having been said, providing a white background for placed PDF content avoids some serious overhead for placed content with transparency when transparency really isn't required. There is an argument both ways, for better or worse.

In the general case, use the Place command and you can choose whatever options you want including, for image file formats, overrides on rendering intents, ICC profiles, etc.

- Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)