The import, creation, and display of transparent objects in InDesign continue to be the page-layout programs heads-above-the-rest feature. But do you know all the ways in which transparency appears in InDesign? Drop shadows, feathered effects, and knockouts are all considered transparencies in addition to opacity controls and blend modes.
Not understanding all of InDesign’s transparency options could lead to a failure to flatten — and ultimately a file that won’t print.
If you’re an InDesign user, you’ll want to keep this short overview of its transparency-creation features next to your monitor. We also include an explanation of the options to view transparent objects in InDesign.
We’ve posted these stories as PDF files. All you do is click the links “Creating Transparency in InDesign 2.0” and “Displaying Transparency in InDesign 2.0” to open the PDF files in your Web browser. You can also download the PDFs to your machine for later viewing.
To open the PDFs, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get it here:
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To learn how to configure your browser for viewing PDF files, see the Adobe Reader tech support page.
This article was last modified on March 10, 2025
This article was first published on September 24, 2003
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