I haven’t been able to access the pre-release forums for years. Logging in just sends me right back to the welcome page on Mac and Windows in virtually every browser on the market. It’s just a constant loop of logging in and going back to the welcome page to log in again.

I’m not setting up yet another account just to provide feedback and file bug reports… if they can’t get their act together and stop using these stupid UserVoice (and whatever else service they use) forums, I’ll just use my time in other ways other than trying to help them with their beta software.

I think you need to look at your export settings closer. There is no way that all settings are exactly the same except for crops & bleeds. I would start by comparing the PDF version you’re exporting to, along with the resolution of images.

This sounds like it’s a transparency flattener issue. First, make sure you’re saving as a version 7 or higher PDF. Also, make sure the PSD/PNG image is set as the same color space as the color background. When you mix RGB and CMYK, the rendering engine has to rasterize the text that overlaps with the image and background – which is difficult enough, but even more difficult when the color spaces don’t match.