InDesign

Change the appearance of transparent artwork on-screen

Use the Display Performance dialog box to set transparency preferences. These preferences determine the on-screen quality of transparent objects in new documents and in documents saved with modified preferences. You can also set the preferences to turn on or off the display of transparency in the document. Turning off transparency in the display preferences doesn’t turn off transparency when printing or exporting the file.

Note: Before you print a file containing transparency effects, make sure that you check the transparency preferences first. Printing automatically flattens the artwork, and may affect the appearance of the transparency effects.
  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Display Performance (Windows) or Adobe InDesign > Preferences > Display Performance (Mac OS).
  2. Select an option (Fast, Typical, High Quality) in the Adjust View Settings section to determine the on-screen resolution of any effect in the document. The settings you change apply only to the option you select here:

    • Fast turns off transparency and sets the resolution to 24 dpi.

    • Typical displays low-resolution effects and sets the resolution to 72 dpi.

    • High Quality improves the display of effects, especially in PDF and EPS files, and sets the resolution to 144 dpi.

  3. Drag the Transparency slider. The default setting is Medium Quality, which displays drop shadows and feathering.
  4. Click OK.
  5. When inks overlap with blend modes, choose View > Overprint Preview. This option ensures that you can see on-screen how any inks interact with transparency.
Use the View menu to quickly change transparency display between Fast Display, Typical Display, and High Quality Display.