Sometimes the anchored object is a frame and background for a section of copy that is beyond the features of border/shading paragraph styles. So that the frame moves with the copy, it's best as an anchored object, but it needs to be behind the copy.

"What are the use cases wherein you need that the text appears specifically on top of inline anchored image?"

I have a better question, what POSSIBLE reason would you have for needing to put text BEHIND an image where you can't read it????

Here's a use case for you. You need to use a banner or some other sort of graphic for your titles. Something nicer than the boring boxes you can create in indesign as shading or borders. It needs to be BEHIND the text of the title, for obvious reasons. You have 1000 page document with titles throughout.

Currently, you can anchor it inline with the text in the text box and set the "space after" to a negative value in the anchored objects settings box. But this is clunky and means the graphic is restrained within the text box when you probably want it just outside and into the margin.

Alternatively, you have to paste it into the text box with the Title text already on it, as a group. But this is again still constrained by the confines of the text box.

There is virtually no way to achieve what I frequently need to achieve without leaving my title banners floating around in mid air and having to find and reposition them all every time someone wants to add or remove something from a document.

If you google how to do this there are 100s of examples of why, when and where people want this feature, not to mention all the comments already on this thread of people telling you exactly what you've asked for. Why is this still sat here, 4.5 years later, and we are all STILL trying to figure out why this completely ridiculous feature hasn't changed and how we are meant to bodge stuff together to fix it for ourselves.

It is explained perfectly in this thread here by steefv81041324 :
https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/anchored-object-behind-text/td-p/10781132

"I made a screenshot to explain the problem(s). I do understand the work-a-rounds explained in the replies and can (or could) use them. But I feel that this is a lack in Indesign. Or maybe I just asked the question wrong...

I'm designing a menu card for a lunchroom.

There are different symbols to give explanation to a dish.

Those symbols need to be in the exact same position for each dish. I'm still playing around with the size of the typography and the order of the dishes. That is why I anchored the objects to the text. So when I move the text, the objects will move along.

As you see with the 'Why not?" the star is in front of the text and I want it to be behind the text.

Also you can see that the second hexagon behind the 'Blue Monday' is in front of the first and with the 'Grow Up'' the second hexagon is behind the first...

But... when the objects are anchored to the text I loss any ability to change the order.

Would it be e good feature(request) to make this possible?

OR

Is there another (better) way to get this working? "

I also have issues when I'm making my InDesign documents accessible by making them read out loud. I have to anchor images to text boxes to allow the read out loud function to read the alt-text embedded in the image. But when I anchor the image to the text box, the image then moves to sit in front of the text box so covering the text (especially annoying when it's a full bleed image where I had text sitting on top of it).

Please fix!

We use anchored objects as "call out" boxes on menus. Often if the menu has a background, we'll use the transparency multiply function on the call out box. Using a fill/transparency on an object means it has to go behind the text. If the box is anchored to move with the menu item, it doesn't sit behind.

If transparency effects were added to the para styles panel, this would be less needed.

How is this seemingly still not resolved? Creating stylized backgrounds for text seems like an extremely basic feature. I literally ran into this issue in my first month using the program.

This is what we need. Text running in the foreground of anchored Objects. Wether stylized with Underlines or just Plain Text. Make it a Checkbox and everybody is happy.

Hi @Abhinav,
Don't know if you'll see my message as I comment 3,5y later...

I want to use anchor objects for specific graphics underlining for example, as Rainer Klute also commented 2 weeks ago.
But I am sure I could also use it for other reasons once it is implemented.

I give an example in a screenshot: I use a graphic object to fully underline the word/sentence. The last green one on the left is simply anchored: it goes on top of my text.

My workaround is to change the fusion effect of my object, but it isn't so satisfying. and might not work with everything.

Beside all the other useful cases mentioned here…

Because underlining a text has its limits :-( it could be an idea to add the underline stroke as an anchored graphic or colored frame. For this case it would be useful to have the possibility to put anchored stuff in the background when they are anchored.

I am facing the same problem. I am doing the layout of epub and need to anchor object in full page in background behind the text frame, but its not working. see attached image and help please.

When I place a picture to be set in line with text-it doesn't place properly. It places it way above where I want it. This only started happening when we switched to Google fonts.

Chiming in - I'm setting up a list of travel locations on a map - as new points of interest are added or removed, the list shifts frequently. The client wants the list "bulleted" with numbers in colored boxes, where the colors communicate different things about the destination. I found this thread while trying to find a way to make this bulleting clean and consistent - currently the colored boxes are located on a layer below the bullet list, and have to be manually positioned to align with each number, and every time the content within moves they all have to be adjusted again.

I was hoping that I could anchor the little boxes to the header lines so they would follow their associated bullets, but if they're going to cover the bullet numbers, the point is moot. The only other way I can think that would keep me from having to adjust for the shifting baselines every single time there's a change would be to have a custom font/character set to use for bullets, which is quite a tall ask for a bullet with a background.

Example: all headings begin with an illustration and the heading text is meant to run on top of this illustration. The illustration ought to be anchored to the heading.

There is no good workaround. You have to keep moving the illustrations manually to where the headings are.

It is very simple, if you put object behind text and anchor it to text it should remain behind text and not get moved in front of it like it works right now. The anchor option just doesn't work as intended in any case where anchored object is below what ever you are anchoring it to. Anchor should honor InDesign object layering. There is no workaround for this. Why is this not fixed as of December 2021? :(

As the OP has not responded to Abhinav, allow me.

In our situation, we have a specific table layout with anchored images. Sometimes a font extends past the bounds of the table cell. See attached. Top example, font resides with the cell. Bottom example, the V extends outside the cell, under the anchored image. To fix this currently, I'll have to shift all images left by a small amount. Changing cell padding at this stage is not be feasible.

Thus, being able to arrange an anchored object is very useful.

This is the second major flaw in indesign I come across in 1 DAY, the other being with gpu performance activated the text will disappear until scrolling or zooming in/out). And it's the second major flaw that adobe doesn't want to do anything about SINCE YEARS AGO!
How is this possible, how such a big company can ignore the needs of so many customers is beyond me.

Another example. I can't send this transparent and anchored image behind the text even when trying to do this from layers panel.

YES this would be super helpful. I was having trouble with this earlier in the year and had to try all different things to get what I needed.

here are two quick examples:

(1) Say I want to set an initial icon into the beginning of a paragraph and I want it anchored to the beginning of the first line of that paragraph, the wrap wont hold on that first line—see screenshots 1 & 2

(2) Say I want to set an image at the top of a page, but the specific mention of said image is below the image's placement. Ideally I would want to anchor the image to it's mention in the text, but placing an anchored image before its anchor disables the wrap—see screenshots 3 & 4.

Here's one: I have an annual report for a large development charity. They have projects all over the world. There is a section for each continent. Each of these sections begins with a map of the continent positioned behind the text. All the text is in one story, which is edited as I work on the layout. Some projects are added or omitted to the AR as I work. If the continental map were an inline graphic I could save a bunch of time. The workaround is the maps are not inline graphics so have to be moved separately from the text.

@Abhinav there are plenty of examples in the comments of those voting even if not in the original post.