Clear glue

Queen & Co. makes a sheer glue intended for acetate, but although it’s clear, it’s mainly for adding the acetate to shakers.

Regular glues may dry clear, but they don’t hold acetate well. The Queen & Co. glue remains tacky, so it holds the acetate.

Even glue that dries clear may show a bit through the acetate and look messy. I would consider attaching the acetate with brads, use photo corners, or at least cover the place under the glue with an epoxy dot or something and plan the placement of glue with that in mind. Extra small glue dots might work, especially if you have something decorative to cover them.

You could try using a double-sided adhesive sheet like this. I just tried it out with a scrap piece of plain acetate and cardstock. You can see the adhesive somewhat but at least it's consistent throughout, not just random globs (if that makes sense). If the acetate pieces are patterned, it would probably be less noticeable. Also, I wonder if a thin layer of spray adhesive might work?

I know that many people like to sew acetate pieces on so there's no glue to deal with, so if you have a sewing machine and like that look, it's an option.

While my current solution is to avoid problematic materials 😂, I found in the past that running small acetate pieces through the Xyron X & covering the entire back with adhesive is undetectable (& it adheres well to the page). Getting an even layer of adhesive on pieces too large to fit in the sticker maker posed a challenge & required strategic placement on the layout, so my everyday adhesive was applied where its covered by another page element.