"PDF Preflight"

By Leah Lothringer
PDF Store Support Team
Issue 22 for 2006

There are many reasons that you would want put your PDF files through their paces before committing them to print: errors in composition/copy, inaccurately stored color information, font/embedding problems... The list goes on. It all boils down to the fact that you need your PDF files to be foolproof and 100% portable before you send them away to be printed by someone who has not been a part of your design process and doesn't know firsthand how you want the final copy to look. Mistakes can be very costly and time-consuming to troubleshoot if they're not caught early. That's where PDF Preflight comes in. Visit Planet PDF to learn how preflight can fit into your workflow.

"PDF Preflight" is the process of detecting and fixing potential issues that may impede smooth and error-free printing of PDF documents. Acrobat 7.0 Professional includes some useful preflight functionality, but this is not contained in the standard edition or in versions of Acrobat before 6.0. Enfocus’ PitStop Professional allows for numerous preflight checks and fixes, along with the saving of repeatable action lists. This plug-in can even correct common errors automatically.

For those processing large volumes of documents destined for print, it may also be worth considering the use of PitStop Server, which allows the use of hot folders to check files based on standard or custom profiles.

Until next time, please browse PDF Store's Prepress & Print aisle for the complete range of PDF Prepress and print-related tools.