PDF Preflight or Editing Software Features

Many vendors now offer products that help users generate optimized PDFs, as well as manage, inspect, and modify PDF files. The following briefly describes several software that can be used for PDF preflighting or editing.

1. Adobe's Arobat 6.0 Professional

The core of Acrobat 6.0 Professional preflighting capabilities is placed in Callas Software's pdfInspektor2, along with ICC profiles, to provide PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 generation and validation. At the same time, in order to preflight over 400 criteria in the PDF, the settings (rules and conditions) of the properties file can be predefined. Users can define new profiles or modify existing profiles by adding, deleting, or editing rules and conditions. You can also create continuous batches that can import or export profiles. During a preflight, if there is a conflict between the rules or conditions stated in a document priority and in the selected profile, they are listed in the preflight results and are optionally reported. pdfInspektor2 also provides a quick overview of the list of details identified in the preflight. After the preflight, you can add a confirmation icon to inform prepress service personnel and other users about the validity of PDF documents. The icon is embedded in the results of the Preflight Profile and Preflight Report, and a time icon is generated that allows the user to see if the file was changed at the preflight.

When integrating workflow products, pdfInspektor2 can also generate reports in XML format; when used with AutoPilot, pdfInspektor2 Auto can be used automatically. Automation is also the name of the processing/prepress program in the Callas software, which provides output centers and printers with a common server-based folder system to automatically monitor and pre-check received PDFs and convert them into PDF/X format.

2. Apago's PDF/X Checkup 3.0

PDF/X Checkup 3.0 is a plug-in for Adobe Acrobat for generating, preflighting, and automatically editing PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 files. Version 3.0 adds several new features, including PDF/X Plus workflow checking, and is compatible with Acrobat 6.0 and Mac OS X.

PDF/X Checkup 3.0 includes two additional plugins: ImageAlter and BoxEditor. ImageAlter allows the user to modify the resolution, compress the image, and change the image color of the PDF file. BoxEditor is a plug-in that quickly edits the bleed and cut frames required by PDF/X. It has a library for storing published specifications at any time. When the user clicks the "Fix All" button, Checkup automatically corrects most errors to produce a correct PDF. The /X file also adds any missing tags required by the PDF/X standard. In addition, Checkup can add or modify output intents, either using a registered name or using an ICC profile, as required by PDF/X. The Checkup Details window lists all the errors or warnings found during the preflight and stores the complete report as a text file. PDF/X Checkup can detect TrueType fonts, JPEG images, spot colors, image resolution, and more.

3. ARTS PDF ImageWorks 2.0 and Crackerjack 4.2

Both products provide some preflight features, although they are not considered as true preflight products, but they can be used as image editing and color separation tools, respectively.

ARTS PDF's ImageWorks allows you to perform color transformations, image modifications, and image resampling, all without having to leave Acrobat. ARTS PDF's Crackerjack allows you to examine PDF documents with embedded or unembedded fonts, with options for correcting, printing, or eliminating print jobs. ARTS PDF Print Suite Plus bundles these two products.

4. Creo's Synapse Prepare Pro 2.0

Synapse Prepare Pro 2.0 is a process tool for generating and preflighting upstream PDFs (targeted to high-end users), allowing users to quickly generate PDF files and precisely match the technical specifications of a specific printing environment. The product specifications provided by the printing press are given in the form of "instructions". Users can generate accurate PDF files from original applications such as QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign. The PDF can also include preflight information, and the press runs its customer's PDF files via Synapse Prepare Pro to perform preflight checks and generate reports. These reports are called log files and list general information, errors and warnings as well as fonts, colors, images, etc. Some errors can be automatically corrected (such as RGB conversion to CMYK), and some errors require the user to return to the original file for modification.