Reading a Preflight Result

The result line answers "what should I do with this file?" at a glance. The table below summarizes what each result means and what you should do.

Result	Meaning	What to do
Ready	The check was clean and fully completed; desktop or server analysis found nothing.	Attach the report for your print shop.
Ready (checked in the browser)	The check in the browser was clean and fully completed. It is not a production or server approval.	Attach the report; for a critical job ask for a desktop/server check.
No issues found in the pre-check	The tool found no error or warning, but the result is preliminary because the source of the measurements could not be verified. This is not Ready.	Read the findings and treat it like Review; ask your print shop.
Review	There is an error, a warning or an information note; or the file came out clean but the source of the measurement was not verified.	Look at the findings; fix and re-check if needed.
Could not be evaluated	The check could not be done or could not be completed on this file (for example, the file exceeded a limit, a rule could not be decided, the run stopped).	Split or simplify the file, or tell your print shop.

When is "Ready" given?

Ready is given only if all of the following are true:

• The decision is clean and there are no findings.
• No rule is left undecided.
• At least one rule was really evaluated.
• The check was fully completed.
• The file's structure was read reliably (it was not read by repairing it).
• The source of the measurement was verified: the result comes from desktop or server analysis.

Even an information note keeps the file in Review. This is deliberate: it protects what the word "Ready" means.

When the browser pre-check cannot verify the source of the measurement itself, you see No issues found in the pre-check. That does not mean "Ready"; it only says the tool found no error or warning. In the single-file result header, browser results can also appear as Operator review; that is not Ready either.

"Could not be evaluated" is not a pass

If a rule cannot be measured on this file, the tool shows it neither as passed nor as blocked. The report states how many rules could not be evaluated. It does not mean there is a problem in the file; it means the check could not be done for this file. If the file exceeded the size and scope limit, it is marked the same way and is not counted as Ready. If the run stopped or was cancelled, the result is also Could not be evaluated.

Common findings

RGB is not an error

An RGB image or text is not an error by itself. If your target is PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3, the tool reports RGB as a finding. Note that the tool does not convert RGB to CMYK: colour conversion is the RIP's job.

Small text in more than one ink

If text smaller than the profile's limit (8 pt in the print profiles) is built from more than one ink, for example RGB or four-colour CMYK, the check flags it: any slip between the plates puts a coloured fringe on the letters. Set it in a single ink (for example 100% black) or make it larger in the program the file was made in. The tool does not change it for you.

Hairlines

A line thinner than the profile's minimum (0.125 pt in the print profiles) may print broken or not at all. Set it to at least that width in the program the file was made in; the tool only reports it.

Total ink

Total ink (TAC) is the sum of the cyan, magenta, yellow and black percentages that overlap at a point. The limit comes from the Screen against selector: 330 % for Print baseline, 280 % for Print baseline — uncoated. The PDF/X profiles have no limit in this tool. The paper type is not guessed from the file; you choose whether it is coated or uncoated.

Here Preflight measures a lower bound: the real value cannot be lower than the measured one, but it can be higher because of overprint. If the measured value exceeds the limit, a warning appears. If a page region cannot be measured, this rule becomes could not be evaluated; the part that could not be measured is not counted as zero. For newsprint, SC and a limit you type in, see the ink-limit workflows on the Components, Templates and Workflows page.

Bleed

A missing bleed area is reported as a finding. Missing bleed is warned about edge by edge. A finding is serious only when content touches an edge that will be cut and there is no bleed, because a white sliver can remain at the cut.

Active content

JavaScript and embedded files are useless in print and a security risk. The tool reports them as findings; they are always removed from an edited copy. The cleaned file still stays in Review, and your original file is kept.

Results of workflow runs

A workflow run uses its own wording, not the table above (see Components, Templates and Workflows). The line under the run is usually one of these:

• "The workflow ended: every path completed."
• "The workflow ended at a point where a person needs to look. Check the steps before using the file." (review)
• "The workflow ended on a path that was turned down." (rejected)
• "The run stopped at a step and could not go on. Check the steps." (stopped)
• If the steps say "A person needs to look at the cleaned parts before they go to a machine; the run stopped here. The parts can be downloaded below.", the run stopped before the machine for safety reasons; the parts were not sent to a machine.
• "The workflow ended, but at least one step left through “unknown”, failed or attention. Check the steps before using the file." (ended with issues)

A run summary can show the line Ready (checked in the browser) for the check step, as information only. The run still ends in review, because the browser's basic check cannot give a Ready result. The preflight that runs on the server also does only the basic checks, never gives Ready, and always leaves the result to a person. No workflow result is a print approval.

The summary in a shared report

A report shared as a link for a single file also has a What needs fixing? summary. It lists the errors found, grouped by kind, and does not change the result. The report also has frames that show on which page the findings are, a way to download the findings as CSV or JSON, and a Document facts section. See Shareable Preflight Report.

When you share the result

When you send the report to your print shop, do not replace the result line with your own interpretation. The report carries "what we measured, what we could not"; your print shop's preflight makes its own decision on top of that.