PDF/X Files and Adobe Creative Suite 3

Preflighting a PDF/X file in Acrobat 8 Professional

It’s a good idea to preflight any document before you send it to a printer. The preflight feature in Acrobat 8 Professional can perform several functions in the creation of PDF/X files:

• It can quickly convert and validate a PDF file to the PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, or PDF/X-4 standard.
• It can validate a PDF/X file created by a CS3 component or by another application, if you want to verify the PDF/X file.
• It can convert PDF files to PDF/X standards using several built-in profiles, as well as custom preflight profiles, created for specific workflows or print conditions. These preflight profiles can analyze the file for any problems and verify that it meets the PDF/X standard as well as any additional criteria you provide (such as minimum image resolution). PDF/X preflight profiles also contain fixups, which correct common errors as the file is validated against the chosen PDF/X standard.

Work with your print provider or publisher to determine which preflight profile to use to confirm that the file meets your requirements. Your print provider or publisher may provide you with custom preflight profiles.

About preflight profiles

Acrobat 8 Professional includes two types of profiles in the Preflight dialog box (Figure 8):

• Analysis, or verification profiles check and report errors without correcting them. They appear at the bottom of the category list, indicated by a magnifying tool icon.
• Fixups, or correction profiles, correct PDF files as they are converted; a gray wrench icon indicates these profiles. (Profiles with a hollow wrench icon don’t include fixups.) Fixups can correct a broad range of errors that affect color, fonts, images, print production, compliance with international standards like PDF/X and PDF/A, and other areas. The Preflight tool also includes a toolkit for creating your own fixups; see Acrobat 8.0 Professional Help for more information.

For example, a verification profile would report that a file being converted to PDF/X-1a had RGB images, whereas a fixup would report the error and convert the images to CMYK color mode, according to the fixup rules in the preflight profile.

 

Figure 8. Magnifying glass icon indicating verification profile, and gray wrench icon indicating fixup

Preflighting PDF/X files

You can preflight a single document or use a preflight droplet to automate the process for multiple files.

To preflight a PDF/X file in Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Open the PDF/X file.
2. Choose Advanced > Preflight. The Preflight dialog box opens, with the PDF/X status of the document at the bottom of the dialog box (Figure 9)—either an icon labeled Not a PDF/X (Figure 10), indicating that the file has not been converted to PDF/X; or a PDF/X icon with a yellow question mark (Figure 11), indicating that the file’s conversion needs to be verified.

    

   

   Figure 9. Acrobat 8 Preflight dialog box with PDF/X status

    

   

   Figure 10. Convert Current PDF To PDF/X button

    

   

   Figure 11. Verify PDF/X button

3. Do one of the following:
   • Click the Convert Current PDF To PDF/X button, next to Not a PDF/X.
   • In the Profiles tab, click the arrow next to the PDF/X compliance category to expand its contents, and choose a profile that converts to the chosen PDF/X standard, such as Convert to PDF/X-1a (SWOP). A gray wrench icon indicates that the profile’s built-in fixups will correct PDF files to make them PDF/X compliant; a solid magnifying glass icon indicates that the profile will check for errors and report them without correction. Check Run Preflight profile without applying fixups, if you are sure that the PDF file was saved correctly in the originating application.
4. Click Execute to have Acrobat preflight the document and report any problems.
5. To display more information about the file, select the options at the bottom of the dialog box, Show Detailed Information About Document or Show Selected Page Element In Snap View.

Validating a PDF/X file

If you’ve created a PDF/X file from a CS3 component or from Acrobat Distiller, you should have a valid PDF/X file. If you want to verify the file against the same standard used to create it—especially if you received the file from someone else—you can use the Preflight feature in Acrobat 8 Professional to verify that the file is PDF/X compliant.

To validate a file against a specific printing condition in Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Open the PDF/X file that was created in another application.
2. Choose Advanced > Preflight to open the Preflight dialog box. The Verify PDF/X icon with a yellow question mark appears at the bottom of the dialog box, along with the PDF/X standard used to create the file.
3. Do one of the following (Figure 12):
   • Click the Verify PDF/X button. Preflight reports whether the PDF/X complies with the standard used to create it, displaying a green check mark next to the icon if the verification succeeds, and a red X if it fails.
   • In the Profiles window, click the arrow button next to PDF/X Compliance to display its contents, and choose a verification profile such as Verify Compliance With PDF/X1-a: 2001 Profile. A hollow wrench icon next to the profile indicates that the profile does not include fixups. Click Execute to run the preflight profile; click OK if an alert appears.

    

   

   Figure 12. Verify compliance to a PDF/X standard in Preflight

4. Click the Results tab to view the results of the preflighting in the Results pane (Figure 13).

    

   

   Figure 13. View the results of the verification profile

Applying fixups

You use the Preflight Profiles window to apply Acrobat profiles that include error corrections, called fixups. The Preflight feature includes more than 75 fixups that you can add to a profile; these cover a broad ranges of errors that affect color, fonts, images, and print production. A gray wrench icon next to a profile means that it has a fixup; a profile with a hollow wrench icon has no fixups associated with it.

In some workflows, you may need to customize a PDF/X profile, including its fixups. For example, you may need to customize a PDF/X preflight profile to convert colors to an ICC press profile supplied by your print provider, that differs from the default press specification. See Acrobat 8.0 Professional Help for more information on using fixups.

To apply a fixup to a PDF file:

1. Save a copy of the file to which you’ll apply the fixup, and continue this procedure using the backup copy. Fixups overwrite the existing file.
2. Choose Advanced > Preflight.
3. Click the Profiles tab at the top of the Preflight window, scroll to PDF Fixups and expand the list (Figure 14).

    

   

   Figure 14. PDF/X fixups in Profiles window

    

   

   Figure 15. Preflight Results window

4. In the PDF Fixups list, select an appropriate fixup for your document or workflow—such as Flatten Transparency (high resolution), and click Execute.

   A green check mark in the Preflight Results window (Figure 15) indicates that the file was converted successfully.

5. If desired, repeat step 4 to run additional fixups on the file to correct it.

Creating a custom preflight profile

Verifying that a file meets the PDF/X standard eliminates many common file preparation errors, but not all. For example, the standard doesn’t include a minimum resolution or limit the number of plates used. To ensure that your file meets all your printer’s requirements—not just those for the PDF/X standard itself—create a custom preflight profile or use one that your print shop provides. You can create profiles from scratch or by duplicating an existing profile.

To create a custom preflight profile in Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Choose Advanced > Preflight.
2. Click the Edit tab at the top of the Preflight dialog box. The Preflight: Edit Profile dialog box appears.
3. Choose from the following options:
   • To base the new profile on an existing profile, in the left pane of the dialog box, scroll to PDF/X Compliance; if needed, click the arrow button to display its profiles. Select the basic profile (such as Verify Compliance with PDF/X-1a:2001). If the profile is locked, choose Unlocked from the pop-up menu to gain access to options.
   • To create a new profile from scratch, click the New Profile button at the bottom left of the dialog box, and skip to step 5.
4. Click the Duplicate Profile button at the bottom left of the dialog box. Acrobat duplicates the profile (Figure 16) and appends the words “(Copy 1)” to its name.
5. Use the Name box to rename the profile, and in the Purpose box add a custom description.

    

   

   Figure 16. Customize a preflight profile by duplicating it and modifying the copy.

6. Select the area you want to edit in the left pane, such as Images. You can customize the checks and fixups within the profiles.
7. Click the button next to the issue you want to identify, and enter a value, if needed.

   For example, to warn you of any images with a resolution lower than 300 ppi, click the button next to Lower Than 0 Pixels Per Inch and choose Error (red X) or Warning (yellow caution sign) from the pop-up menu, and enter 300 in the box.

   Note: Rounding imprecision in the printing process may cause some images to be down­sampled to values below what the user specified. For example, if the setting is 300 ppi, a file containing an image that is 299.998 ppi will fail. You can avoid this problem by increasing the rounding by a small margin during the preflight operation.

8. When you have finished editing the profile, choose Locked to prevent changes.
9. Click Summary to display a summary of the errors the profile will identify (Figure 17).

    

   

   Figure 17. View a summary of the profile’s criteria.

10. Click Save. Acrobat adds the preflight profile to the list.

Automating the preflight process

You can use preflight droplets to preflight multiple files at a time to verify that they comply with the PDF/X standard and any other requirements specified in your preflight profile.

To create a preflight droplet in Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Choose Advanced > Preflight.
2. Choose Create Preflight Droplet from the Options menu in the Preflight dialog box (Figure 18).

    

   

   Figure 18. Choose Create Preflight Droplet from the Options menu.

3. In the Preflight: Droplet Setup dialog box, choose the preflight profile to use (Figure 19).

    

   

   Figure 19. Set up a preflight droplet to automate preflighting.

4. Specify where to move each PDF file if it meets the preflight criteria (Success folder) or if Acrobat identifies errors during preflight (Error folder). You can also create reports for successful and failed files.
5. Click Save.
6. Name the droplet and specify a location for it (usually the desktop).

   To use a droplet, just drag individual PDF files onto the droplet icon.

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