The preflight

Every job is checked before it can go. A stop holds it, a look is your call, every finding says what to do, and Fix these issues clears them in one go.

What it does

The preflight reads the job and sorts what it finds into two kinds:

  • A stop: the press cannot make this, or would make it differently from the preview. It holds the job, and nothing on any screen clicks past it.
  • A look: it can be made, and somebody should know before it is. It is a call left to you.

It opens first on the right-hand panel, as the Preflight tab. Its count stays visible from every other tab, as the red number on Put on a press… and a line at the foot such as 1 thing preventing printing.

Among the stops: a missing Quick Set, a sheet wider than the roll or over the stock's maximum, a kiss-cut asked of film with no liner, a design under the cutter's minimum, a gap below what the blade can separate, and pieces in a registration mark's clear band. Among the looks: a picture under 150 DPI at its printed size, a narrow neck that will tear when weeded, a sheet that is mostly waste, and only part of the roll used.

Over the list is Fix these issues. Pressing it changes nothing at first. It shows each fix ticked, with what it would change in your unit, for example Big goes from 30″ × 20″ to 24″ × 18″, and every finding it leaves alone, with why. Only Make the fixes changes the sheet, as one change, so one Undo takes them all back. Then it reads the preflight again and says how many cleared and whether a stop still holds the job.

Why it matters for your shop

  • The checking happens before the press, not at it. Anything that would waste material, jam a cutter or come out as something other than the preview is a stop. A job goes from your screen to the press without anybody checking it on the way.
  • A stop you cannot click past is a stop people respect. A warning that blocks is a warning people learn to click past. So only judgement calls are looks.
  • Every finding says what to do. Under each is What is this?, which opens the Feature library at the entry that explains it.
  • Studio never guesses. A fix is only ever the one its finding's own button makes. A finding with no fix is a choice only you can make. An un-flip of a flipped design is offered but left unticked, because the flip may be meant.

How to use it

  1. Open the Preflight tab at any time while you work.
  2. Read each finding. Press What is this? under one you do not know.
  3. Press Fix these issues, read what it would change, and press Make the fixes. Undo takes them all back.
  4. For a finding it left alone, follow its words: change the job, or the stock's settings.
  5. When no stop is left, the red count goes and Put on a press… opens the hand-over.

Learn more

Read the preflight is the how-to guide.

The preflight | Postpress