Generatinc PDF preflight reports

[Rustyspanner]

Hi,
I'm looking to move our basic preflight upstream to customer service, so files can be checked before the job is planned and subsequently ripped and imposed in prepress.
I would like to give our CSR's the ability to easily generate a preflight report out of Acrobat Pro which covers the basics.
I can get good reporting on low res images, fonts not embedded etc., but am struggling to get the trimbox size and page count reported.

• I can add a check to test the page size against predefined measurements, but the report only states 'page size is not x * y' - this is no good, I need to know what the page size is!
• I can add a check to test the page count against a predefined number, but again, it only reports 'number of pages is not x', I need to know what the number of pages is!

I don't want the CSR's to have to take multiple steps to check all characteristics of the job, and furthermore, would like a single page report which can become part of the job.

We run Prinergy with Rules Based Automation which can add extra capability, but I feel this might over-complicate the process and delay us in getting a usable system in place.

Has anyone any ideas as to how I might tackle this?

 

[Stephen Marsh]

A single check of Pages/Has TrimBox/true lists the size of the trim boxes (you could also add a check for Has MediaBox). This also lists the number of pages that match the condition.

You can also create a single check of Pages/Page Size/Higher than width/height/plus-minus 0 (zero). This will also list the page count and page size of each page.


Stephen Marsh

 

[Rustyspanner]

A single check of Pages/Has TrimBox/true lists the size of the trim boxes (you could also add a check for Has MediaBox). This also lists the number of pages that match the condition.

You can also create a single check of Pages/Page Size/Higher than width/height/plus-minus 0 (zero). This will also list the page count and page size of each page.


Stephen Marsh

Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your reply. The checks you've suggested do return the measurements if I look in to the preflight results details, however the preflight summary report displays 'Has Trimbox (1 match on 1 page), without specifying the size.

I really need to generate some form of report which can be printed out or sent to clients, which clearly states the problem. I'm looking in to parsing the XML output by the preflight report and generating an email based on that, as this would give us the most control - assuming there is no simpler solution.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your reply. The checks you’ve suggested do return the measurements if I look in to the preflight results details, however the preflight summary report displays ‘Has Trimbox (1 match on 1 page), without specifying the size.

Can’t you manually input these results into your email or report template? :]

I really need to generate some form of report which can be printed out or sent to clients, which clearly states the problem. I'm looking in to parsing the XML output by the preflight report and generating an email based on that, as this would give us the most control - assuming there is no simpler solution.

Sounds like a lot of work, either manually or semi-automated with some sort of custom solution, as you have to manually save the report as PDF or TXT or XML for each PDF, then you have to get the data out and into your email or other report. I have looked at the output in TXT and XML and it is not pretty, however I am sure that some sort of automation may be possible to extract the data and transform it to suit. I personally would be looking for an out of the box solution, rather than a do it yourself cobbled together hack.

I also looked at using Terminal’s MDLS command and using ExifTool, neither of which is ideal.

Is this a large volume of files? How many files are you preflighting daily?

There may be only so much that you can do with Acrobat Pro’s licensed preflight engine. Have you looked into Enfocus PitStop Pro or PitStop Server, which would be my preferred option, or perhaps Enfocus Connect All products?


Stephen Marsh

 

[Tom Hallinan]

Another option would be HELIOS WebShare, which includes options to perform a PDF preflight, using Acrobat preflight profiles, and to view PDF Info. PDF Info provides an extensive (customizable) list of document properties, including the number of pages, and MediaBox, CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox, and ArtBox dimensions, for each page in the PDF. The PDF preflight report can be viewed online in WebShare, in a variety of formats (HTML, XML, text, PDF, etc.). These tasks can also be performed automatically as part of the HELIOS workflow automation system.

Here is an example of the HTML preflight report header, with Document Information that is included in every report. I omitted the profile specific results. [Note: the report formatting is lost in this forum reply.]

Filename: Altona_Visual_1v2a_x3.pdf Title: Altona_Visual_1v2a_x3.pdf PDF Version: 1.3 Creator: ECI 2003 Producer: Acrobat Distiller 5.0.5 for Macintosh Filesize: 11.7 MByte Created: 9/5/03 10:53 AM Modified: 6/1/04 2:32 AM

Separation: 5 Separation name: Cyan Separation name: Magenta Separation name: Yellow Separation name: Black Separation name: Orange

Count Pages: 1 Page size: (in) 16.535in/11.693in (17.369in/12.526in) Page size: (mm) 420.0mm/297.0mm (441.2mm/318.2mm)

PDF Standard: PDF/X-3:2002 Output Intent: ISO Coated Trapping: False

Tom Hallinan
HELIOS Software

 

[spoocobra]

Have you looked at PitStop Server? Sounds like something From Enfocus would be what you are wanting