Preflight: Will Your File Fly

If preflighting programs work to identify troublesome errors, can file repair be far behind? “The two go hand in hand,” Rosen acknowledges. “Because preflighting is the act of checking a job for completeness, it is associated with reporting and tracking. Fixing is the next logical step after preflighting. If the job passes preflight, then it is ready to go to the next stage in the workflow.” The possibilities for automatic repair of faulty files range from simple to complex, depending on file format and workflow. Artwork Systems’ Enfocus group specializes in this technology, and claims to make it possible for professionals to preflight more than 150 file attributes and automatically correct the majority of them as part of the preflight pass with its PitStop Profiles or Action Lists. Enfocus technology can identify and automatically fix fairly basic problems—like improperly named spot colors—to more advanced issues, such as overprint settings. Enfocus also offers the technology in stand-alone products, such as PitStop Professional.