DocForensic

PDF Preflight Checker

Check a PDF for common print-production problems - low-resolution images, the wrong color space, non-embedded fonts, missing bleed, and live transparency or overprint settings - before it goes to a printer.

This tool runs a battery of print-readiness checks tuned to the output type you pick (Offset/Commercial, Digital Press, or Wide Format): image resolution at its placed size, color space and spot color usage, font embedding, page trim/bleed/safe-margin geometry, and live transparency or overprint settings. Every finding links back to roughly where it is on the page, and everything rolls up into one Ready / Needs Attention / Failed verdict.

Every check here is built from the PDF's own declared structure - image placement data, color space resources, font tables, page boxes - never a full content-stream interpretation. Color, transparency, and overprint findings are a real, page-level signal (what a page's declared resources COULD paint with), not confirmation that a specific object was actually painted that way - see the report for what each finding does and doesn't prove.

Simple workflow

How it works

  1. 1

    Add PDFs

    Add one or more PDFs and pick a print profile.

  2. 2

    Run the check

    Every check runs automatically - resolution, color, fonts, geometry, transparency and overprint.

  3. 3

    Review & download

    See the verdict and every finding, then download the report and an annotated flag-sheet copy.

Frequently asked questions

Does this fix the problems it finds?

No - this tool is purely diagnostic. It never modifies your file; it only reports what it finds in a report and an annotated flag-sheet copy with the flagged regions outlined.

What if my PDF has no bleed box at all?

It's flagged as a critical issue and treated as "can't verify bleed/margin compliance" rather than guessed - only a MediaBox was found, so there's nothing to measure bleed against until a trim box is defined.

Can this tell rich black from registration black?

No - that needs the exact CMYK values behind a fill, and this tool deliberately doesn't parse the page's content stream for paint colors (see the tool's own documentation for why). Near-black CMYK content is not specifically distinguished; verify plate composition manually if that matters for your job.

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