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Participating Frequently
Mar 6, 2019 6:30 PM UTC
Question

Preflight check for Bleed?

I want to know if there's a check in the Preflight Profiles that can check PDFs to see if there's a bleed. I know you can check for RGB, low resoution, etc. Is there a Preflight check to see if a PDF has a bleed or not?

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15 replies

Legend
Mar 11, 2019 12:50 PM UTC

I think, though I may be wrong, that the Callas products have more features and flexibility. Adobe don’t simply bundle the full Callas product.

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Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
Mar 11, 2019 11:19 PM UTC

I think, though I may be wrong, that the Callas products have more features and flexibility. Adobe don’t simply bundle the full Callas product.

That is correct and I apologise if my post gave that impression, I just meant that the code base was the same, the technology… The full Callas pdfToolbox may indeed have more or better options (I know more about PitStop).

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Dov Isaacs
Legend
Mar 12, 2019 2:57 AM UTC

Actually, Acrobat Preflight is virtually identical to the Preflight features of Callas pdfToolbox.

Neither, by the way, provide mechanisms for detecting whether content properly bleeds into the area between the trim box and bleed box. Such a feature would necessarily need to know the intent of the designer. It really cannot be automated. Fixes for bleed are of two forms. The first is to simply scale content that reaches the trim box, hoping that the scaling doesn't introduce other distortions in the artwork that is to bleed. The second is to sample the pixels at the trim box and simply extend them out as-is into the area between the trim box and bleed box, a solution that generally works better than the first. But again, choosing what needs to bleed by definition is somewhat of a manual process.

          - Dov

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- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
Mar 10, 2019 12:08 AM UTC

My initial thought/suggestion is to look at Enfocus PitStop Pro. This may be possible using native preflight features however I am not aware of a default configuration to do so.

EDIT: This is far from foolproof, however it is a start. Showing page boxes and visual inspection is the safest bet.

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Participating Frequently
Mar 11, 2019 12:27 PM UTC

Stephen, you're the second person who's said Acrobat's Preflight is NOT able to check for bleed, so I'll assume that is the correct answer. Thanks!

And yes, I am aware of other software, that potentially has that ability(PitStop, Callas, etc).

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Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
Mar 11, 2019 12:32 PM UTC

I just updated my post #3 with a screenshot of a check for ink coverage in the bleedbox area... So it can, but it’s a hack and there may be cases where it fails or provides misleading results.

Adobe license Callas code for Acrobat‘s preflight, so you should have the same options. Enfocus uses different code.

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Abambo
Community Expert
Community Expert
Mar 6, 2019 9:14 PM UTC

You do not need preflight: Printer marks and hairlines (Adobe Acrobat Pro)

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ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
Participating Frequently
Mar 6, 2019 9:17 PM UTC

I appreciate the info, but I'm actually wondering if there is the ability within the Preflight tool to check for bleed. I want to know if I can create a custom Preflight profile that can check for bleed, RGB images, low-resolution, etc.

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Legend
Mar 10, 2019 9:35 AM UTC

You can certainly create custom preflight profiles that check for RGB images and low specific resolution. There are many, many choices. Have you started looking through them?

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