Open your PDF
Drop the file. Every page is checked in your browser; password-protected files open with their password.
PDF Preflight Free
Check fonts, image resolution, colours, bleed and page boxes, hairlines, small text, transparency and more, with every problem marked on the page. Pick a profile for offset, digital, book or large-format printing, fix page boxes and bleed, and download a report for your printer.
Open PDF Preflight →How to preflight a PDF
Pick a profile
Offset, digital, book, large format or screen. Each sets its own limits for resolution, bleed, ink, hairlines and text; change any of them in Settings.
Review, fix, report
Click an issue to see it marked on the page, apply the safe fixes, and download the PDF, JSON or CSV report.
The checks printers run
Fonts
Fonts that aren’t embedded, Type 3 fonts, and fonts used only for invisible text, with the pages they appear on.
Effective image resolution
Pixels per inch at the size each picture is placed, with separate limits for photos and 1-bit line art, plus each image’s colour space.
Colour
RGB and Lab objects, spot colours by name, registration colour, rich black small text, white overprint, and total ink of colours and CMYK pictures.
Trim, bleed and safe area
Trim, bleed and art boxes drawn on the page, missing bleed where artwork reaches the edge, empty bleed, and text too close to the cut.
Book interiors
Common print-on-demand trim sizes, bleed on the outside edges only, and an inside margin that grows with the page count.
Everything else
Hairlines, small text, transparency, mixed page sizes, rotation, comments and form fields, hidden layers, protection, PDF version, output intent and PDF/X.
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PDF preflight FAQ
What is PDF preflight?
Preflight is the check a print shop runs before printing: are the fonts embedded, are the pictures sharp enough at their size, are the colours right for the press, is there bleed where the artwork reaches the edge, and so on. This tool runs those checks and marks every problem on the page.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The PDF is read, checked and fixed in your browser and never leaves your device. Only the PDF report downloads open fonts once, so it can print text in any language.
How is image resolution measured?
As effective resolution: an image’s pixels divided by the size it is placed at on the page. A 3000-pixel photo placed 10 inches wide has 300 ppi; the same photo placed 20 inches wide has 150 ppi.
Which profile should I use?
Offset for commercial CMYK printing (strictest), Digital for print-shop and office digital presses, Book printing for book interiors, Large format for posters and banners viewed from a distance, and Web / screen for PDFs that are only read on screens. Every limit can be changed in Settings.
Does the book profile follow print-on-demand rules?
It follows the rules common to print-on-demand services such as Amazon KDP and IngramSpark: a fixed trim size, 0.125 in (3.2 mm) bleed on the top, bottom and outside edges, text at least 0.25 in from the edges, and an inside margin from 0.375 in to 0.875 in depending on the page count. Always check your service’s current requirements.
How accurate is the total ink check?
It adds up the C, M, Y and K values of every colour in the file and of CMYK pictures (averaged over about a square millimetre). It doesn’t simulate overprinting or transparency, which can add more ink where objects overlap, and it doesn’t measure RGB content, which gets its ink only when converted.
What can it fix?
It can set trim and bleed boxes, add bleed (blank, or with the artwork mirrored at the edge), resize pages to a trim size, flatten annotations and form fields into the page, and delete hidden layers. It does not convert colours, increase image resolution or embed missing fonts: those need the original design file.
Does it validate PDF/X?
It reads PDF/X and PDF/A claims and output intents and tests the main PDF/X rules (embedded fonts, output intent, trim boxes, no RGB in PDF/X-1a, no transparency in PDF/X-1a and X-3). It is not a certified PDF/X validator.
Is it free?
Yes. No sign-up, no watermark and no page limit. Very large files are limited only by your device’s memory.
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