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Free white paper ‘Everything you ever needed to know about pdf preflight’

May 20, 2025
callas software has published a comprehensive white paper to assist in navigating the discussions around standards, preflight checks, corrections, reports, and much more. It also describes how to use pdfToolbox for preflighting incoming PDF files and other PDF production preparation tasks.
Sarah Nitschmann
About Sarah Nitschmann

Sarah Nitschmann started her career as a media designer at a product communication agency in Munich. She focussed on the technical side of graphic design and artwork creation for print production.
 With a bachelor’s degree in Print and Media Technology at the BHT Berlin, she gained in-depth experience in color … Read more


callas software, a leading innovator in PDF technology, has published a comprehensive white paper to assist in navigating the discussions around standards, preflight checks, corrections, reports, and much more. It also describes how to use pdfToolbox for preflighting incoming PDF files and other PDF production preparation tasks.

“Preflight is necessary, with the very few exceptions of completely closed workflows. However, using standards is essential for success”, explains David van Driessche, autor of the white paper and Chief Evangelist at callas software: “Luckily, today’s software widely supports the available preflight standards, which work well together. As a result, you can use Ghent Workgroup standards that are based on PDF/X. Your own company-specific rules can be added on top. The differentiator often is how the results of preflight are handled.”

This white paper provides specific answers to questions such as

  • what happens when problematic PDF files are identified, and how can they be inspected, reported, and fixed?
  • how can you adapt preflighting to job-specific requirements without creating endless profile variations?
  • what's the best way to build flexible, conditional workflows that go beyond basic preflighting?

While much of this white paper contains general information, callas pdfToolbox provides concrete implementation solutions wherever possible. This is particularly true for the chapters discussing variable profiles and their capabilities to keep workflows simultaneously flexible and lean. And when talking about specific technologies such as process plans, that allow for sophisticated PDF handling that goes far beyond mere preflight.

To explore the full potential of preflighting and how it can impact your business, download the free white paper: https://www.callassoftware.com/en/news/2025/05/new-white-paper-everything-you-ever-needed-to-know-about-pdf-preflight


callas software finds simple ways to handle complex PDF challenges. As a technology innovator, callas software develops and markets PDF technology for publishing, print production, document exchange and document archiving. callas software helps agencies, publishing companies and printers to meet the challenges they face by providing software to preflight, correct…

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