After nearly 20 years of setting up prepress software for hundreds of companies, I’ve seen it all. Everyone in the business dreams of that magical preflight solution that’ll make customers send perfect files. Hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t exist. And if some smooth-talking salesperson tells you otherwise, they’re pulling your leg.
The Good Old Days of Manual Preflighting
Remember when we used to check every file by hand? Yeah, those were the days:
- Squinting at screens for hours
- Playing “Where’s Waldo?” with missing fonts
- Praying that the client actually included high-res images
It was like being a detective, but instead of solving crimes, you were solving why that one designer always sent files with the wrong color space.
Enter the Robots: Automated Preflighting
Then came the fancy software that promised to do all the work for us. And don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty cool:
- Zips through files faster than you can say “CMYK”
- Catches stuff we might miss after our third espresso
- Handles a ton of files without breaking a sweat
But here’s the kicker — it’s not perfect. Especially when it comes to the label market.
Here’s the real deal on why preflighting often falls short:
Size Matters, But It’s Complicated
Figuring out the right size is like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces. Some designers nail the die line, others… not so much. Trim boxes? Hit or miss. And don’t get me started on die colors — it’s a mixed bag of process colors, spot colors, and everything in between. Bottom line: there’s no consistency in how artwork is set up, and that’s a big headache.
Outlined Text: The Double-Edged Sword
Sure, outlined text looks clean, but it’s a nightmare for preflighting. You can’t check for text size or color issues, and good luck making edits without pulling your hair out.
The Ink Dilemma
Matching inks to artwork swatches is like playing detective. Is the artwork wrong, or is it the order specs? Figuring out what’s supposed to be process color and what’s spot color can be a real head-scratcher.
Template Troubles
Sometimes the artwork doesn’t fit the template or die like it should. Maybe someone tweaked the die, or the designer used the wrong template. Either way, it’s a mismatch waiting to happen and often only caught after its printed.
Software Installation: The Client Conundrum
Asking clients to install preflight software on their end? Good luck with that. Designers and artists aren’t exactly thrilled about adding more software to their machines. It’s a non-starter most of the time.
The PDF Predicament
Most automated preflight tools are all about PDFs. But here’s the kicker — not everyone sends PDFs. Illustrator files are still kicking around, and they need love too.
The Partial Preflight Paradox
Even if your preflight catches most issues, you often still need to open the file to check something. By that point, you might as well just prep the file yourself. It’s like taking a shortcut that ends up being the long way around.
Looking Ahead
I wish I had a silver bullet for you, but I don’t. I’m just here to keep it real. Maybe someday, with some fancy AI magic, we’ll get that perfect preflight system. But for now? We’re not there yet.
The takeaway? Preflight tools can help, but they’re not the cure-all we hoped for, especially in the wild world of label printing. For now, it’s a mix of smart tools and even smarter people that gets the job done right. Feel free to share this article with your boss when they ask “why didn’t your system catch that”.