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Guided workflow variation

Coming soon for Windows. Feature preview.

Set the TrimBox and BleedBoxfrom your shop profile.

When artwork already carries bleed but the page boxes are missing or wrong, Save fixed copy writes them from the profile's finished size and bleed distance into a new PDF, and lists each change.

When only the page boxes or rotation are wrong, Save fixed copy corrects them in a new PDF and leaves the artwork exactly as supplied.

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coming soon for Windows

If this sounds like your week

Good artwork, missing boxes.

Plenty of customer PDFs are exported with the artwork running past the edge, so the page is larger than the finished piece, but with no TrimBox or BleedBox saying where the cut goes. Imposition software then has no finished size to work from, so an operator ends up measuring the page and setting the cut by hand.

Where tooling usually breaks

Sending it back over a box entry wastes a day.

The designer did nothing visibly wrong; their software simply did not write the boxes. Asking for a re-export costs a round trip, and editing the entries manually in a general-purpose editor means typing coordinates in points for every page, with every chance of a slip. Meanwhile the job waits in the queue.

Where Print Preflight Desk lands

Write the boxes from the profile, into a copy.

Save fixed copy reads the profile's trim size and minimum bleed, centres the TrimBox on the MediaBox, extends the BleedBox by the bleed distance within the media, and normalises any odd Rotate value. A confirmation lists each change per page with before and after values plus the new file's SHA-256. Run the check again on the copy to confirm.

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coming soon for Windows

What you get

Feature highlights

Named shop profiles

one profile per press, product, or customer, holding trim size, tolerance, minimum bleed, colour, grey, and 1-bit resolution limits, colour policy, spot colours with allowed names, transparency, and output intent.

Every check with page numbers

page size, TrimBox, CropBox, box nesting, bleed, effective ppi, fonts, colour spaces, transparency, spot colours, and output intent, each finding with its severity and pages.

A preview with the boxes drawn

the page renders with its Trim, Bleed, and Art boxes outlined and their sizes in points, and selecting a finding jumps to its page.

Reports to send back

a self-contained HTML report and a PDF report with the verdict first, the file’s SHA-256, the profile, and every finding with its pages.

A fixed copy for boxes and rotation

Save fixed copy writes the TrimBox and BleedBox from the profile and normalises the Rotate value in a new PDF, listing every change.

Original only read, nothing uploaded

reports and fixed copies are new files, colour, fonts, and transparency stay as supplied, and the app makes no network connections.

Especially when

  • Check every customer PDF against the shop’s own rules for that press, product, or customer, instead of judging it by eye at the counter
  • Get the same pass or fail answer on the same file whoever is on shift, from named profiles with every threshold written down
  • Send the customer a report that lists each problem with its page and the profile’s limit, instead of a rejection email written from memory
  • Correct missing or wrong TrimBox and BleedBox entries in a new copy, leaving the customer’s artwork and original file untouched

Who benefits

Real-world scenarios

A flyer exported with bleed but no boxes

A Letter flyer arrives at 630 × 810 pt with the artwork running to the edge, but no TrimBox or BleedBox, so it fails the trim-box check even though the bleed is there.

Save fixed copy writes a 612 × 792 pt TrimBox centred on the page and a BleedBox 9 pt beyond it on every side. The preview of the copy shows the Trim and Bleed outlines exactly where the cutter expects them.

A page with an unusual rotation value

A file from an older layout program stores a page rotation of 450 degrees, which some workflows read differently, and the operator wants a clean value without touching the content.

Save fixed copy normalises the Rotate value to 90, a multiple the whole workflow reads the same way, and lists the change in the confirmation. Page content streams are never rewritten.

A file that already matches

The operator chooses Save fixed copy on a file whose boxes and rotation already match the profile, just to be sure nothing needs correcting before it goes to the RIP.

The app shows Nothing to fix, explaining that page boxes and rotation already match the profile, and writes no file. The operator moves the job on with the original untouched.

Deep dive

How Save fixed copy sets each box

The TrimBox. When the profile has a trim size, the TrimBox is set to that size, centred on the MediaBox and kept inside it. On a page rotated by 90 or 270 degrees, width and height swap so the finished piece still matches. A TrimBox that already has the right size, within the profile's tolerance, is kept wherever it sits. When the profile accepts any size and a page has an ArtBox but no TrimBox, the ArtBox is promoted to the TrimBox.

The BleedBox. The BleedBox is set to the TrimBox expanded by the profile's minimum bleed on every side, then kept within the MediaBox. An existing BleedBox that already contains that area is left alone. With the starting profile, a Letter trim of 612 × 792 pt on a 630 × 810 pt page gets a BleedBox that fills the page.

The Rotate value. PDF stores page rotation as a multiple of 90 degrees. Values outside 0, 90, 180, and 270, such as 450 or -90, are rewritten to their plain equivalent, so every program reads the page the same way. Content streams are never rewritten.

Everything else stays. Only those entries change. The artwork, images, colour, fonts, and transparency in the fixed copy are the customer's own, so a fixed copy never introduces a new colour space or flattens anything.

Where it is saved. Save fixed copy opens the Windows Save As dialog with the customer's file name plus -fixed.pdf, for example spring-flyer-fixed.pdf. Choosing the original file as the target is refused, so the copy can never replace the file the customer sent.

What you see afterwards. The Fixed copy saved confirmation names the new file, gives its SHA-256, and lists each change, for example "Page 1: TrimBox absent → [9 9 621 801]", and ends with "The original was not changed." When nothing needs correcting, the app says Nothing to fix and writes no file.

Signed files. When the original carries a digital signature, the confirmation says so: any change to a signed PDF means the copy's signature no longer validates, which is useful to know before sending it on.

Check the copy. Open the fixed copy with Open another PDF and check it against the same profile. The trim-box and bleed findings clear, the preview draws the new Trim and Bleed boxes, and you can save a fresh report for the job folder.

Feature preview

Explore the intended workflow

Named shop profiles

one profile per press, product, or customer, holding trim size, tolerance, minimum bleed, colour, grey, and 1-bit resolution limits, colour policy, spot colours with allowed names, transparency, and output intent.

Every check with page numbers

page size, TrimBox, CropBox, box nesting, bleed, effective ppi, fonts, colour spaces, transparency, spot colours, and output intent, each finding with its severity and pages.

A preview with the boxes drawn

the page renders with its Trim, Bleed, and Art boxes outlined and their sizes in points, and selecting a finding jumps to its page.

FAQ

Straight answers—no glossary dump

What are the TrimBox and BleedBox in a PDF?

They are page entries that tell print software where the finished piece is cut and how far the artwork extends beyond that cut. The TrimBox is the finished size, and the BleedBox is the trim plus the bleed allowance. Imposition and RIP software read them to place and trim each page, so a file without them leaves the cut position to guesswork.

How does Print Preflight Desk set the TrimBox?

From the shop profile. Save fixed copy sets each page's TrimBox to the profile's trim size, centred on the MediaBox and kept inside it, with width and height swapped on pages rotated by 90 or 270 degrees. A TrimBox that already matches the profile size within its tolerance is kept as it is, and the change is listed per page.

How is the BleedBox worked out?

The app takes the TrimBox, expands it by the profile's Minimum bleed on every edge, and keeps the result inside the MediaBox. With the starting profile that is 9 pt, which is 0.125 in; a profile set to 8.5 pt gives 3 mm. An existing BleedBox that already covers that area is kept, and every change appears in the confirmation.

What stays the same in the fixed copy?

Everything except the TrimBox, the BleedBox, and the Rotate value. The artwork, images, colour spaces, fonts, and transparency are exactly as the customer supplied them, and page content is never rewritten. The copy is saved as a new PDF under the name you choose, and the confirmation gives its SHA-256 and the before and after value of each change.

What is the fixed copy called, and where does it go?

Save fixed copy opens the Windows Save As dialog with a suggested name made from the original plus -fixed.pdf, such as spring-flyer-fixed.pdf, and you choose the folder. Saving over the customer's original file is refused, so the original and the corrected copy always sit side by side for comparison.

What happens to the customer's original PDF?

It is only read. Print Preflight Desk opens the file you choose, works out its SHA-256, and checks it against the profile. Reports are new HTML and PDF files in the folder you pick, and Save fixed copy writes a new PDF under a name you choose and refuses to replace the original. The artwork, colour, fonts, and transparency in the customer's file stay exactly as supplied.

Related pages

A preflight profile for every press and product. Check each customer PDF against the job's print specs. A preflight report the customer can act on.

Print Preflight Desk is coming soon.

Join the waitlist for launch updates. The app is not available to download or purchase yet. No payment is taken.

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