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Guided workflow variation

A preflight report thecustomer can act on.

Save reports writes an HTML and a PDF report for each checked file: verdict first, page-linked findings, the profile name, and the SHA-256 that ties the record to that exact file.

Instead of writing a rejection email from memory, send the saved report: it states the verdict, the profile, and each problem with its page.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Full Print Preflight Desk overview
One-time purchase No telemetry Local-first

windows · your shop profiles · original only read · nothing uploads · 15-day free trial

If this sounds like your week

A vague rejection email starts a long thread.

When artwork misses spec, the customer usually gets a short message: resolution too low, please resend. They reply asking which picture, on which page, and what number counts as high enough. The designer exports again, guesses, and sends a version with the same fault, while the delivery date gets closer.

Where tooling usually breaks

Without a record, every resend is a debate.

Weeks later, when a reprint is disputed, nobody can say exactly which version was approved, what rules applied, or what the shop told the client at the time. Notes in an inbox do not name the file precisely, and two attachments called final-v3.pdf can hold different artwork.

Where Print Preflight Desk lands

Send the findings, not a summary of them.

Save reports writes both formats to a folder you pick once. Each opens with PASS, PASS WITH WARNINGS, or FAIL, then lists the file, its SHA-256, size, page count, PDF version, profile, and timestamp. Findings follow with counts of errors, warnings, and notes, and each row gives severity, check, pages, and the reason in plain words.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Learn more about Print Preflight Desk

windows · your shop profiles · original only read · nothing uploads · 15-day free trial

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

Sending a fail back to a designer

A freelance designer sent a brochure with an unembedded font and one photo below the shop's resolution floor, and needs to know exactly what to change before a print date two days away.

The PDF report goes back with the reply. It shows FAIL, names the font and the pages it is used on, and gives the photo's effective ppi, its placed size, and the profile's limit, so the designer fixes both on the first try.

Keeping a record in the job folder

The shop wants every approved job to carry a record of the file that was checked, the rules it met, and when, in case a reprint is questioned months later.

Save reports writes the HTML and PDF reports, named after the customer's file, into the job folder. Each carries the file's SHA-256, the profile name, and the check time, so the approved artwork can be matched to its record.

A pass with warnings, explained

A file passes, but with a warning for an image between the warning and error limits, and the account manager wants the client to decide whether to supply a sharper photo or print as is.

The report shows PASS WITH WARNINGS and the warning row with the page, the image's effective ppi, and the recommended level. The client reads the same facts the shop sees and makes the call.

Deep dive

What the report contains, section by section

Header and verdict. Each report opens with the product name, the title Preflight report, and the verdict in a coloured block: PASS, PASS WITH WARNINGS, or FAIL. The HTML file's page title starts with the verdict and the file name, so it reads clearly in a browser tab or an email attachment list.

The facts table. File, SHA-256, Size, Pages, PDF version, and, when the file has them, Title, Producer, and Creator, followed by Profile, Checked (the date, time, and time zone), and Engine (the app version). The Producer and Creator lines often tell you which program made the file, which helps when you write to the designer.

Findings. Three counts sit above the table: errors, warnings, and notes. Each row gives the severity, the check (for example image-resolution, font-embedding, color-space, bleed, or spot-colors), the pages, and the finding in plain words, with a detail line where it helps. A clean file reads "Every check passed under this profile."

Pages. One row per page with its MediaBox, TrimBox, BleedBox, Rotate value, and finished trim size, so box problems can be read side by side.

Images, fonts, and colour. The Images table lists each placed image with its page, pixel size, placed size, effective ppi, colour space, bits per component, and soft mask. The Fonts table lists every font with its type, whether it is embedded or subset, and its pages. The Colour table lists each colour space with what it was used for and where, plus every spot colour by name.

Transparency and output intent. Live transparency is listed by page and kind, with the group colour space, and the output intent section shows the declared condition and the number of components in its destination profile.

Two formats, one result. The HTML report is one self-contained file with no scripts and no external requests, so it opens offline in any browser. The PDF report carries the same content, paginated and with embedded fonts, for email and print. Both are named after the customer's file, as name.report.html and name.report.pdf.

Saving them. The first Save reports asks for a folder and remembers it; later saves go straight there, and a second report for the same file is saved alongside as name.report (2).html rather than replacing the first. The status line confirms both file names and the folder.

Matching a file to its report. The SHA-256 in the report identifies the exact file checked. Get-FileHash in Windows PowerShell computes SHA-256 for any copy; when the two values match, ignoring letter case, it is the same file.

How it is built

Built to apply your rules and leave the file alone.

Your rules, by name

Every threshold lives in a named shop profile for a press, product, or customer, so the same file checked against the same profile gets the same verdict every time.

Original only read

The customer’s PDF is opened for reading. Reports and fixed copies are new files, a fixed copy cannot replace the original, and colour, fonts, and transparency stay as supplied.

Nothing uploads

The app makes no network connection, has no account, and collects no telemetry. Files are checked and reported on the PC that opened them.

Head-to-head

How Print Preflight Desk compares

Feature Print Preflight Desk report Email written by hand Marked-up screenshot
States the verdict PASS, PASS WITH WARNINGS, or FAIL, at the top In whatever words the sender chooses Implied by the markup
Names the pages Every finding lists its page numbers When the sender remembers to One page per image
Names the rules used The shop profile name, and the limit in each finding Rarely Rarely
Identifies the exact file File name and SHA-256 The file name, if quoted Not usually
Formats Self-contained HTML and a PDF Email text An image

FAQ

Straight answers—no glossary dump

What goes in a preflight report for a customer?

The verdict, the file it applies to, the rules it was checked against, and each problem with its page. Print Preflight Desk reports open with PASS, PASS WITH WARNINGS, or FAIL, then the file name, SHA-256, size, page count, profile, and check time, then every finding with severity, check, pages, and the reason, followed by tables of pages, images, fonts, colour, transparency, and output intent.

Which formats does Print Preflight Desk save?

Two at once: a self-contained HTML report and a PDF report with the same content. The HTML file has no scripts and makes no external requests, so it opens offline in any browser. The PDF report is paginated with embedded fonts, so it reads the same on the customer's screen as on yours and attaches to any email.

Where are the reports saved, and what are they called?

In a folder you pick the first time you choose Save reports; the app remembers it for every later save. Each report is named after the customer's file, for example spring-flyer.report.html and spring-flyer.report.pdf. Saving again for the same file adds a number, such as (2), so earlier reports stay in place. The status line names both files and the folder.

What does the SHA-256 in the report show?

It is a fingerprint of the exact file that was checked, also shown on the status line in the app. Run Get-FileHash in Windows PowerShell on any copy of the PDF; if its SHA-256 matches the report, ignoring letter case, it is the same file the report describes. A resent file with any change gets a different value.

Where do customer files go, and how do I get Print Preflight Desk?

Customer files stay on your PC. Print Preflight Desk makes no network connection, has no account, and collects no telemetry; it reads only the PDF you choose and writes only to the folder or file name you pick. It is a one-time purchase in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 version 2004 or later and Windows 11, on x64 and Arm64 PCs, and the Store runs a 15-day free trial with every feature.

Related pages

Check each customer PDF against the job's print specs. Preflight software built for the print shop counter. Set the TrimBox and BleedBox from your shop profile.

The customer PDF is in.
Check it against your own rules.

Print Preflight Desk checks each PDF against the profile your shop set for that press, product, or customer, gives PASS, PASS WITH WARNINGS, or FAIL with every finding tied to its pages, and saves an HTML and PDF report to send back. The original is only read, nothing uploads, and the Microsoft Store runs a 15-day free trial.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Open full product page

Ghent Workgroup and GWG are names of the Ghent Workgroup. Print Preflight Desk is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ghent Workgroup.

Technical specifications

Technical specifications for procurement

Spec Implementation
Data Sovereignty Reads only the PDF you choose in the Windows file picker or open from File Explorer; writes HTML and PDF reports only to the folder you pick and fixed copies only under the name you choose, refusing to replace the original; shop profiles stay in the app’s own local storage
Telemetry Status None; no account, no telemetry, and the app makes no network connections
Core Runtime .NET 10 and WinUI 3 (Windows App SDK), packaged as MSIX; PDF inspection, reports, and fixed copies in managed code; page previews rendered with the PDF engine built into Windows
Network Requirements Fully functional offline; the package declares no internet capability and the app makes no network connections
Deployment Compatibility Windows 10 version 2004 or later and Windows 11, x64 or Arm64; one-time purchase on the Microsoft Store with a 15-day free trial
Inputs PDF files chosen in the Windows file picker or opened from File Explorer through the .pdf file association
Checks Page size and tolerance, TrimBox, CropBox, box nesting, bleed on every edge, effective ppi for colour, grey, and 1-bit images, font embedding and Courier, colour spaces, live transparency and blend space, spot colours and Separation /All, rotation, /UserUnit, and output intent
Shop profiles Named profiles with US Letter, US Tabloid, A4, A3, custom, or any-size trim; editable tolerance, bleed, ppi limits, colour policy (Classic CMYK, 2015 delivery, or Any), spot count and allowed names, transparency rule, and output intent severity; starting profile built on GWG 2015 sheetfed CMYK
Verdict PASS, PASS WITH WARNINGS, or FAIL; each finding an Error, Warning, or Note, with its check name and page numbers
Reports Self-contained HTML and PDF reports (name.report.html and name.report.pdf) with the verdict, the file’s SHA-256, the profile, findings, and tables of pages, images, fonts, colour, transparency, and output intent
Fixed copy New PDF with the TrimBox and BleedBox set from the profile and the Rotate value normalised; every change listed with before and after values and the copy’s SHA-256