A preflight rule set we own outright
A preflight rule set specimen publishes the deterministic checks Netbase JSC owns for print files - trim and bleed geometry, image resolution, colour space, ink coverage, font embedding, transparency and overprint - each resolving to pass, warn or fail, with thresholds set from the printer's own specification rather than a generic default.
Start a project brief Explore servicesReviewed by CEO, Netbase JSC · Published 16 Oct 2026 · Updated 16 Oct 2026
What is a preflight rule set specimen?
This page publishes a preflight rule set Netbase JSC owns outright: the deterministic checks a submitted print file is measured against, the threshold each one uses, and the three outcomes - pass, warn or fail - a check can resolve to. It is a specification, not a story about a client's file; naming it here lets a buyer read the actual rules rather than a description of what preflight generally does. No client is named, logo shown, or work identified on this site without that client's release or the operator's recorded authorization, and a named client can ask for removal at any time.
Automated preflight only works when the rules are specific enough to automate. "Check the colours" is not a rule; "flag any image below 200 effective ppi at placed size" is. The rule set below is written at that level of specificity on purpose.
Why does a rule set need a pass, warn and fail state?
A binary pass/fail preflight pushes every borderline file into a manual queue, because a human still has to decide what "fail" should mean for a 290 ppi image against a 300 ppi floor. A shop that cannot staff that queue starts skipping the check instead, and the rule set stops being automated in practice even though it is automated on paper.
A three-way resolution keeps the automation in the workflow. A pass clears the file immediately. A fail is a rule written tightly enough that the order should not proceed without a fix, such as a missing bleed. A warn is a rule where production can usually absorb the issue, such as an image a little under the resolution floor, so the order is logged and continues rather than stopping. The warn state is the one most general descriptions of preflight skip, and it is the one that keeps the queue moving.
What does the rule set check, and at what threshold?
| Rule | Threshold | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Trim and bleed geometry | Bleed box present and at least 3mm beyond the trim box on every edge | Fail if the bleed box is missing or short |
| Safety margin | Live content clear of the trim edge by the product's set margin | Warn if content sits inside the margin but outside the trim |
| Image resolution | Effective resolution at placed size, measured against the product's own floor (commonly 150-300 ppi) | Warn below the floor; fail below half the floor |
| Colour space | CMYK or named spot; no RGB or unconverted ICC-untagged objects | Fail on an unconverted RGB object |
| Ink coverage | Total area coverage under the press and substrate's set limit | Warn near the limit; fail over it |
| Font embedding | Every font embedded or outlined; none left as a system reference | Fail on any unembedded font |
| Transparency flattening | Live transparency flattened or confirmed RIP-safe for the output device | Warn if unflattened and the RIP is unconfirmed |
| Overprint and knockout | Overprint set only where the design intends it, not left at an application default | Warn on an unintended default |
How do the thresholds get set?
Every threshold in the table is set from the printer's own specification, not a general default copied between shops. An image-resolution floor of 150 ppi for a large-format banner viewed from two metres and 300 ppi for a business card held at arm's length are both correct; a single hard-coded number would be wrong for one of them. Setting the threshold from the client's own printer and substrate is what makes the warn state trustworthy: a warn that fires on files that were always fine trains staff to ignore every warn, which quietly turns the rule set back into a fail-only gate.
What does this specimen not prove?
Web2Print Solutions is the web-to-print engineering service of Netbase JSC. Delivery records cited on this site belong to Netbase JSC; where no delivered example of a capability is published, the page says so rather than implying a record. This rule set is published as a specification Netbase JSC owns and can configure into an engagement; it is not a log of files this property has preflighted for a named client, and it names no store, order or result.
How does this relate to the print-ready PDF service?
Preflight is the check that sits between a generated PDF and a production handoff inside print-ready PDF and prepress automation: the service engineers the output file to a client's PDF/X, colour and bleed specification, and this rule set is the gate that decides whether a given file meets it. A reader building their own pass/warn/fail thresholds from scratch, rather than reading a published specimen, can start with automated preflight rules. Other records of what this property can and cannot show are listed on the evidence hub.
Key takeaways
- A preflight rule set specimen names the actual checks and thresholds - geometry, resolution, colour space, ink coverage, fonts, transparency and overprint - not a general description of what preflight does.
- Every check resolves to pass, warn or fail; the warn state is what keeps a rule set automated once real files start arriving, because it stops every borderline file from needing a manual decision.
- Thresholds are set from the printer's own specification and substrate, not copied from a generic default, because the same number is correct for one product and wrong for another.
- This page names no client and claims no delivered log; it states a rule set Netbase JSC owns and can configure into a scoped engagement.
Turn this into a scoped brief
If an engagement needs this rule set configured to a specific printer and substrate, send a project brief naming the output device, the substrate and ink limit, and the resolution floor your production team already works to. Those three facts are what turn this specimen into a working rule set.
Frequently asked questions
No. It is a specimen rule set Netbase JSC owns and configures per engagement; thresholds such as the resolution floor and ink limit are set from the client's own printer and substrate.
Because some issues, such as an image a little under the resolution floor, can usually be absorbed by production. Logging the order and continuing keeps the check automated; routing every such file to a manual queue does not.
Both. The colour space rule fails an unconverted RGB object and accepts CMYK or a named spot colour; the overprint rule separately checks that overprint is set by design rather than left at an application default.
References (3)
- Ghent Workgroup specifications index, gwg.org/gwg-specifications, accessed 2026-09-28.
- Ghent Workgroup, PDF/X workflow guidance, gwg.org/pdf-x-workflow, accessed 2026-09-30.
- International Color Consortium, ICC profile specification, color.org, accessed 2026-09-28.