Packaging preflight checklist
Preflight is the last look at a packaging file before it leaves your desk: is the dieline at true size, does the artwork run past the cut, is the type outlined, is the colour space the one your printer asked for? Work through the list below, then let your printer run their own check. A checklist catches the cheap mistakes; it does not replace the printer’s sign-off.
Why run a preflight?
A wrong size, a missing bleed or a font that swaps on the printer’s computer is cheap to fix on screen and expensive to fix on press. This list is a starting point, not a standard: every printer has its own specification, and where it disagrees with this page, the printer wins. For how a full-service packaging agency plans strategy, structure and artwork before anything reaches the printer, see SmashBrand.
Structure checks
Start with the dieline, before you look at a single logo.
Dieline and structure
- True size. Measure one panel on the exported file against the millimetres in your brief. Never judge size on screen.
- Right structure. The box style, closed size and board are the ones your printer quoted on.
- Layers. Cut, crease and perforation sit on their own layers (or in named spot colours, if your printer asks for that), apart from the artwork. There is exactly one cut path.
- Glue and flaps. The glue flap and the tuck flaps are there, and nothing is printed on the glue area.
- Bleed. Artwork runs past the cut line by the bleed your printer specifies, on every edge that carries colour.
- Safe area. Type, logos and the barcode sit inside the safe margin and clear of every fold.
The terms are explained on the bleed and safe zone page, and reading a tuck-end dieline shows where each panel and flap sits.
Artwork and fonts
Once the structure is right, check what sits on it.
Artwork
- Type. Converted to outlines, or fonts embedded and confirmed with the printer. A live font that the plant does not have is replaced or dropped.
- Lines. No hairlines. A rule too thin to hold ink can vanish on press, however clear it looks on screen.
- Images. Any raster picture is at the resolution your printer asks for at its final printed size (around 300 ppi is a common request) and has not been stretched.
- Logos. Vector wherever you have a vector file; see vector vs raster.
- Barcode. Real, from your own data, at the size and quiet zone the specification asks for. Never send a placeholder barcode to press.
- Mandatory text. The information your market requires is on the right panels. What is required depends on the market and the product; confirm it with your regulator or printer.
Colour
Colour is where a file that looks right on screen most often goes wrong on press.
- Colour space. Ask which one the plant wants. RGB is screen colour: Grapxo’s SVG files are RGB, while the print PDF in the bundle is CMYK (FOGRA39, PDF/X-4).
- Spot colours. If a brand colour must match exactly, ask whether the job runs a spot ink; see CMYK, spot colour and white ink.
- Black. Small black type should be a single ink, not a four-colour mix. Ask the printer how they want large black areas built.
- Total ink. Ask for the plant’s total ink limit. The Grapxo print PDF is written with total ink at most 300%.
The longer version is on colour mode and file preparation.
The final pass before you export
Do this last, on the exported file rather than on the project you were editing.
- Verify the dimensions. Do length, width and height, or the dieline reference, match the brief?
- Check the panel copy. Are the brand, the product name and the mandatory fields on the right panels, the right way up?
- Review cut and crease. Is every line where it should be, and is it clear which is cut and which is fold?
- Check the barcode and logo. The barcode comes from your data and scans; the logo is the approved version.
- Do a final visual pass. Open the exported file, not the project, zoom in on every edge and fold, and read every word once.
What Grapxo checks, and what it does not
Before a download opens, the studio runs its own checks: cut and crease consistency, safe area, type legibility and collisions. If any of them is red, the bundle does not open. That is a design-side gate. It does not replace press preflight, and nothing here promises that a file passes at every plant: material, colour and final sign-off stay with your printer.
Questions to ask your printer
Send these with your first file, not after the first proof.
- Which file format do you want for the dieline, and which for the artwork?
- Which colour space and profile, and should any colour run as a spot ink?
- How much bleed and what safe margin do you specify?
- Which board, which grain direction and which finish?
- How do you proof: a digital proof, a white sample or a printed sample?
A longer list is on questions to ask a packaging printer, and the file side is covered in how to send an SVG dieline to your printer. Questions about this checklist: info@grapxo.com.
Frequently asked questions
What is a packaging preflight checklist?
A short list of checks you run on a packaging file before it goes to the printer: dieline size and layers, bleed and safe area, fonts, images, barcode, colour space, and the questions the printer will ask. It is a starting point, not a standard.
Who runs preflight?
You and the printer. Run this checklist first, then your printer checks the file against their own specification. Grapxo’s studio checks the design side before a download opens; final press preflight follows the printer’s standards.
How is this different from a PDF preflight in Acrobat or InDesign?
A PDF preflight profile checks technical properties such as embedded fonts, colour spaces and image resolution. A packaging preflight adds what only a package has: the dieline at true size, cut and crease on their own layers, bleed past the cut, and artwork on the right panels. You need both.
Does the checklist include the colour profile?
Yes, as a question: ask which profile or spot colour your printer needs. There is no single profile that is right for every plant.
Does Grapxo pass preflight automatically?
No, and no tool can promise it. The studio checks the design side before a download opens, but the printer decides whether a file passes at their plant.
When should I run the checklist?
Twice: once on the brief and the dieline, before you spend time on artwork, and once on the exported file, before you send it.
Start producing in the studio
Write your brief and let Grapxo produce a print-ready vector surface.