Every file you upload to an order at Barwa goes through an automated print file check that takes under a minute. You get a preview with cut lines, a list of notes and a colour preview produced by the same RIP that drives our printing press. You can upload and check your files before you pay.
In printing, this kind of automated check is called preflight. In Poland, only a few online printers have one, and they are mostly large offset plants. As far as we know, we are the first digital printer in Poland to check files automatically right after upload. The preview you get is produced by the RIP of the press that will print your order. Below we show what happens to your file step by step. We also explain what the automated check cannot see and what you need to check yourself.
What happens after you upload a file
The check starts on its own once all pages are in the file slot. You do not need to click anything. On the order screen you see a progress bar with the stage number and an estimated time to completion.
In the first stage we compare the file with what you ordered in the calculator: size, page count, orientation and print sides. In the second, the file runs through a control profile on our production server. The same profile prepares the file for print, for example by converting fonts to outlines and flattening transparency. In the third we check colours and image resolution. In the fourth the file goes to the printing press RIP, which we describe in more detail below.
The result takes one of three forms. A file with no issues only needs you to approve the preview. A file with notes (for example, an image with too low a resolution) can be approved knowingly or replaced. A file with a critical error, meaning damaged or impossible to print with the ordered technique, must be uploaded again.
What the automated preflight checks and fixes
Some problems the system fixes itself and shows the result in the preview. Others it only reports, because fixing them would change your design. A few things block printing.
| What we check | What the system does | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Page size | Compares the page size in the file with the ordered size plus bleed (usually 2 mm on each side, tolerance 0.5 mm). An oversized file is centred and cropped, an undersized one is centred on the ordered size. | fix for approval |
| Missing bleed | If the file is exactly the trimmed size, it tells you and offers to add bleed in one click: by mirroring the edges or slightly enlarging the artwork. Files from Canva get separate instructions. | note with a suggestion |
| Orientation | Detects a portrait file on a landscape order (and vice versa) and pages rotated relative to the others. | fix for approval |
| Page count | Counts pages during upload and compares them with the order. It also checks that merged files have the same page size. | blocked until fixed |
| RGB colours | Detects RGB elements and converts them to CMYK. It warns you that bright greens and blues will come out more muted. | note |
| Pantone | Detects spot colours and lists their names. We print in CMYK, so we convert them to the closest equivalents. | note |
| Black-only print | If you ordered black print and the file contains colour, it converts it to greyscale. On a 4/1 postcard it does this only on the black-printed side. | fix for approval |
| White ink printing | Checks that the white layer is vector and set in 100% black or in a colour named “White”. The press cannot turn photos or other colours into white. | blocked until fixed |
| Image resolution | Calculates the effective resolution of each image at the size it sits on the page. Below 300 DPI it shows a warning with the value. | note |
| Fonts | Detects fonts that are not embedded and lists their names. It converts the rest to outlines so the text prints exactly as in your design. | note |
| Transparency, layers, overprint | Flattens transparency, removes hidden layers and warns about overprint being switched on, which can make light elements disappear. | fix note |
| Cut line file | For shape cutting it requires a vector line. It removes fills and duplicate lines, and rejects bitmaps and files that look like artwork rather than an outline. It overlays the outline on your print file. | fix block |
| Die cut, creasing, drilling | Overlays the cutting die and fold lines on your artwork. For drilling it counts the holes in the file and compares them with the order. | preview block |
| Damaged file | A file that cannot be opened or processed as a PDF is rejected straight away. | new file |
How size matching works
The most common fix is size. A customer orders 85 × 54 mm business cards and uploads an A4 file with the card in the middle, or a design a few millimetres too large. The system does not scale the artwork. It moves the page frame so the design sits in the centre and trims anything beyond the bleed. The preview shows straight away whether anything important has fallen outside the cut line.
The preview you approve
After the check you get a window with a preview of every page. This is not a thumbnail of your file but an image of the file that will go to print, with all fixes applied. The preview shows two lines. The solid pink one shows where we will cut the sheet. The dashed blue one marks the safe margin (usually 3 mm from the cut line): text and logos inside it are safe when cutting.
Clicking “Accept” means you agree to print exactly what you see, including any flagged notes. “Upload a new file” removes the file from the order so you can upload a corrected version. You can upload and check files before you pay, so you do not risk paying for an order with a file that is not fit for print.
For folded, die-cut and double-sided products the preview also has a 3D view. You can flip the card to check the back is not upside down, and see creased products both flat and folded.
Why the preview goes through the printer’s RIP
A RIP (Raster Image Processor) is a computer that turns a PDF file into what the press actually puts on paper. It produces four rasters, one each for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Our press is a Ricoh Pro C7200x and its RIP is a Fiery E-46A. The RIP decides how colour in the file becomes toner.
A standard PDF preview shows colours straight from the file. An RGB colour from your design then reaches the screen unchanged, even though the press cannot print it. We do it differently. Your file, already fixed by preflight, goes to the Fiery RIP in hold mode (nothing is printed). The RIP rasterises it exactly as for print, and we convert the CMYK raster to screen colours using a colour profile made for this press and paper. We then delete the raster from the RIP, and you get a preview with cut lines.
The difference can be measured. We compared both previews of the same files. Colours differed by 40 points on the RGB scale on average, and by as much as 68 in bright greens and blues. A green stored in the file as pure RGB 0/255/0 glows on screen, but comes off the press as a softer grass green. The RIP preview shows you the latter.
The RIP preview is as close to the print as a screen can show, but it is not a hard-copy proof. Your monitor emits light and has its own brightness and colour settings, while paper only reflects light. The profile we use to convert colours is matched to the paper we print on most often. On other papers, especially coloured and eco papers, the print may look slightly different. If the RIP is briefly unavailable, we prepare the preview without it. Cut lines and cropping are just as accurate then, but treat the colours as a guide.
What the automated check cannot see
Preflight checks the file’s parameters, not what is drawn on it. It will miss a few things, so you need to look at the preview, not just click.
Empty bleed
The system checks whether the page is the ordered size plus bleed. It does not check whether there is anything in the bleed. Take an 89 × 58 mm file where the background stops at the cut line and the 2 mm strip around it is white. The size is right, so preflight raises no note. But the guillotine has a tolerance, so after cutting some cards will have a thin white strip at the edge.
You can see this straight away in the preview: if there is a white strip between the pink line and the edge of the image, the bleed is empty. Extend the background to the edge of the file in your design software, or use the add bleed button that appears for files at the trimmed size.
Other things you check yourself
- Text and logos too close to the edge. We draw the safe margin on the preview, but the system does not check whether text crosses it.
- Content: typos, phone number, address, dates. The automated check does not read your design.
- A photo enlarged from a small image. If someone upscaled the photo to 300 DPI in software, the number is right, but it is no sharper.
- Dark shades next to each other, for example a dark grey pattern on a black background. They differ on screen but may merge into one patch on paper.
- The exact shade of a brand colour. Pantone swatch colours converted to CMYK may differ slightly in shade.
After you approve, our prepress technician still looks at the file before the order goes into production. If they spot something that does not show up in the parameters, they will contact you. The automated check responds in minutes, and a second pair of eyes is still there.
How to prepare a file that passes with no notes
Save your design as a PDF at the ordered size plus 2 mm on each side (for an 85 × 54 mm business card that is 89 × 58 mm). Extend backgrounds and images that should reach the edge to the edge of the file. Keep text and logos at least 3 mm from the cut line. Work in CMYK, place images at 300 DPI and embed fonts. The easiest start is a template you can download from the product calculator.
You will find detailed guidance for each product in its calculator, in the section ‘How to prepare your print file’. If anything goes wrong, preflight will tell you before you pay anyway.