Preflight- a brief history
Preflight, in the graphic arts sense, is the process of checking a digital document before it goes to plate, print or otherwise output (exported - such as to PDF). It traditionally is a way to check quality before going to the printing press, digital or otherwise, but can also be used to check online banners and gifs. Preflight is best done on the source document, such as those created in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, QuarkXPress or Corel!Draw as some examples, before becoming a PDF (Portable Document Format). Similar to a pilot whom walks around and performs a pre take-off pre-flight check, preflighting for designers and prepress operators should be a must.
The term preflight was first used during a presentation in 1990 by Chuck Weger, a well know industry consultant. There were some early on postscript (rips) that interperted data and provided a preflight report of sorts. However the first true preflight application came from Markzware and was wisely called FlightCheck another term pilots also use.
Even before FlightCheck® was out on the market, Markzware applied for and was dully granted a U.S. Patent Number 5,963,641 - ‘Device and method for examining, verifying, correcting and approving electronic documents prior to printing, transmission or recording.’
As a way to ‘break-out’ from under Quark’s wings (Markzware started with QuarkXPress XTensions), and to become more ‘independent’ as a software development company, a key decision was made for FlightCheck to become a stand-alone application including additional value such as compatibility with file formats such as formerly Aldus PageMaker, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and others.
FlightCheck was released during the Seybold Conference at San Francisco in the fall of 1995. Although the product did not ‘officially’ ship, until December of that year. During those three days at Seybold, Markzware sold nearly 500 units! Fast-forward to 2008 and, although Markzware develops plug-ins and Xtensions for preflighting and conversion, FlightCheck Professional remains a stand-alone application. Easy to use via a drag-and-drop interface it now validates some 50 file formats including of course Adobe InDesign and PDF, FlightCheck is even more important than ever to tens of thousands of printing, publishing and creative companies, worldwide.
Other preflighting tools have come along, including the popular Enfocus PitStop, which also is more of a PDF editor and other generally PDF orientated checking devices. Although some of the page layout tools offer limited preflighting, it is virtually un-comparable to Markzware’s FlightCheck.
Preflight is a process that you do in PREperation, before you send off to others or hit command-P (print). Postflight is the process that is administered on the resulting PDF file. Many will loosely use the term “preflight” to cover both preflight and postflight.
The importance of preflighting can be seen in the exhibit below:
To learn more about Markzware’s FlightCheck, visit their web page here:
http://www.markzware.com
To purchase FlightCheck, click here:
Markzware Online Store
The invention of preflighting may not be on the same level as Gutenberg’s printing press, however I am quite sure Johannes would have used FlightCheck - watch YouTube Movie here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/x_H6V58eJfg&hl=en
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