Introduced in 2018, Datalogics PDF CHECKER is a free, easy-to-configure scriptable server tool designed to detect many different types of PDF problems. Combined with Datalogics PDF OPTIMIZER, PDF CHECKER can help to automate document workflows.

Why use PDF CHECKER?

PDF is a robust document format that is used worldwide to store and transport information. That robustness and market ubiquity also brings challenges for workflows that require consistent and reliable PDFs. For example, a glossy magazine publishing workflow will often utilize PDFs with very high resolution images and complex transparency interactions. However, a distributed printing workflow where PDFs are transmitted worldwide for remote printing on low cost printers need compact PDFs to minimize bandwidth usage. Early detection and amelioration of PDF issues that impact your specific workflow is therefore crucial.

How can PDF CHECKER help?

Built on the Adobe PDF Library, PDF CHECKER is an ideal early warning solution to flag potentially problematic PDF files before they make it into your document management system or workflow. Then, with this knowledge of your PDF documents, you can take the necessary steps to apply appropriate changes to those documents. Let's take a quick look -- there are six distinct categories of checks that can be performed:

• General - checks PDFs for digital signatures, PDF/A compliance claims, or passwords requirements, as well as for PDFs with syntax issues that prevent opening
• Cleanup - checks for suboptimal compression
• Fonts - checks for fonts that are not embedded or fonts that are fully embedded, but could be made smaller by subsetting as well as several common font descriptor error conditions
• Objects - checks for JavaScript and thumbnails
• Userdata - checks for for a variety of object types that may be unnecessary or restricted for your intended usage such as annotations, OCGs (layers), transparency, embedded files and more
• Images - checks for image resolutions that are too high, too low, or use specific compression types with distinct settings for color, grayscale or monochrome

Once you have identified potential problems in your PDF documents, the next step, of course, is to address them by processing your documents with a PDF editing or optimization tool. Datalogics PDF OPTIMIZER is an ideal complement, containing profile options that match each of PDF CHECKER's profile options.

We encourage you to try PDF CHECKER, available as a free download here.