A skill that makes Claude check a print file the way a printer's prepress department does, before the printer sees it. It confirms the finished size and the job, recommends a paper and finish for what the piece has to do, then reads the PDF itself: trim and bleed, the safe zone, the effective ppi of every photo, CMYK and RGB, 100% black and rich black, ink totals, spot inks, overprint, fonts and line weights. Every finding is marked fix, check or pass, with the number behind it. Then it writes the fixes step by step for your app and the export settings for your printer.
Inside are a 20-point checklist, a tested Python script Claude runs with code execution to read page boxes, fonts, images, colour spaces and spot inks, and reference files on US print specs: 0.125 in bleed, 300 ppi at size, paper weights in lb and gsm, USPS postcard rules, CMYK profiles, ink limits, PDF/X standards and app menus for InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Affinity and Canva. Each figure carries its source and the date it was checked. The printer's spec sheet beats every default, defaults are labelled as defaults, and brand colours are never quietly changed.
It cannot see colour as it will print, so colour questions go to a printed proof. It cannot open InDesign files or edit your design; it tells you what to change and you change it. Without code execution it works from the rendered pages and a few screenshots, and it says which checks it could not run. Ink totals inside photos still need Acrobat Pro. For the best result, send the exported PDF, the printer's file requirements and the order details together, and run it once more on the corrected export before you pay for the job.
Claude skill · version 1.0
Print-ready check
Checking your access.
In the download · 7 files
- SKILL.mdThe method Claude follows, stage by stage, from the job and the paper to preflight, fixes, export and the proof, with the 20-point checklist.
- README.mdHow to install it in claude.ai or Claude Code, how to start, and the licence.
- references/print-specs.mdSizes, bleed, safe zones, resolution, type and line minimums, folds, binding, USPS mailing rules, barcodes, US paper weights, coatings, finishes and proof customs, each with its source.
- references/file-inspection.mdA tested Python script Claude runs to inspect a PDF or image, how to read what it reports, and a visual check for when code execution is off.
- references/color-and-ink.mdUS CMYK profiles, RGB to CMYK, 100% black and rich black, ink limits, spot colours and Pantone, overprint and transparency, with sources.
- references/fixes-and-export.mdFix recipes by problem, and checking and PDF export steps for InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Affinity, Canva and Acrobat.
Install it and begin
01Install it in Claude CodeTerminal mkdir -p ~/.claude/skillsunzip ~/Downloads/print-ready-check.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/# Start it with /print-ready-check. If this is your first skill, type /reload-skills once.On claude.ai there is nothing to unzip: upload the zip as it is. Every step is on Install and use a Claude skill.
02Your first message to ClaudeText Use the print-ready check skill. I'm printing [WHAT, E.G. 500 POSTCARDS AT 5 X 7 IN] with [PRINTER, OR NOT CHOSEN YET] on [PAPER, OR NOT SURE YET]. I made it in [APP]. The PDF is attached, and here are the printer's file requirements: [PASTE THE LINK OR TEXT]. Tell me what to fix before I order.Attach the PDF exported with bleed, not the design file. Turn on code execution so Claude can read the fonts, images and colour in the file itself.
Checklist
Before a file goes to the printer
- The trim size matches the order, in the right orientation, exported as single pages rather than spreads.A perfect file at the wrong size, or in spreads the printer cannot impose, is sent back or reprinted.
- Bleed of 0.125 in, or the printer's figure, on every edge the artwork touches, and the artwork really runs into it.Cutting can drift by about 1/16 in. Without real bleed, a white sliver shows along the edge.
- Type and logos at least 0.125 in inside the trim, with more near folds and spines.Anything closer can be trimmed off, or look crowded once the cut wanders.
- Every photo is 300 effective ppi at its printed size: pixels divided by printed inches.A 1080 px social image is sharp only up to 3.6 in wide. Relabelling the ppi adds no detail.
- Small type, thin rules and barcodes in 100% black, large black areas in the printer's rich black, and nothing in Registration.Four-colour black on small type fringes when the plates shift, and plain black looks grey on big solids.
- Ink total under the printer's limit, 300% unless they say otherwise.Too much ink smears, dries slowly and marks the next sheet in the stack.
- Fonts embedded, spot inks named exactly as intended, and nothing white set to overprint.Missing fonts get swapped, stray spot inks add plates, and white set to overprint simply vanishes.
- PDF/X-4 or the printer's named standard, with their colour profile as the output intent.It tells the printer exactly how the colours were prepared, so nothing is guessed at the press.
What to do it with
- ClaudeFree tier, paid above it
A language model that writes, edits, reads long documents and runs tools, including agents that work inside a codebase.
Bad at It is agreeable by default, so it will improve a bad idea instead of telling you it is bad. Ask it to argue against you and the quality of the answer changes.
- Claude CodeSubscription
An agent that reads a whole repository, edits files, runs the tests and explains what it changed.
Bad at It is fast enough to make a large mistake quickly. Work on a branch, read the diff, and never let it push. Watch the starting mode: on Pro, Max and Team plans it opens in auto mode, which Anthropic's own list says may read a .env file and send the key in it to the API that key belongs to. Switch it off.
- InDesignSubscription
Long documents, grids, parent pages and print-ready output.
Bad at Its AI makes pictures and words, not layouts, and Generative Expand has handled linked images and colour profiles badly.
- IllustratorSubscription
Vector drawing, where logos and dielines are actually built.
Bad at Its generative vector features produce shapes that look right and have terrible point structure underneath.
- PhotoshopSubscription
Still the place a picture is finished. Generative fill, expand and remove now sit on the same layer stack as everything else.
Bad at Generative fill matches its surroundings rather than obeying a brief, so it is a patching tool and not a directing one.
- AffinityFree tier, paid above it
Vector, photo and layout work in one app, free for individuals. Its AI tools need a paid Canva plan.
Bad at Fewer plugins, and collaborators will send you files it opens imperfectly.
- CanvaFree tier, paid above it
Templates, brand kits and generation in one place, built so a non-designer can produce something acceptable.
Bad at Acceptable is the ceiling as well as the floor. Its templates are so widely used that a trained eye dates a deck in a second.
Why it matters
Rejected and reprinted jobs usually come down to a short list of faults, such as artwork that stops at the trim, a 1080 px photo stretched across a card, small type in four-colour black, a white logo set to overprint, a font that was never embedded. A plain prompt gets you general advice about those. This skill makes Claude measure each one in your file, quote the number, and hand you the questions your printer would otherwise have to guess at.
- Type
- technique
- Period
- ongoing