Built for brands shipping jars, vape cartridges, pre-roll tubes, gummy pouches, tincture droppers, and topicals on digital presses. We catch the file errors that turn into reprints, label peels, and compliance callbacks.
Cannabis labels combine three structural patterns that almost no other CPG category combines at once: state-mandated warning symbols and disclaimers (high text density, often below 6pt), variable batch and lot data, and clear or silver BOPP substrates that need a white layer to make color readable. Preflight runs each of these as a separate check.
Disclaimer text below 6pt. The most common failure on cannabis labels. Small print sized for screen review, not for press. Preflight surfaces every text run below the readable threshold so the design team can resize before output.
Lowercase "dieline" used as a spot color name. An Illustrator file with a lowercase "dieline" Separation coexisting with a properly named "Dieline" OCG layer. The engine extracts the die from the OCG layer and flags the wrong-case spot for cleanup before the file is output.
Missing white layer on silver BOPP. Designers working in process-color mode often forget that silver and clear BOPP need a white layer beneath the color artwork. Preflight reads the substrate from job notes and flags the missing white where it should be.
Peel score reported as the label size. When the dieline layer carries both an outer label cut and an inner peel score, some tools pick the smaller path. Preflight reports the outer path as the finished label dimension and stores the peel score separately under peelScoreDimensions.
Upload the print-ready PDF or AI file directly through the web app. The engine returns a structured findings list with severities of CRITICAL, WARNING, INFO, and PASSED. From there, hand the file to the converter with confidence or push corrections back to the design team.
Default press profile is digital labels (HP Indigo, Xeikon). If you run flexo as a secondary channel for higher-volume SKUs, switch the profile and the engine adjusts the readable type minimums, the total ink coverage limit, and the minimum stroke widths to flexo standards. Output is a shareable web report plus a downloadable PDF, both formatted for handoff.
If your converter runs Esko or Enfocus on their end, Preflight does not replace their preflight. It runs as the layer before, so the file that reaches the converter has already passed your structural check and the round-trip rate drops to near zero.
Three reasons specific to this industry. First, regulatory turnaround: most state programs require label approval before market, and a typo or missing warning means a resubmission cycle. Catching that at the prepress stage is faster than catching it after the press run. Second, substrate cost: silver and clear BOPP runs are the most expensive in cannabis SKUs, and a missing white layer is the single most common cause of a full rerun. Third, retail rejection: barcode failures at the dispensary scanner mean shipments are returned at the brand's expense. A check digit takes a second to verify in the file and is permanent once it goes through press.
Preflight is structural, not legal. It does not interpret your state's specific warning text, it does not check whether your CBD claims are FDA-defensible, and it does not validate the actual variable data values pushed by your VDP system. Those are review steps that still belong with your compliance team and the converter's prepress operator. What Preflight does is reduce the number of preventable file errors that reach those reviewers in the first place.
Upload a PDF and get a structured report on regulatory type sizing, GS1 barcode validation, white-layer requirement, dieline integrity, ΔE color shift on CMYK-derived spots, and plate / ink channel count.
Check a file →