FlightCheck
{{Short description|Preflight software for Desktop Publishing}}
{{Notability|Product|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox software
| name = FlightCheck
| logo =
| screenshot = FlightCheck 2023.png
| screenshot alt = A screenshot of FlightCheck with a file preview and Inventory details
| caption = FlightCheck 2023 running on macOS
| developer = Markzware Inc.
| released = {{Start date and age|1995}}
| operating system = macOS 10.13 and later
| genre = Preflight for Desktop Publishing
| license = Trialware, Proprietary license
| latest release version = 2023
| latest release date = {{start date and age|2022|12}}
| programming language = C++, Swift (programming language)
| website = {{URL|https://markzware.com/products/flightcheck/}}
}}
FlightCheck is a stand-alone application that performs preflight quality control inspection on many common file types such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXPress, and PDF.{{Cite web |url=http://www.printweek.com/ProductsAndReviews/StarProduct/news/785773/FlightCheck-Professional-v610/ |title=FlightCheck Professional v6.10 - PrintWeek 2008 |access-date=2008-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614050937/http://www.printweek.com/ProductsAndReviews/StarProduct/news/785773/FlightCheck-Professional-v610/ |archive-date=2008-06-14 |url-status=dead }}
Preflight in the graphic arts industry is the process of checking a digital document before it goes to the plate, print, or otherwise output (exported - such as to PDF). It is a way to check the quality before printing, digitally or otherwise, but it can also be used to check any common artwork file. Preflight may be done on the source desktop publishing document, or before creating a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The term preflight was first used during a presentation in 1990 by Chuck Weger, a well-known industry consultant. There were some early postscript RIPs that interpreted data and provided a preflight report of sorts.
The first commercial preflight application, called "FlightCheck,"{{Cite web|url=http://www.markzware.com/flightcheck_professional|title = Error|date = 8 April 2014}} was introduced to the public by [http://www.markzware.com Markzware] and appeared at the Seybold Seminars Conference at San Francisco in the Fall of 1995.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100312020253/http://www.macworld.com/article/1451/2002/05/marchese.html Pro File: Taking Flight - Macworld 2002] U.S. Patent, number 5,963,641 {{ cite patent
| country = US
| number = 5963641
| status = Granted
| title = Device, and method for examining, verifying, correcting, and approving electronic documents prior to printing, transmission, or recording
| pubdate = 1999-10-05
| gdate =
| fdate = 1997-11-24
| pridate =
| invent1 = Crandall, Ronald
| invent2 = Marchese, Patrick Gerald
| assign1 = Markzware, Inc.
| assign2 =
| class =
}} was subsequently granted - ‘Device and method for examining, verifying, correcting and approving electronic documents prior to printing, transmission or recording.’
Other preflighting tools have subsequently been introduced,{{Cite web |url=http://www.desktoppublishing.com/preflight.html |title=PreFlight and PrePress Software - desktoppublishing.com |access-date=2008-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509170224/http://www.desktoppublishing.com/preflight.html |archive-date=2008-05-09 |url-status=dead }} mainly focusing on PDF PDF preflighting.