Text Legibility & Outlines

What is Text Legibility & Outlining?

Text quality in print depends on font rendering and physical sizing:

• Text Outlining (Vectorization): Converting text fonts into raw vector paths (curves). This removes the font dependency from the PDF entirely.
• Legibility Thresholds: The minimum font size (e.g. 5 pt) and line thickness (e.g. 0.25 pt) required to print text clearly.
• Font Compatibility: Restricting deprecated or screen-only font formats (like Type 3 fonts) that do not render on RIP devices.

The Print Risk: Unreadable Text and Rendering Bugs

Text errors are permanent and difficult to catch post-printing:

• Font Vector Corruption: When a RIP renders a non-standard font, characters can turn into garbled symbols or blocks.
• Fuzzy Small Text: Small text sizes (under 5 pt) or thin font weights printed on colored backgrounds can bleed out and become unreadable due to ink spread.
• Missing Accents: Untrusted font formats may drop character glyphs for accents or special symbols on press output.

How Filecheck Optimizes Typography

Filecheck scans vector text elements to ensure legibility:

1. Font Check: We parse all referenced fonts. If a deprecated font format is found, the file is rejected or flagged.
2. Text-to-Outlines Autofix: If a product rule requires outlined text, Filecheck’s engine automatically converts all text layers into pure vector outlines (text.text_outlined_required). This locks the typography layout exactly as designed with zero font files needed.
3. Size Audits: We scan font metrics across the page. If text falls below your configured legibility limits (default 5 pt), Filecheck flags a warning for manual check (text.min_font_size_pt).