PitStop Pro – Faster, Smarter PDF Preflight and Editing
The Essential Acrobat Plugin for Print-Ready PDFs
PitStop Pro is the industry-standard Adobe Acrobat plugin that eliminates PDF problems before they cost you time and money. 130,000+ print shops rely on it to catch and fix PDF problems before they hit the press.
Preflight: Automatically check and fix your PDFs before they go to print
Preflighting checks if a PDF is truly print-ready – catching hidden issues that could cause delays, reprints, or poor results on press.
PitStop Pro automates this process: it detects errors, applies automatic fixes, and generates a detailed report with visual highlights and clickable jump points.
PitStop Pro catches and fixes:
Missing or unembedded fonts
Find missing and corrupt fonts.
Low-resolution images
Flags images below your desired minimum resolution, highlights their location and helps you replace or resample them.
Incorrect color spaces and ink coverage
Converts RGB or Spot colors to CMYK, Convert Color to Black, use DeviceLink conversion and checks for ink coverages issues.
Missing bleed
Automatically adds bleed around pages and irregular shapes that lack proper bleed zones.
Transparency and overprint problems
Detect transparent objects and white objects set to overprint to avoid later printing issues.
Hidden or problematic content
Detects hidden objects, invisible text or layers that may unintentionally print or make your file unnecessary heavy. Your RIP will love it!
Incorrect document size or layout
Checks document size, orientation and content placement.
PDF standards and compliance
Validates against or make PDF compliant with PDF/X and other industry standards to ensure a smooth production.
Deep PDF insights
- Track down the exact source of preflight errors.
- Find risky elements like live transparencies or incorrect color spaces.
- Simplify complex file structures and hidden content that could cause problems.
- Inspect any object for detailed information: fonts, resolution, color modes, paths, and more.
The Inspector gives you X-ray vision into problem files, helping you solve issues that would otherwise require guesswork.
Find and fix hidden errors in complex files using Inspector
Some PDF problems need your expert eye. That's where PitStop Pro's Inspector becomes your troubleshooting superpower.
Edit any PDF like you have the original file
Edit directly in PDF
Last-minute client change? A typo in the file? No need to chase down the source file or go back to the creative application. With PitStop Pro, you can edit directly in the PDF like you are in the original design tool. Fast, easy, safe for print.
Don't break your PDF printability
Other tools may destroy the printability of your PDFs when you edit them: fonts no longer embedded, color spaces removed, metadata stripped, transparency misinterpreted… PitStop Pro edits natively, preserving everything that matters for print.
Protect yourself with versioning
Need to show exactly what changed and when?
PitStop Pro's Certified PDF format gives you version tracking and preflight information. You are never left guessing or defending what happened to a file.
Some examples:
- Text: Fix typos, change fonts, convert to outlines, move elements
- Images: Resample, apply curves, adjust brightness/contrast, compress, sharpen, resize, …
- Vectors: Move, resize, adjust fill and stroke color, edit path, combine, create new shapes, …
- Colors: Configure color management settings and convert or remap colors to different color spaces.
- Layers: Create and select named layers, assign objects to layers, or flatten the entire layer structure.
- Pages: Adjust page size, trim boxes, add bleed, scale full documents
- Batch Changes: Apply edits across entire documents instantly
- And more...
Automate Everything: Work Smarter, Not Harder
Stop doing the same edits over and over. PitStop Pro turns your repetitive work into one-click automation.
- Start immediately with dozens of pre-built Action Lists and Preflight Profiles for common fixes. No setup required.
- Create your own automations by recording your own manual operations once and then applying them to thousands of files in a consistent manner.
Acrobat is great for office documents.
PitStop is the best for printing.
PitStop Pro works as a plugin inside Adobe Acrobat (Standard and Pro), adding professional print capabilities to your existing workflow. No need to learn new software or change how you work.
Here's what PitStop Pro adds:
| Adobe Acrobat | PitStop Pro |
|---|---|
| Limited options for document visualization. | Several advanced viewing modes as "Show wireframe", "Show objects outside the Mediabox", "Speed up image display", "Hide annotations"… |
| Limited option for manual editing of objects on the document | Adds endless list of manual tools and commands for late minute fixes on the file (move, duplicate, outline texts, set overprints…). |
| Scattered and limited UX/UI for reporting or modifying objects' properties | The Inspector collects every info you need into single panel so that you don't have to jump between places to places |
| Limited to no tools for adding content to the page. | Extends limited capabilities of Acrobat to creating manually or automatically new content such as vector shapes or lines, overlaying external documents… |
| No "record" feature to turn redundant operations into ready-made macros. | Lets you "record" your manual operations and turn the result into an Action List you can recall any time |
| The preflight tool has no debugging feature for building complex automation macros | The Action List Visualizer allows to execute Action Lists line by line for easier debugging of Action Lists |
| No concept of a color library | Comes with the most recent PANTONE Color libraries, and you can create your own custom color for further reuse. |
| Releases, while frequent, haven't brought much print-related features | Releases a new version every 4 month with new features, improvements and bug fixes to keep on solving your most problematic production challenges |