Running checks to assess whether documents are correct, complete and consistent and to flag any issues
GreenLight users can run a series of individual predetermined checks, known as a checklists. These checklists are centrally managed and refreshed each time GreenLight is launched.
For GreenLight Custom users, an online File Creation Policy document outlines how files are prepared for their particular publisher.
The File Creation Policy covers topics such as File naming, File Structure, Colour Management etc. in depth.
The File Creation Policy is held online and can be accessed directly from the GreenLight Custom client page and through the GreenLight Custom Help menu.
Need help finding a File Creation Policy? Ask your publisher contact or ask us
The checklist that GreenLight will run can be chosen in two different ways:
GreenLight FREE and GreenLight PRO users can select the required checklist from a list by choosing GreenLight Set-Up menu > Set active Checklist.
GreenLight Custom users benefit from the appropriate checklists being automatically switched depending on the client, the type of document and the stage in the workflow. This is determined by the document naming and workflow status.
All GreenLight users can see a list of checklists including descriptions and the checks they contain by choosing GreenLight Help menu > Checks & Checklists info.
The name of the checklist used is displayed at the bottom of the GreenLight Report Panel and for GreenLight FREE and GreenLight PRO users, the same checklist will run again, unless a new one is chosen.
There are two ways to run a GreenLight checklist on a document:
The quickest way is to simply click the Mini Panel, which is shown on launching GreenLight and can be found under the GreenLight menu > GreenLight Mini Panel
Alternatively you can choose GreenLight Run menu > Run GreenLight on document
When you need to check a number of documents – e.g. sections in a large publication – then choose GreenLight Run menu > Run GreenLight on folder and specify the documents’ location
Each document is opened in turn, GreenLight is run and the document saved.
The GreenLight Report panel is a summary of results and additional information which is added to the pasteboard to the right of the first InDesign spread on the pasteboard.
The top row shows a total count of any issues found or will confirm when the docment has been Greenlit.
The results of each check are listed in the rows beneath. These are either yes or no. Yes indicates a positive result whereas No indicates that an issue has been found.
The last row shows the name of the checklist and the date and time that GreenLight was run along with other information.
GreenLight does more than just find problems. It also gives additional information, with articles about each specific check, reveals issues on the page and enables you to fix them quickly.
GreenLight comes with dozens of Circular Software Tools that can help modify your InDesign documents to resolve the issues it has found.
To quickly pinpoint a single issue, see Step 6 below on Running individual checks.
Run any single GreenLight check to get more information about it, and to be taken to its location in the document where appropriate.
As soon as the GreenLight Report panel has been added, a menu is displayed listing the checks with issues where you can choose an individual check to be run again.
Alternatively, you can select any row showing an issue in the GreenLight Report panel with InDesign’s Type Tool and click the GreenLight Mini Panel to run this single check again.
In addition you can run any single check in any document at any time by choosing GreenLight Run menu > Run one GreenLight check.
The greenlit status makes it easy to confirm that a document has been set up in the required and approved way according to all the checks for the current checklist.
There are a number of ways to confirm a document’s greenlit status, including the GreenLight Report panel, the document's icon, the Layers panel and even the document's metadata.
Having achieved the GreenLight we can be confident that file is correct, complete and consistent and progress to the next stage of the workflow.
Find other tutorials on exporting, archiving and preparing for translation on our Step-by-step Tutorials page.
