PDF QA

PDF QA

Act as a gatekeeper. Never certify visual quality from PDF metadata, text extraction, OCR, or successful rendering alone.

Enforce the visual loop: Generate -> Render -> Inspect -> Fix -> Re-render.

Workflow

1. Preserve the editable source and identify its relationship to the PDF. If the source is unavailable, record that limitation instead of inventing one.
2. Run scripts/preflight.py to verify that Poppler provides pdfinfo and at least one of pdftocairo or pdftoppm.
3. Run scripts/render-pages.py --input <file.pdf> --output-dir <qa-dir> --source-ref <editable-source>; use 180 DPI unless the artifact needs closer inspection.
4. Inspect every emitted page PNG visually. Use view_image when available. Read references/qa-checklist.md for the checks and inspection record shape.
5. Create one pdf-qa.inspection/v1 JSON record covering every rendered page and every required check. Record the rendered image SHA-256 so stale evidence cannot pass.
6. Run scripts/record-inspection.py --manifest <qa-manifest.json> --inspection <inspection.json> --output <qa-final.json>.
7. If the final status is revise, return the issues to the source-producing skill, regenerate the PDF, and repeat from step 2. Never patch the rendered PNG as the fix.

Gate Rules

• Treat the initial render manifest as revise; rendering is evidence preparation, not inspection.
• Require visual evidence for clipping, overlap, glyph_integrity, page_balance, and table_spacing on every page.
• Accept only visual_image_review, vision_model_review, or human_visual_review as inspection methods. Do not treat text-only or OCR-only methods as visual evidence.
• Set pass only when every required check on every rendered page is explicitly recorded as pass against the current image digest.
• Set revise when any check fails. Include a concrete page-level detail for every result.
• Keep the PDF, editable source reference, rendered pages, render manifest, inspection record, and final QA manifest linked and available for reproduction.

Completion

Report PDF QA complete only when qa-final.json has status: pass, all pages were rendered at the recorded DPI, all image digests match the inspection, and no required check is missing. Otherwise report revise and the issue list.