A proposed FileStation editorial framework — not an established industry standard or certification.
A document is ready when it does the job its recipient needs, not merely when an export finishes. CLEAR is a simple checklist we propose for that last review.
C — Confirm the requirement
Identify who will receive the file and what they require: format, order, maximum size, naming, accessibility or working fields. Do not assume that a previous submission’s rules still apply.
L — Leave an original
Keep the source document separate. Give the result a different filename. This makes it easier to compare versions and recover from an unwanted edit.
E — Edit only what is needed
Choose the smallest change that solves the problem. A page-order issue does not require image compression. A file-size issue does not justify deleting required content.
A — Assess the saved output
Reopen the file outside the working view. Read it, check the page count and test the features the recipient needs. Actual text, tagging and reading order are different things; do not reduce accessibility to whether text can be selected. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: PDF7: Performing OCR on a scanned PDF document to provide actual text
R — Release the right version
Confirm the filename, destination and recipient. Send the checked output rather than an earlier download. Keep any acknowledgement or submission receipt when the workflow provides one.
The CLEAR check is a proposed working habit. It does not guarantee legal validity, security, accessibility conformance or acceptance by a third party.