An evaluation method, comprising: receiving a reference pattern corresponding to an output pattern (353, 354) over a network, wherein the output pattern (353, 354) is printed on a medium based on the received reference pattern; rendering a scan based instance of the output pattern (353, 354), wherein the rendered scan based instance comprises: a set of features at least corresponding to the printed output pattern (353, 354); and one or more defect features in addition to the set of features at least corresponding to the printed output pattern (353, 354), the one or more defect features comprising one or more printed defect features; computing a difference image based on a comparison of the rendered scan based instance to the received reference pattern, the computed difference image comprising the one or more defect features of the rendered scan based instance; and evaluating the computed difference image upon the one or more defect features comprising at least one defect feature in relation to a proximity of at least one feature to a location of one or more pixels of the received reference pattern, characterized in that the evaluating comprises determining, based on the evaluation step, that the proximity comprises an unacceptably small separation between a position of one or more pixels of the at least one of the one or more defect features to the location of the one or more received reference pattern pixels. receiving a reference pattern corresponding to an output pattern (353, 354) over a network, wherein the output pattern (353, 354) is printed on a medium based on the received reference pattern; rendering a scan based instance of the output pattern (353, 354), wherein the rendered scan based instance comprises: a set of features at least corresponding to the printed output pattern (353, 354); and one or more defect features in addition to the set of features at least corresponding to the printed output pattern (353, 354), the one or more defect features comprising one or more printed defect features; computing a difference image based on a comparison of the rendered scan based instance to the received reference pattern, the computed difference image comprising the one or more defect features of the rendered scan based instance; and evaluating the computed difference image upon the one or more defect features comprising at least one defect feature in relation to a proximity of at least one feature to a location of one or more pixels of the received reference pattern, characterized in that the evaluating comprises determining, based on the evaluation step, that the proximity comprises an unacceptably small separation between a position of one or more pixels of the at least one of the one or more defect features to the location of the one or more received reference pattern pixels. a set of features at least corresponding to the printed output pattern (353, 354); and one or more defect features in addition to the set of features at least corresponding to the printed output pattern (353, 354), the one or more defect features comprising one or more printed defect features; computing a difference image based on a comparison of the rendered scan based instance to the received reference pattern, the computed difference image comprising the one or more defect features of the rendered scan based instance; and evaluating the computed difference image upon the one or more defect features comprising at least one defect feature in relation to a proximity of at least one feature to a location of one or more pixels of the received reference pattern, characterized in that the evaluating comprises determining, based on the evaluation step, that the proximity comprises an unacceptably small separation between a position of one or more pixels of the at least one of the one or more defect features to the location of the one or more received reference pattern pixels.