Pretty, aren't they?

Step 1:

The simplest way to check for excessive warpage is by looking down the side of the spacer to ensure that is is relatively flat. Remember, MINOR warpage will not keep this spacer from doing it's job. It is the obvious warps that could do needless damage by keeping the heatsink from contacting the top of the CPU core.

If things look good and the spacer seems pretty flat on all sides, proceed to the next page.

If not, look down on the edges of the spacer and find the side(s) that appear warped and GENTLY bend it back straight again. Re-run Step1 until all sides appear to be as flat as they can get.

Looking down from the side for warps...

When all appears to be in order, proceed to the next page.