Online proofing is a term that describes the secure process of reviewing and approving creative work using an internet workflow, normally driven by online proofing software. But what is proofing software exactly in this context? Before this type of tool was developed, creative and marketing teams, ad agencies, publishers, brands, and designers, etc., often used either printouts or long email chains, which included vast to-do lists, to approve design work; which was cumbersome and slow.
A proofing workflow that adopts online proofing software provided a more efficient, accessible, and manageable way to approve creative content. It removed key technical and practical barriers, which complicated progress, and allowed for a more engaging and modern approval journey, that can be accessed from anywhere.
Online proofing now saves time and money, improves collaboration, and gets creative work approved faster.
An online proofing process uses the internet to provide a structured creative review process within a secure portal where users are able to gather feedback on creative content. Web-based approval software allows collaborators to get easy access to work from any location, and at any time of day.
A comprehensive online proofing solution doesn't stop there. Depending on the quality and features of the creative proofing software powering it, creative designers, project managers, or content writers can also make huge productivity gains from integrating with the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of products, or with project management software such as monday.com or Asana.
Collaborators can draw upon copy editing functions too, making quick and easy changes to text-heavy documents without having to send them separately. They can also submit assets, videos, animations, and other files directly through the proofing platform, rather than having to use a file-sharing service.
Online proofing has been instrumental in transforming the approval workflow from a traditional, less efficient process to a more streamlined solution, and one fit for the modern working approach.
Here are two examples of how creative teams have been known to collect feedback:
In traditional paper-based proofing workflows, single or multiple-page designs are printed off and stuck into a communal folder, which is passed around the building to everyone who needs to review them.
The required stakeholders would then take turns to look at the designs and make scratchy notes on them, indicating what they liked, disliked, felt needed changing, or wanted to add. This process is very manual and therefore unreliable. There are issues with the folder often never making it onto someone’s desk or it remaining in the in-tray or home of someone who’s on vacation.
This is now a largely outdated workflow, due to the prevalence of remote and hybrid working.
Relying on emailing documents such as PDFs being passed around to reviewers helps with traceability and backup but still has its fundamental flaws. Emails may go out at the same time but they can come back at totally different ones.
Sometimes, as two or three versions one after the other from the same person, the text descriptions are normally in the body of the email, not on the actual design. When a group email is sent out for feedback, who is responsible to respond? Should everyone? It's confusing.
But the biggest issue by far is that there is very little creative collaboration. Everyone is working separately on their own, with no visibility of what their colleagues are saying, suggesting or doing.
All successful proofing workflows are driven by reliable cloud-based online proofing software, so it’s a strong consideration for any creative team.
It is, however, a great idea to go through a quick self-qualification process ahead of choosing your software package, so you know that you’re looking for the right online proofing solution.
Here’s a list of issues experienced by teams not using online proofing software workflows.
If just a few of these issues sound familiar, then creative proofing software will go a long way to streamlining your creative approval process.
To help you understand how online proofing works, we’ve broken the workflow down into the 7 key steps of online proofing.
Online proofing uses the internet to provide a structured secure portal for versions of work to be uploaded, shared, and reviewed. All users will access the same platform to share creative assets, in a range of file types, from a central hub where the whole team can provide feedback.
Any robust online proofing solution will have its own structured workflow. The following 7 steps outline a typical successful online proofing process, incorporating features and approaches you might find in leading Creative proofing software like GoProof.
Learn more how GoProof works here: goproof.net/how-goproof-works
Once the initial creative artwork is created, gather the content you need and send the artwork for feedback. The proofing workflow can be streamlined depending on which file route you are taking, as you’ll see in Step 2.
A good online proofing solution should have the option to share content in at least two ways.
This is done by either Browse for files stored on a local machine or network or in a cloud system such as Dropbox and then uploading them to the proofing website portal. It’s the basic way to submit export files or documents such as PDFs for review.
Most graphic designers and video producers use an Adobe app such as InDesign, Premiere Pro, or Photoshop to produce creative work. Proofs can be shared straight from inside these apps using extensions or plugins, cutting out the lengthy process of needing to export files into another format first or using the file uploader.
The interface inside GoProof guides you through the process of sharing your work. Depending on the Adobe app being used, the options may include setting deadlines, attaching files, allowing copy edits, creating teams of collaborators, adding custom messages, and more. All collaborators invited to the proof receive a notification via email or mobile app with a secure link to the proof.
An important part of the review process is to be clear on who has what responsibility. This could be for numerous things including commenting, copy editing, inviting new collaborators, requesting changes, uploading files, and signing off work. Online proofing simplifies this by allowing the sender to assign roles to collaborators. These collaborator roles play a major part in keeping reviews on track.
A user who can view proofs but not make any comments or join in the conversation.
A user who can view proofs, make any comments, @mention others, and upload files.
The person with the most responsibility can make all the actions of a Reviewer and add collaborators, request changes, and sign proofs off.
One of the biggest benefits of online proofing is having a single proof that everyone accesses and comments on, rather than separate copies being routed around on emails or print-offs. It’s vital to give collaborators the most effective ways to convey their thoughts and make actionable feedback with pinpoint accuracy. Designers can then clearly understand the instructions for the creative work and action it correctly.
Here are some of the features you should expect to see in the collaboration zone of an online proofing system.
It's important to know who has seen or not seen the proof, regardless of whether any action has been taken on it. This is something that online proofing can easily track as part of the current status display of the collaborator.
Online proofing is a huge leap forward from confusing long-hand statements written in the body of an email. Look out for a healthy range of proofing and mark-up tools outside of standard comment pins, such as text edit, highlight, and zoom.
Using comment threads next to the proof, collaborators can easily see who’s saying what and inspire each other to produce better creative results. Using @Mentioning is also a great way to engage with each other users and speed up the review.
A huge barrier to efficiency within the proofing process comes when edits are required to the copy. Traditionally, a copywriter would email text or send an attached document, which the designer would reformat into the document. Online proofing software makes this process smoother by allowing editors to submit text as if they were making a comment, cutting out all the extra time and work.
Artwork regularly goes through numerous versions before being approved. A handy feature is seeing the history of comments and comparing previous versions with the existing ones is an essential part of this.
To keep things simple, online proofing allows everyone to share files when making comments. This could be anything from a replacement logo, to an instruction video or a spreadsheet of financial information.
Online proofing helps to clarify the key stages or milestones of work as it moves through the creative journey. It’s done by collaborators with the relevantly assigned role placing the proof into a specific status such as 'In Review' or 'Changes Requested'.
If a hard copy of the proof is still required, for traceability or procedural compliance, hard copies of proofs can be printed off or downloaded as a PDF.
There are two main ways for creatives to receive feedback from reviews and take action on them.
Here the creatives track the comments being made next to the proof and then work out what needs doing. Once a proof has been marked for a new version to be produced, the creative sets to work, referring back to the proofing software throughout the process.
This is where maximum productivity is achieved for creatives by using an extension that sits inside Adobe. Creatives receive all comments, changes, and files right into their document or video side panel. Meaning they don’t need to leave Creative Cloud to view feedback and can see it exactly in context, page by page.
They can then just hit ‘Apply’ to place copy edits directly into the document.
The designer produces a new version of the creative inside their software and then follows the same process as before to share it for the next review round.
Proofing software helps to save time on the review steps by remembering the settings from the previous review. Alongside this, insight reports are generated to help creative teams evaluate the time being taken on reworking, which can be used to measure output against forecasted time.
The last step for online proofing is 'sign off', which ends the active review. In most cases, this can only be done by a collaborator assigned with the appropriate role to protect the proof from being published without the correct permission or authority.
Throughout the whole process, collaborators are able to manage and keep on top of their reviews via a proof dashboard where they can filter on status, project, client, deadlines, and much more.
Anyone involved in creating or sharing content or any individual, team, or agency sharing content requiring input or approval from other teams working on the same project will benefit from online proofing. As far as proofing software users are concerned, there are usually two types of users to consider: the people who share proofs for review and the people who provide feedback.
Here’s a list of the most common users, but these really are just a selection, as there are many types of team members, in various industries and job roles that will benefit from any one of the handy features listed above.
We touch on the broader benefits of online proofing software, here: The Benefits of Online Proofing Software
Our customers love telling us about their return on investment, here are just 8 of the savings, gains, and issue resolutions you could also benefit from when implementing online proofing tools within your marketing or creative operation.
You can also browse a selection customer case studies, that highlight real-world gains for creative teams, here: GoProof Case Studies
Smart Proofing. Faster Approvals. GoProof.
