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 online proofing system exactly? Before this type of tool was developed, creative and marketing teams often used printouts or long email chains to approve design work; which was cumbersome and slow.
A proofing system that uses online proofing software provides a more efficient, accessible, and manageable way to approve creative content. It removes key technical and practical barriers, which complicated progress, and allows 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. Users can gather feedback on creative content, and web-based approval software allows collaborators to get easy access to work from any location, at any time of day.
A comprehensive online proofing tool doesn't stop there. Depending on the quality and features of the creative proofing system 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 system, 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 modern solution, and one fit for the modern working approach.
Here are two examples of how creative teams have been known to collect feedback:
Paper-based review and approval 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. This process is very manual and therefore unreliable. There are issues with the folder often never making it onto someone’s desk.
Email-based feedback relying on emailing documents such as PDFs being passed around to reviewers helps with traceability and backup but still has its fundamental flaws. 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.
Marketing assets taking too long to approve.
Separate emails and attachments pinging everywhere.
Comments not submitted in one place.
Deadlines being missed.
Publishing errors regularly being made.
Confusion over the most up-to-date version.
No central place to collaborate.
No clarity on the responsibility for signing off.
If just a few of these issues sound familiar, then creative proofing software will go a long way to simplifying your creative approval process.
Faster turnaround of creative assets
More control throughout the proofing process
Deeper engagement from collaborators
Eliminate PDF and asset file-sharing issues
Completed projects with fewer versions
Traceability of all changes
Centralized feedback
Greater accuracy and quality of work
Access for multisite or multinational teams
Streamlined project management
Online proofing uses the internet to provide a structured secure portal for versions of work to be uploaded, shared, and reviewed. Any online proofing system 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.
GoProof is the best online proofing tool and it's a platform where users can share creative assets from a central hub where the whole team can provide feedback.
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.
Sending proofs for review. A good online proofing tool should have the option to share content in at least two ways. One would be to submit export files or documents such as PDFs for review, and the other would be for proofs can be shared straight from inside these apps using extensions or plugins, cutting out the lengthy process of needing to export files.
An important part of the review process is to be clear on who has what responsibility. Online proofing simplifies this by allowing the sender to assign roles to collaborators.
One of the biggest benefits of online proofing is having a single proof that everyone accesses and comments on. It’s vital to give collaborators the most effective ways to convey their thoughts and make actionable feedback with pinpoint accuracy.
There are two main ways for creatives to receive feedback from reviews and take action. One is through a collaboration zone within the platform, and the other is directly from an extension that sits inside Adobe.
The designer produces a new version of the creative and follows the same process to share it for the next review round.
The last step for online proofing is 'sign off', which ends the active review. This can only be done by a collaborator with the appropriate role.
Anyone involved in creating or sharing content or any individual, team, or agency sharing content requiring input or approval 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.
Proof Senders
In-house marketing teams, Adobe Creative Cloud users, design agencies, and publishers.
Collaborators
C-level stakeholders, marketing team leaders, clients of agencies, legal teams, and printing companies.
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.
1 hour every day is saved for creative administration
Work is approved up to 50% faster
Publishing errors are reduced by 3x
Up to 90% cost savings from paper and ink
Better collaborator engagement
80%+ reduction in time-consuming phone calls
An increase in procedural compliance from staff
Less time spent working for free on amends
Smarter Proofing. Faster Approvals. GoProof.
