Once upon a time, a designer sent out a proposed design to five stakeholders in the form of a PDF via email. The designer was optimistic about their work getting quick approval.
Then, the feedback started trickling in.
The first person accidentally commented on the previous version.
The second person had trouble downloading the file.
The third person left vague comments without clarification.
The fourth person called the designer directly to discuss amends one-on-one.
The fifth person “never got the email”.
Suddenly, the project stalled. And the designer did not live happily ever after.
These frustrating scenarios aren’t just scary fables. They’re all too common for teams working with all kinds of digital assets, whether it’s a design file, social graphics, PDFs, websites, photos, or videos.
Luckily, there’s a solution for a storybook ending to your project: a dedicated online proofing platform that makes reviews and approvals seamless, centralized, and fast.
What is a Digital Proofing Solution?
A digital proofing solution aims to simplify the review and approval process, providing a centralized, cloud-based workspace. Reviewers can access, comment on, and approve files from one intuitive tool.
Online proofing can support many formats, including PDFs, documents, images, videos, motion graphics, presentations, and more.
Digital proofing tools outrank more traditional methods in many ways. Unlike email or file-sharing platforms, they’re built for real-time collaboration and to keep feedback in context.
They also have format-specific markup options for making highly precise annotations. This makes tasks like proofing a document far quicker and more accurate as teams no longer have to compare and reconcile multiple annotated attachments.
The Key Benefits of Online Proofing for teams working on Digital Assets
If you want to help your team avoid the headaches that come with a messy workflow and feedback process, online proofing is the perfect solution. There are some major advantages to using a dedicated proofing solution for digital assets.
- Centralized Feedback – All comments, markups, and approvals are consolidated. Teams don’t have to juggle multiple platforms.
- Precise Markup – The tools enable reviewers to leave specific annotations, down to the pixel, letter or frame level. This makes it easier for the team to understand exactly what is needed.
- Version Control – Online proofing enables organized versioning and change tracking. People won’t find themselves commenting on the wrong file and can quickly compare versions.
- Time Savings – This increased accuracy and clarity leads to fewer review cycles and faster project turnarounds.
- Better Client/Stakeholder Communication – Everyone can view the same file with a complete history of changes and decisions. Less confusion and friction, more accountability and collaboration.
How Teams Use Online Proofing in the Real World
Online proofing is a critical part of creative workflows for teams in a variety of industries.
Complete Visibility for Agencies
For agencies, whether in advertising, marketing, or design, bringing a campaign to the finish line often involves gathering client and stakeholder feedback on a variety of assets. When that feedback is scattered across multiple platforms, it becomes a disjointed and time-consuming process.
With online proofing, all your files can be grouped and proofed together. This is an aspect that ReviewStudio client Los De Idea, an agency working on marketing and design, particularly values.
Brenda Sesma, Director of Operations at Los De Idea, shared that it’s helpful when the client doesn’t have to navigate around to find all the materials for the campaign. Having everything together in one place ensures the branding is all aligned.
Having file support for all the media types you might encounter in a 360 campaign is a must for a full-service agency. Internal-external privacy is another key feature – enabling certain conversations and versions to stay in-house.
Precise Markup for Designers
Design feedback needs to be incredibly precise as clients are often requesting very technical and minute changes. Projects involving design can include tons of details such as minute measurements – with the need to markup required adjustments with precision.
Digital proofing platforms provide the specialized tools to achieve this precision. ReviewStudio’s markup features enable design teams to turn layout requests around faster, cutting down on revision time.
Clarity for Photographers
Photographers also require highly targeted feedback. Before 100% Studios switched to online photo proofing software, they were having to rely on text-based explanations sent via email and comments, which resulted in a lot of back-and-forth conversations.
They also faced issues with image approval. They found that without integrated approval tools, it wasn’t clear which images had been given final signoff.
With ReviewStudio, annotations can be made directly on images. Labelling, rating, and batch options make selection straightforward, and approvals are fully integrated.
General Manager of 100% Studios, Sam North, shared how ReviewStudio helped the team save a significant amount of time, making the post-production process a lot more streamlined. Because of this, they’re able to be a lot more productive.
Version Control for Creative Projects
Creative assets require a highly iterative process, which means a lot of file versions and an increased risk of confusion. Online proofing can help to mitigate this with versioning.
Creative agency Elephant Skin (who provide everything from brand storytelling to 3D rendering for real estate clients) find this aspect of ReviewStudio particularly useful. The team at Elephant Skin can revert to previous versions and address issues like overlooked comments quickly.
Cross-functional Collaboration for Enterprise
When assets are being shared across functions, departments, and even continents, there are many potential pitfalls. From siloed communication to time-zone complications, the process can be slow and frustrating.
Online proofing gives everyone a standardized way to provide input and collaborate asynchronously. Teams can assign roles and automate workflows, so everyone has clarity about what they need to contribute and when.
Lixil turned to ReviewStudio to streamline collaboration with their remote CGI team. They quickly discovered that they could easily include everyone from product teams to engineers, no matter how many time zones between them. Make Digital Asset Reviews Faster and Smarter
If you’re still trying to wrangle feedback across Slack, email, or shared drives, it’s time to upgrade. Teams need purpose-built proofing tools to keep up with the speed and complexity of modern workflows.
