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What is online proofing?

Online proofing is a process whereby content owners within a business can invite stakeholders to simultaneously review, provide feedback, and approve that content, using online software. The software manages the invitation of users, distribution of content, workflow, and deadlines of the process. It collates feedback and produces an audit trail of the feedback received and changes required. The software supports the circulation of common content types including documents, images, graphics, videos, audio, and website content.  

How does online proofing software work?

1.       The content owner loads up the content to the software and sets deadlines where required.
2.       Those that need to collaborate on the proof are selected and an invitation is emailed to them.
3.       The proofers click into the software, review the content, leave comments, and provide feedback or approval where required.
4.       If multiple stakeholders are proofing the content, the software makes feedback visible to all proofers so they can collaborate and agree on the required changes.
5.       The software can send reminders to proofers if deadlines are pending or missed.
6.       The proof owner can check the progress of the process at any time to ensure feedback is being made to achieve deadlines.
7.       Once the deadline is passed and feedback has been provided, the proof owner can approve or reject comments that have been made.
8.       The finalised proof is then passed back to the document owner or designer with an itemised list of changes to make.
9.       A revised proof can be reissued to stakeholders following the same process. If the work is finalised it is ready to use.
10.   Throughout the process the software tracks the different versions and feedback, creating an audit trail for compliance or record keeping purposes.

What are the features of online proofing software?

As a web-based solution facilitating a process, you can expect an online proofing software solution to have the following features:
- Accessible 24/7 through common browsers.
- Uploading of common file types.
- Secure storage of content.
- Setting of deadlines and invitation messages.
- Management of a list of stakeholders you can invite to proof.
- Creating a workflow of user roles or responsibilities in the process.
- Automated generation of invites.
- Proofing tool with a variety of options to mark up and leave feedback.
- Collates comments from users into a single view.
- Marks comments with users, time, and date stamps.
- Creates an audit trail of revisions and feedback.
- Easy export of user feedback or in-software checking of to-do lists.

What are the benefits of online proofing software?

Introducing online proofing software to your business resolves many common team frustrations:
- Reduces admin time wasted collecting feedback and chasing stakeholders.
- Reduces errors in the final content by improving review and approval processes.
- Saves your business money by reducing the cost of time and resource needed to correct mistakes.
- Reduces the time to complete the design and approval process. Reduces the number of versions and iterations created by getting feedback from stakeholders early in the process.
- Reduces the need for email trails or hand-written feedback, and the risk of instructions being lost.
- Increases collaboration across teams, both inside and outside your business, by creating a single view of content that feedback can be contributed to.
- Supports compliance requirements that you may have in your business by tracking feedback and instructions made by your team throughout the content creation process.
- Drives accountability by creating visibility of task completion, by user, against deadlines.

Who uses online proofing software?

Online proofing software has applications across many business teams. If you have documents or content that require you to collaborate with others to create, review and approve them before use, then online proofing can assist your role.

Administration teams, legal teams, and document owners produce official forms, reports and documents for their business or clients.

Marketing and brand teams produce physical and digital design work for advertising purposes. Including campaigns, catalogues, point of sale material, video clips, radio ads, website banners, emails, digital ads, and sales material.

Agencies, photographers, and videographers produce physical and digital design work for clients. This includes the same content as marketing teams, but for different clients and brands across multiple locations.