Ultimately, online proofing is a digital solution to confirm a company's content between their teams, suppliers, and customers.
Whether in print or online, nearly every project requires content to be reviewed and approved by specific stakeholders. Years ago, the content was duplicated as "hard" copies or samples and delivered - typically overnight - to various offices for review. There were two types of reviews:
- One was for content, assuring that the material was correct.
- The other was to confirm color accuracy, particularly brand colors.
All parties involved commented verbally and in writing on the proofs. The graphics were then returned and collected overnight, and the content production team revised them as needed.
Obviously, technology has changed. Today, online proofing is a digital review and approval process. Review materials are share and approved digitally and delivered at network speed, and returned anywhere globally. This can be any content, including text, images, videos, and other media, even websites. And if specific standards are met, reviewers can approve the color directly from their desktop.
As a collaborative project management process, content is compared, annotated, and ultimately shared among all stakeholders to develop the best content.
Why do I need Online-Proofing?
Many organizations have opted to share digital content through a complicated web of manual email messages and assign a project manager to track everyone's responses.
However, in a digital world where projects, processes, and team approvals are becoming larger and more complex, it is essential to equip yourself with automated tools. By implementing an online proofing system, the review and approval processes become much more efficient and accurate. An excellent online proofing system will automatically notify all parties when a document is ready for review and return comments immediately through the system. Just as important, it gives the project manager the ability to monitor progress and pinpoint bottlenecks.
What is the business case for Online-Proofing?
It's simple: 92% of marketers say the number one reason for missing deadlines is approval delays. With an automated online proofing system, you can quickly eliminate extra steps and email confusion. The result is an expedited, collaborative process, even for complex, visually intricate campaigns. Any system that can reduce these delays is valuable for meeting deadlines and maintaining time-to-market for product launches.
The system allows the project to move forward once all stakeholders have responded and/or signed off. Collected data from comments and approvals also ensure that regulatory compliance is accurate and easy to prepare and provides an effortless way to deliver regulated information.
The benefits of Online-Proofing
With the introduction of an online proofing system, the review and approval processes have become much more efficient and accurate.
Using a browser-based system with a structured list of reviewers and approvers, teams can view change requests collaboratively in real-time and enables full traceability of complex approval cycles. A sophisticated Online-Proofing system gives clients the possibility to comment directly on the creative document under review.
For projects with tight deadlines, everyone can perform instant collaborative reviews, projects can be signed off, and content is consistant and delivered faster.
It also means your people can focus on producing the content itself rather than the complex processes that drive it.