Version 4, final, final
A folding carton job is scheduled on the press for Thursday. The proof went to the customer's marketing contact on Monday. On Tuesday their brand manager emails back a PDF with comments. On Wednesday their regulatory person replies separately with a change to the ingredients panel, commenting on version 2 instead of version 3. By Wednesday afternoon nobody has formally approved anything, and the press slot is about to be given to another job.
The pre-press team has spent more time managing the conversation than making the changes.
Approval happens by email
Packaging artwork is reviewed by several people on the customer side, often marketing, technical and regulatory, and each reviews in their own time. Email was never designed for this. Proofs are sent to one contact who forwards them, versions multiply, and the formal approval is a line in an email that can be hard to find later.
- Proofs are sent as attachments to one person who forwards them on.
- Comments arrive from several people on different versions.
- The approval is an informal reply, not a signed record.
- Nobody on the customer side can see the press date the proof is holding up.
- Dieline, colour and barcode notes are separate from the proof.
What slow approvals cost
Waiting for approval pushes jobs off their scheduled slot, which disrupts the plan for everything behind them. Pre-press staff spend time reconciling comments rather than doing pre-press work. Worse, a job printed from an unapproved or superseded version means a reprint and a dispute over who pays. And when a customer later says they never approved a detail, finding the evidence takes time.
The proof approval portal we build
- When pre-press uploads a proof, it is stored as a new version of that job's artwork, with the dieline, colour references and barcode notes attached.
- The customer's reviewers, set per customer or per job, receive a link. Each sees the current version in their browser, with the option to compare it with the previous one.
- Comments are pinned to a point on the artwork and collected in one list, visible to all reviewers and to pre-press.
- Comments on an old version are flagged, so changes are made to the right file.
- Approval is a formal step that records who approved which version and when, with any conditions noted.
- The job shows its press date and approval deadline, and reminders go to reviewers who have not acted as the deadline approaches. On approval, the job is released in your MIS for plating or printing.
| Issue | By email | In the portal |
|---|---|---|
| Who reviews | Forwarded around | Named reviewers per job |
| Versions | Several in circulation | One current version, history kept |
| Comments | Separate marked up PDFs | Pinned in one list |
| Approval | A line in an email | Recorded sign off per version |
| Deadline | Invisible to the customer | Shown with reminders |
After the portal
Reviewers see the right version and each other's comments, so contradictions are resolved on their side before pre-press acts on them. Approvals arrive sooner because the deadline is visible. Pre-press works from a single list of changes. And every printed job has a clear record of the approved version, which settles questions quickly.
Is proof approval holding you up?
- Jobs miss press slots waiting for approval.
- Customers comment on superseded versions.
- Approval evidence is buried in email threads.
- Several reviewers send conflicting comments separately.
- A job has been printed from the wrong artwork version.