Digital Proofing Best Practices

[KarenRu]

Hi Everybody, We're about to start piloting the digital proofing tool. Can anybody share their best practices for using the tool? Especially for creative services/marketing projects. We have dedicated PM's for our projects. I'm trying to imagine how a PM synthesizes changes, and lets the designers know it's time for them to make the changes. And - who actually uploads the proofs/versions into workfront- the PM's or designers...... any tips/tricks/workflows/process/best practices that anyone wants to share would be super appreciated! tks Karen Karen Rutz Harvard: Alumni Affairs & Development

[SkyeHa]

My preference would be to keep the designers out of it. In our instance, the designers upload the file and generate the proof. They do this to save time. However because of this: * they are listed as the proof owner * they get a whole bunch of proof comment notifications * they can be inadvertently listed as a reviewer on the proof, which messes up their pending approvals It's a huge pain in the neck. My theory is that the designers should upload the file and the person in charge of the review process should generate the proof and invite the reviewers in. Once the reviewers are done, this person in charge should go through the comments, flag anything that the designers need to act on (or to ignore), and then send the designers back in (as a revision task). There are companies where the designer is in charge of the review process (more power to them) and then the designer can be the person to generate the proof and invite the reviewers in and everything works out great. -skye

[JillAc]

We follow a similar process and for the same reason. However, our designers upload the proof (not document) and are reviewers on it, which is ok for us. However, they only share it with the Marketing Manager who is then responsible for figuring out who else needs to see it. Depending on the version, the designer may also include the Creative Director (their boss) at the same time so they can also take a peak if they are interested. The caveat is that on V2 onward, the designer has to be conscious to remove all previous reviewers that automatically populate and only share it with to the Marketing Manager. I think the basic rule should be that only one person per proof should be responsible for deciding who gets what and when.

[AnthonyPe]

My teams aren't currently using any of the approvals within Proof, essentially just using it as a mark-up tool while the project tasks serve to move things forward. How do your teams set up your projects & tasks to reflect the work being done in Proof? Anthony Pernice Healthcare Consultancy Group

[BrandonHa]

Hi Karen, For us, I've set up automated workflows that take most of the guess work out of submitting proofs. This was key for our team because our designers initiate proofs. I'm the only project manager for the creative team, so, due to our workload volume, it wouldn't be feasible for me to initiate all of those proofs. Each of our projects has three stages: Copy-editing, Creative Review, Editor Review (kind of like Brand Managers). Because of this, setting up the workflows is fairly simple. The only thing that our designers need to know is WHO to add for our 'Editor' stage -- we have specific Editors that are assigned to individual clients. If you're able, use those workflows. To me, and my team, it saves a decent amount of time. Also, educating your proof initiators on how to use the 'New Version' function, so that you can maintain version control and compare the current version of the proof with earlier versions (and see the comments, edits/revisions much more quickly), is going to be key. As far as the comments regarding notifications and setting people as 'reviewers', it's something to pay attention to. You can alleviate a lot of notification issues by being intentional with your settings. For instance, for 'Email Alerts' (within Proof HQ), I have the workflows set to 'Decision'. This means that the Proof Creator only gets comments when a 'Decision' has been made, and they come in a single email. Our designers are set as 'Reviewers' as default, but this doesn't mean that they need to provide a 'Decision'. However, if you're concerned about that, you can check the box labeled 'Only one decision required' (see attached). In full disclosure, we have several workflows that cater to different needs (deliverables with no copy, items that have no editor, etc). So far, things have worked pretty smoothly for us. If you have any questions for me, please let me know, I'll be happy to answer anything that I can! Best of luck! Brandon Hamm Bravo Group

[KarenRu]

Thanks for your thoughtful responses everyone! Lots of food for thought! tks Karen Karen Rutz Harvard: Alumni Affairs & Development

[MarisaCo]

HI there, are you using the stand-alone proofing tool (Workfront Proof)? Marisa Connelly

[KarenRu]

Hi All, Follow up question. When someone is done making comments on a proof, or has made a decision. Is there any prompt that sort of ends the session? It's not intuitive as to what the end user is supposed to do? Are folks just supposed to just close the window? I think I may have to explicitly tell people how to end their proofing session. tks again Karen Karen Rutz Harvard: Alumni Affairs & Development

[SkyeHa]

yes, it's true: your users may not realize that they need to close out of the window when they're done with their work--whether that's completing a task, a request, or a review. If you suspect this to be the case, then you'll have to put it into the training notes. Also wise is to mention what recourse they have if they change their mind (how you would like them to handle additional markups or a change in decision) as this happens a lot with our group. Please note: release 18.3 will include a feature where the proof is opened in a separate browser tab--this may make it more intuitive that they close it when their review is complete. -skye

[SiobhanMa]

Hello All- Regarding WFProof , who owns the Proof license- you project managers or your designers? Thanks Siobhan Siobhan Mahon Ascensus

[JillAc]

Anthony Because Proof and Workfront aren't really very well connected it's been difficult to coordinate the two. Therefore, we use Workfront as sort of "milestone" tasks when the first look should be ready and when the final final needs to be approved so each project has 4 tasks related to the proof -- first draft due, first edits due, final due, final approval due -- and then all the back and forth on the proofs and the versions happen within Proof. To keep the knowledge of what constitutes a basic round of edits we put info in the Description box some of the key steps to keep in mind, like this: Edit Rounds: 1. MM, Product 2. Cover options + captions 3. Proofreading & cover letter finalized 4. Allied proofreads When we broke out each of these edit rounds as a separate task (each round has the Designer due date and then the approval due date) it wasn't working, there is too much back and forth to even really know which round you are on, and it was driving everyone crazy so we simplified. Jill Ackerman

[AnthonyIm]

Hi, We have been using the ProofHQ integration for almost two years now and while there are still some weird issues that happen (because the tool isn't a true integrated solution), it has been a huge time saver for us. Since it is the end of the month, I got my stats report emailed to me and we had over 6,800 proofs/versions go through our system and over 216,500 comments in the month of August alone. That is a lot of meeting/phone call time we have saved! We have two different processes currently being used in our global network: Process 1 (used about 80% of the time) Copy/Art/Print Studio does a status update on the task (or request if it is coming from the Print Studio) with a link to the client server. Producer or Project Manager gets the file from the server and uploads it as a proof to the project whether it is a new proof all together or a new version If it is a new proof, the Producer or PM selects an automated workflow template to attach. If it is a new version, they just need to review to make sure everyone who needs to be on is still on it. NOTE: We tend to have the templates by brand so we can have all the people populated who work on the brand. I'm conflicted with this approach as we then have to make sure with have at least one Proof Super User with access to the backend of ProofHQ to update the Workflow Templates as people change. By with that said, we also have a lot of people on a route and having to manually enter those every time is also annoying. You will need to play around with this for your group Producer or PM is the one following up with people to make sure they are making comments/decisions and, if necessary, making any in-flight changes. ONE MORE NOTE: We tend to use the Only One Decision Is Required. Yes, it would be great for everyone who is supposed to look to look, but it would take too long. As long as one person from each department sees it, that works for our agencies. Process 2 (used the other 20% of the time) Copy/Art/Studio uploads the new document to the project or the new version as a Document Only on the existing proof (FYI - we only do documents/proofs on the project level because we ran into version issues when doing it on various tasks) They tag the Project Owner (for one of our agencies the Project Owner is actually the Account person as they do not have PMs or Producers) it is there. The Project Owner hits generate proof button/link After it is generated, they go into the proof details and add the additional people to the proof NOTE: This works for them because they don't use automated workflows and/or they don't want everyone from the previous version on the new version Our default roles and notifications: Except for a few exceptions, this is the norm for our users: Proofers (people with the proof license who can generate and manage a proof and for us that is the PM or Producer, and at one agency Account) will have the role of Moderator and the Notification of Decisions. (If a particular route is "hot" they will switch to hourly summary) For Reviewers, we will have the role of Reviewer and Approver and the notifications to Disabled. Hope this was helpful. Anthony Imgrund FCB

[KarenRu]

Anthony, Super helpful!!! Your workflow validates the direction(s) I was leaning towards. Thank you sooooo much! Karen Karen Rutz Harvard: Alumni Affairs & Development

[KarenRu]

Hi Anthony and everyone, Couple of follow up questions. I had someone on my team playing devils advocate and listing all the reasons this wasn't going to be a good idea. So I think I need to come up with a thoughtful change management and roll out plan. So does anyone have any examples/docs for a change management plan or roll out plan? And or- answers to any of the following questions: Did you clients push back? Some of the feedback I'm getting - is such and such client will never do that. Do you try to use the digital proof for everything- every round? i.e- I can imagine if we have a word doc w/lots of expected copyediting- we would keep the document in word. If we're presenting concepts- obviously we print out and present in person. I'm thinking about declaring that we start using the digital proof in first round layout. We can present in person- but in the meeting state we will follow up w/the digital proof for the marked up changes/feedback. Do you require ALL edits to come back on the digital proof? i.e- someone prefer to mark up a hard copy? do you accept the hard copy or ask that someone translate changes to the digital proof? (is that someone the client, their assistant, the pm? etc?) What benefits did you articulate to the clients/team to using the digital proofing tool- what's in it for management, what's in it for them? What benefits did you articulate to the internal team (designers and project managers, and copyeditors) as well as clients? What's the biggest frustrations from internal team or clients? (I know this has been addressed in other posts- which I've scoured over- but thought I'd ask again!) tks! Karen Karen Rutz Harvard: Alumni Affairs & Development

[MichelleJa]

Hi Karen, When we switched to Workfront and Proof, we had many similar questions. We explained the benefits such as estimated hours saved by switching from email and print-outs to being online for proofing, faster turnarounds since everyone can proof at the same time, and the decrease of missed feedback since all the comments would be in one place. We were told certain people would never use it, and when we had the proof training meetings, many of those who supposedly would be against it were asking how they could use the proofing tool for other project types. And for those that didn't want to change, we had management backing to say they could decide to use the tool or not review proofs (of course, it was put much more friendly). We even had a manager that was being 'protected' by her assistant who said that her manager would never use it because she prefers hard copies. The assistant would then provide the hard copy and then type into the proof any changes. When the assistant went on maternity leave, we showed the manager how to check the proofs electronically, and she loved it. She does it all online now without the middleman. It took time to show results, but once people saw the benefits in action, proof is one of their favorite tools. Some of the nay-sayers are some of my best advocates now. Thanks! Michelle Jackson Colony Brands, Inc.

[AnthonyIm]

Client Push Back: It's funny because our Account people said the same thing, but we are seeing more and more clients ask to use proof especially if they have a good number of people on their side that need to review and approve. The proof viewer is pretty easy to use but we still did a quick video to point out some things to any new reviewer on the client side. Digital instead of Word w/ Track Changes: For our large agencies, copywriters OWN the copy and the proofreader and/or other stakeholders make suggestions or recommendations. So for them, we definitely do everything in digital proof. For the smaller agencies, that has been a bit of a challenge because they prefer making the changes in Word and then the copywriter approves or rejects them. So for a long time, they were "routing" word docs and some PowerPoints offline. However, we started running into problems when the smaller agencies needed help or resources from the larger agencies due to illness/vacation/etc. The larger agencies demanded everything in proof and so the smaller agencies have pretty much moved over. But that was like a 3 year process of them fighting it out. They aren't 100% happy with everything being digital, but the benefit of having the larger agencies help them when they are in need seems to outweigh that concern. Everything: I 100% advocate you just go the everything in Proof approach. The idea of them needing a hard copy to look at is just a change mgmt thing. Once all 3,000+ users had to be in Proof, the fussing only lasted about a month and now everyone is fine. [Side note: Our office in Chicago tends to do your approach, especially with Broadcast items, where everyone is in a conference room together reviewing the first version, but then all other versions are routed through Proof.] Benefits for clients/executives: For clients, we have seen a dramatic increase in speed to market. For executives, we have a great audit trail to see when something has veered off course and why. Also, we have been able to reduce freelancer spend because agencies can utilize resources at another agency if they are short staffed or if something is super hot. Benefits for internal team: We have around 400 proofs going through the agencies a day. The biggest benefit is that there are automated workflows, reporting, and ease of accessibility (since more and more people work remote or from another office). And for us oldies, it is great not see millions of job jackets flying around the office. :) Biggest Frustration: For us, the biggest part is the number of emails. Because of the speed everything needs to run, we put everyone for a department for that client on a stage in hopes someone is free to pick it up and review it. (We love the "Only One Decision Required" checkbox for each stage). For example, if you look at our proofreaders for instance, since they are a shared resource, they are on every single route. That means if you were out yesterday, you could come back to 400+ emails for things to review. The good news is Home (or My Updates if they have a review license) and the Proof Approval object reports can help you show them what is still pending to help them out. Hope this is helpful. Anthony Imgrund FCB

[KarenRu]

Anthony- per usual- you are a wealth of advice and knowledge- I want to clone you for my office. Thanks Michelle too! All great info :) Karen Rutz Harvard: Alumni Affairs & Development