Online proofing: Smoothly streamline content reviews and approvals

You’re looking for an easier way to align designs and content than via email? Online proofing is your lifesaver. In this article, you’ll learn exactly how it works.

Thanks to today’s digital tools, almost anyone can create Instagram stories, infographics, memes or eye-catching photos. All you need are a smartphone and some apps. 

The catch: Even though content creation keeps getting easier, you still need a clear approval process. That’s especially true when images or videos are used in a business context or delivered to agency clients. 

​The more content marketing teams and agencies produce – and the more creatives are involved – the more approval workflows tend to slow down. Add remote work to the mix and it quickly becomes hard to see where each asset currently stands. Online proofing helps you stay on top of things and avoid the chaos that often comes with growing content volumes. 

Online proofing is a digital, usually browser-based approval workflow that helps teams review their creative content together and approve it as efficiently as possible. 

Agencies can use it, for example, to manage design proofing for corporate publishing projects in one central place and coordinate more easily with external photographers, editors and production designers. 

​In companies, online proofing simplifies review cycles for marketing campaign graphics or videos created for social media. 

You probably know from experience what workflows look like without online proofing: 

• Designs or photos are sent back and forth via email. 

• They either get buried in an overflowing inbox or turn into a never‑ending email thread that nobody can keep track of anymore. 

• To view the files, attachments have to be downloaded locally and then added again to the email reply. 

• In magazine projects, it used to be common to send physical proofs that passed through many hands and were covered in sometimes confusing feedback on sticky notes. 

​Online proofing takes the core principles of these traditional proofing methods, brings them into the digital world and streamlines the entire workflow. The way people communicate during proofing stays the same, but the exchange between everyone involved moves to a central hub – usually a dedicated, browser‑based proofing tool. 

​With this software, agencies and their freelancers and designers can: 

• view the content they’re working on right in the browser, 

• leave comments directly on the relevant part of the asset, 

• highlight specific areas, and 

• suggest concrete changes. 

This makes the entire review and approval workflow not only more efficient but also much more transparent. 

How online proofing simplifies agency and marketing workflows 

The biggest benefit of online proofing for agencies and marketing teams is the boost in speed and efficiency. But there are several other reasons to move from email chains to online proofing: 

• Real‑time collaboration in the browser: Online proofing makes it easy to work on content together. All stakeholders can access and view digital assets like images or graphics at any time and keep working on them. 

• Shorter feedback cycles: Because you’re no longer sending, opening and replying to long email threads, feedback loops finish more quickly and content can be produced faster. 

• Feedback where it belongs: Communication happens right on the file that needs approval. Everyone can instantly see which part of a layout or which area of a photo needs to be adjusted, which reduces misunderstandings and rework. 

• Full context and history: Comments and questions are directly linked to the file. Video or photo proofing tools typically provide versioning and a clear change history. This makes it easy to retrace decisions from a couple of weeks ago, and many follow‑up questions take care of themselves. 

• Less email overload: Aside from a single email with a link to the file, everyone’s inbox stays clear of long feedback threads. That saves mailbox storage space – and nerves. 

To take advantage of these benefits, you’ll need proofing software. There are various tools on the market for design proofing, video proofing or online photo proofing. 

If you not only want to handle approvals in the browser but also manage your entire media library in one central place, a digital asset management (DAM) system is the better fit. 

The pixx.io DAM is designed to bring together images, videos, graphics, presentations, PDFs and more in a single mediaspace. With collections, filters and keywords, you can quickly find exactly what you’re looking for. This cloud‑based DAM also lets you share digital assets securely with colleagues and external partners and serves as an online proofing tool. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Save a file in your mediaspace, for example, an infographic. 

• With just a couple of clicks, invite people to leave feedback directly on the infographic. 

• Designers, clients and anyone else with a link can coordinate and stay aligned directly in pixx.io. 

Thanks to integrations with image editing tools and other software, changes to the infographic can be made quickly. 

Once everyone has signed off, you set the file status to “Approved” and share the final infographic directly from pixx.io with your social media colleagues. 

With pixx.io, you can set up your own online proofing workflow easily and securely: Granular permissions and role management let you define exactly who can view and edit which files. The activity history shows you at any time who made which changes or comments. 

Use pixx.io for your online proofing 

During a free trial, you can experience just how easy reviews and approvals can be with pixx.io – and how the tool supports your agency or marketing team across all your media workflows. 

Create your personal mediaspace now for fast, smooth review cycles and invite others to comment on your content and collaborate with you.