A creative proofing workflow
Move a deliverable from production through proof, decision, and sign-off.
Proofing goes wrong when feedback arrives in several places at once and nobody can tell which version was agreed. This workflow keeps the deliverable and its decisions together.
Attach the deliverable to a single task
One task holds one deliverable through every round. Creating a new task per round scatters the history, and the whole value of proofing is being able to see the sequence in one place.
Run internal review before the client sees it
Give internal quality control its own stage and its own named approver. Clients should not be your first proofreader, and an internal approval costs far less than a wasted client round.
Move to Client Review with a specific ask
Say what you want decided. Approve the layout is a different request from approve the copy, and a vague ask produces vague feedback that costs another round to interpret.
Collect feedback on the task, not in email
Keep comments on the deliverable so the next person can see what changed and why without reconstructing a thread. This is the step that makes a designer picking the job up on Friday self-sufficient.
Record the decision and version the work
Capture Approved or Changes requested with a note. If changes are requested, the note becomes the requirement for the next round, so work restarts from something written rather than remembered.
What success looks like
- Each round has a recorded decision on the same task, feedback is specific enough to act on, and anyone can see which version was approved and on what basis.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Creating a new task per proofing round, which scatters the history.
- Sending work to the client before internal review, spending client rounds on your own errors.
- Asking for feedback in general rather than naming what needs deciding.
Common questions
Yes. Approvers can be teammates or clients, so internal quality control and client sign-off use the same mechanism.
Give the client Comment access on the task so responding in place is easier than replying by email.
Related pages
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