Approval Manager's approval cycles are highly automated, allowing your workflows to progress on cruise-control until completion or, if management intervention is necessary, they are manually routed to a new stage in the process.
Reviewers follow a simple three step process which can be accessed directly from Approval Manager or by simply clicking hyperlinks embedded in automatic email notifications.
First reviewers view the proof document and optionally annotate it. Depending upon the proofing application specified for the file, it may be opened with a variety of standard Digital Proofing tools including Adobe Acrobat, Kodak's RealTimeProof Partner, Microsoft Word, and others.
Full Integration with Acrobat Standard and Professional enable users to annotate online. All annotations are automatically stored in the Approval Manager database and visible to other reviewers. Annotations are named and color coded by user name.
Now reviewers can decide whether they wish to "Accept", "Accept with Changes", "Reject", or simply "Comment" the proof. Textual notes can be added to supplement or replace annotations.
Reviewers can opt to upload a file to be posted with their review. This capability enables reviewers to attach large comment files, annotations from Acrobat Reader, or any other file useful for the review process. Managers and co-reviewers will be able to access this file as part of the review process.
Approval Manager provides a user friendly browser based interface for setting up and planning proofing stages, and for managing proofing rounds, reviewers, and schedules. These workflows may be simple two stage turnaround workflows, or more complex including any number of stages and proofing iterations between designers, creative directors, legal teams, brand and product managers, merchandisers, marketing, prepress and external customers. With Approval Manager, even the most complex cyclical workflows are easily created and effectively monitored.
The Proof Manager window provides managers full control over the workflow of proofs. Each file may pass through multiple rounds in a stage before advancing. Stages may be modified at any time and rounds may be planned in advance.
With Approval Manager, users don't have to stay logged in to the application to know when, or even if, they are responsible for reviewing or approving something. Once you've implemented a workflow in Approval Manager, users begin to receive targeted email notifications and reminders that let them know what their responsibilities are. These email notifications are sent automatically as proofs become ready for review.
Event-driven notifications keep everyone on the same page. In addition to notifications sent to reviewers when the proof is ready for review, Managers and other reviewers in a stage are also notified of reviewer comments as they are made, and automated reminders warn users and managers when proofs are falling behind schedule. This automated communication provides a compressed approval cycle that speeds up the entire approval process. With these dramatic efficiencies, you can get more work out faster without sacrificing quality.
While email notifications are designed to integrate efficiently with individual user's daily work processes, they are not the sole means by which users can monitor their responsibilities and complete their reviews. Approval Manager automatically creates custom dashboard worklists for each user.
For reviewers, these worklists provide an always up-to-date interactive list of each reviewer's pending responsibilities, and provide the primary interface for reviewers working in the application to select the proofs they want to work on. When a user is assigned to review a new proof, an entry automatically appears in their dashboard worklist.
Production is responsible for reading the manager's notes, reviewing proof comments and annotations, making the necessary corrections, and uploading new versions of the proof. Production is an optional role, which is sometimes performed by the manager. With the aid of their own dashboard worklist, production staff immediately see the work that requires their attention.
Managers are responsible for analyzing reviews and deciding what to do next - move forward in the process or return the proof to Production for corrections. With their own dashboard worklist, managers can instantly see what proof files need to be acted upon and why. This simple view into the proofing process enables managers to quickly size up their work and prioritize proofs in the process.