Online proofing may seem strangely familiar, but it is very different from the old soft proofing tools

To read the full analysis, see  ”What is online proofing?” on our website. For those of you with work to do, here is a summary:

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ReadWriteEnterprise ran a piece on why collaboration technology is the hot new thing.

Quoting a report from Forrester called “Benchmarking Your Collaboration Strategy“, they cite two key drivers:

First, knowledge workers are swamped with information overload.  It’s harder and harder to stay on top of the data hitting us each day.  This is increasing as more of us turn on the social media firehose.

Second, enterprises have become efficient at making widgets, but are still very inefficient at managing information.  This is  driving the need to create a more structured approach to how information is managed.

Now I love sitting down with a chilled Chardonnay on a warm summer evening reading an analyst report as much as any of you, but this seems to be repeating what we have heard about collaboration in the enterprise once a year, every year for the last twenty years.

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What is soft proofing?

I have been doing demos of ProofHQ over the last few weeks and quite a few people have asked me to explain what soft proofing actually is.Good question.Here’s my definition.

Soft proofing is a catch-all phrase for proofing files on your monitor rather than using a good old-fashioned paper proof.There are broadly two types of soft proofing:

1. Content and layout proofing
2. Contract proofing

Content and layout proofing is used for a wide variety of media, whereas contract proofing tends to be for print only.

Content and layout proofing

Content and layout proofing does what it says on the tin.Is the content correct?Are there any typos?How does the layout look?Have the correct images been used?Is everything on-brand?And so on.

Content proofing is (or should be) used by agencies of all types, marketing departments, designers, web site developers, in fact anyone who produces a graphical image or text for approval by someone else.

Tools for this type of soft proofing include:

• PDF files sent via e-mail
• FTP sites for upload and download of larger files
• Desk based proofing software
• Web based proofing systems (ProofHQ falls in this category and we think it’s the only way to go, but that’s not the point of this post!)

Content and layout proofing takes place earlier in the design and production cycle.It should be highly collaborative, so that the creator works closely with reviewers to make sure that the brief has been met.

Content and layout proofing often requires a large amount of project management to make sure that reviewers have received their proofs, that they respond on time and that their comments are acted on.Version control also becomes important to ensure that changes are tracked through the various iterations of a piece of work.

Contract proofing

The second type of soft proofing is contract proofing.This uses more complex color-management systems that try and replicate the exactness of hard-copy proofs on the monitor.Contract proofs are called that because from a legal perspective, an approved proof is a binding contract.By signing a contract proof printers and customers are agreeing that they accept the quality of the reproduction on the specified paper using the specified ink.They are saying that a print run will be acceptable if it matches the quality of the contract proof.

Common features of both types of soft proofing

Common features of both types of soft proofing include:

• Viewing a proof it for content and colour
• Letting several people view the proof simultaneously or consecutively
• Marking up a proof to show changes
• Viewing old versions and new versions together
• Providing electronic sign-off
• Archiving the proof for later viewing.

Jon Miller at Marketo writes a great blog called Modern B2B Marketing. He just posted some great thoughts on what it takes to create software for marketers. He talks about lead management software (Marketo’s area), but his thinking applies to any software for marketing, including collaborative review and approval for design.

The pain and expense of buying packaged software has meant that marketing teams have not automated as quickly as other business areas e.g. sales, accounting, supply chain management. Marketing departments have not historically had access to the large capital budgets needed to buy big-ticket software licenses and marketing agencies only spend what their clients give them. Added to that, the complexity of large IT projects does not fit with the way that marketing works, with short marketing cycles and a lifetime of looming deadlines. Finally, marketers are aesthetically aware and let’s face it, traditional enterprise software has not been pretty or easy to use.

The introduction of SaaS (software as a service) has helped make it easier for marketers to fund software purchases. SaaS usually offers monthly or annual subscriptions, which can be funded out of opex (operating expenses) rather than capex. SaaS licenses can also be scaled up or down quickly, so marketers have flexibility to deal with changing budgets. Web 2.0 has led to the improvement of software interface design, which has increased adoption by marketers.

Jon sums up seven attributes of successful B2B software as :

1. Intuitive interface: Most marketers didn’t start their careers as programmers or project managers. Complex tools with Visio-like user interfaces and pseudo-code programming environments may be powerful, but they’re hard to learn and end up requiring dedicated resources and/or significant professional services. Marketers need an intuitive system they can learn quickly – think of how many marketers know how to use PowerPoint.
2. Great design: Let’s face it – marketers are visual people, and how software looks and acts and feels matters. Just take a look at the iPhone.
3. No upfront costs: Marketing departments typically have significant monthly or quarterly program budgets, but large one time payments can be hard – especially if it isn’t planned for months in advance. The same marketer that can commit to a $25,000 agency contract (paid monthly) without batting an eye needs CxO approval to justify a technology investment of similar size.
4. Free trial: Seth Godin says that most businesses aren’t price sensitive; they are value and risk sensitive. They need to justify to the people they work with that they didn’t get ripped off, and they don’t want to have to apologize to their boss for buying the wrong thing. A trial is a great way to get comfortable that the solution really works and meets your needs. If a vendor can’t offer a free trial to serious prospects, it’s probably because their software takes too long to install or is too hard to learn without significant training.
5. On-demand: Software as a Service is a godsend to IT-starved marketing departments. It means you don’t have to buy any hardware or install anything, the system maintains itself, and new upgrades are delivered automatically.
6. Great support: A great solution is much more than just the software you get. To be successful, marketers need easy ways to get started, access to tips and best practices, and responsive customer support. Of course, success shouldn’t come with a price tag, so you shouldn’t have to pay extra for these services.
7. Powerful and complete: Sophisticated problems require sophisticated solutions, and B2B marketers shouldn’t have to compromise functionality to get great design, usability, and fast implementations.