How to Review a Proof
If you’ve ever been tempted to skip proof review: Don’t!
In print, correcting mistakes after your project goes to press costs valuable time and money. Website pages, posts, and presentations afford more opportunities to correct mistakes, but frequently issuing corrections can cultivate a negative impression on your audience. So, why take the risk? Just proof it.
For Print
In print, there are several types of proofs. In this resource, we’ll focus on soft proofs and hard proofs.
How to Review a Soft Proof
When you work with us, we’ll ask you to review and approve a soft proof before we send your file to print. The next time you receive a soft proof from our team, here’s what to do:
Print the soft proof from an office or home printer if it benefits your review process. This kind of quick testing is called plotter proofing. It doesn’t necessarily need to be to scale, or even use the same ink colors. It’s more about the perspective shift from screen to print, about getting one step closer to final and thinking about how your audience will react.
This typo evaded everyone’s eyes (ours, and the client’s) until it was test printed. It’s one small example of how seeing a design in print can refocus attention after reviewing it on screen.
Give content another close read-through. It’s your last chance to correct errors of fact or grammar, catch typos, etc.
Look at it with fresh eyes when your production schedule allows. In our experience, a day—or even a few hours—can make a difference. Being so close to the work means potential issues might not stand out. When you approach it again after a break, you’re more likely to spot things you didn’t catch on the first round of review.
Double-check the visual aspects of the piece. When we’ve built or managed your files, you should feel free to rely on us to pay close attention to brand styles such as color and typography, as well as other visual assets like photography and illustrations. That said, we’re only human! If you see a potential issue or have a question, don’t be shy about flagging it. We’d much rather have the chance to address it than to leave it behind.
Skip tagging in anyone unfamiliar with the project for review. Proofing isn’t a design step. Uninformed notes from someone without project context can only go so far in service of the piece. Backtracking and explaining choices slows down production. This can lead to increased delivery costs for critical deadlines. At the soft proofing phase, plan to bring in someone new only if you must have their approval to move forward.
At the proofing phase, weigh unexpected feedback against all the planning, preparing, conversations, and decision-making you’ve done so far.
Once your soft proof is good to go, all you have to do is tell us it’s approved—and we’ll handle the rest.
What to Know About Hard Proofing
Our team has collective decades of print experience. We’ve reviewed hundreds (at least) of hard and contract proofs—knowing what to look for has become second nature.
So, when you work with us, we’ll handle hard proofing with the vendor on your behalf, unless otherwise requested. We’ll check print elements like crops and bleeds, ink color consistency and contrast, size and scale of graphics and text, overall legibility, paper weight and texture, and more—without slowing down the print process. We’ll also run quality checks at every phase, from file reviews in pre-press to comparing hard proofs against the final prints in a post-print project retrospective.
Sample documentation from a contract proof review. We looked at a number of elements and gave it a test spin with sample products—and addressed an ink cracking issue along the fold that we wouldn’t have known about without a contract proof. This process is a safety net that ensures your finals will come out looking polished.
Our proof review process means you’ll save time by skipping additional reviews and handling vendor communications—and rest assured that we have your back throughout the process.
For Screens
We review everything before we send a screen project out the door to you. Our process can include cross-browser testing, broken link audits, color contrast inspection, content hierarchy review, and more. (That said, if you spot something that looks off—say something! There can be unique variables on screen that we need to track down, replicate, and solve for. It’s why we review, after all.)
As in print, an eye for detail on screen goes a long way. Whether we’re working on an advertisement, social media graphics, a multi-page PDF, an eBook, or a website, we’ll tag you in for review before it's in the hands of your audience.
When reviewing screen proofs, follow the same fundamentals of soft proofing for print. We’ll provide as much context as possible for your review. If we’re launching a website, you’ll have a chance to interact with it in a web browser—on multiple screens and device sizes—before it's live to the public. If we’re working on an ad for an online vendor, we’ll mock it up in context of the advertiser’s website to give you a better idea of how it looks in a real space. No matter what type of screen project is up for review, seeing it outside a vacuum is crucial for confirming our decisions worked well in practice, or spotting things that might need more attention.
Reviewing a proof is a wise move. When in doubt, tag us in for support! We’re here to help facilitate smoother projects, from start to finish.
