Artwork projects are never easy, but with the right tools, they can be easier. These projects need people from various departments to work collaboratively. Often, they also need expensive software setup.

As work from home has become the new normal, people are increasingly using smartphones and tablets to stay connected to work. Having a set of online tools makes it easier to get the job done, whether you are at the desk or waiting at the laundry. 

As a brand manager in charge of artwork approvals, here are some types of tools that you should keep in your arsenal to better collaborate with different departments and agencies. 

#1 Easily Create Or Edit Vector Graphics.

For creating logos, product labels, packaging artwork, or even marketing collateral, Adobe Illustrator is the staple software utility for creating the visual elements. Often other products from Adobe Creative Cloud suite are used along with them. 

As a manager with little or no experience in handling these programs, collaborating with design agencies can get overwhelming. You may have difficulty expressing how you want a design to look. You may also find it challenging to suggest changes. 

In such scenarios, there are a bunch of online tools that can help you create vector graphics, right in your browser.

• The near-zero learning curve allows you to get started with drafting designs in an instant. 
• These tools can serve as a bridge between the management and the design team, subsequently improving their communication.
• Managers can easily create simple designs to convey what they want.
• They can also make minor changes to existing designs to show what changes they are looking for. 
• None of these tools need a complicated setup or require powerful computer hardware. All you need is a modern browser. 

Notable examples of such tools include Vectr, Vecteezy, and Draw.io.

#2 View Artwork Files From Anywhere

Received an email attachment that you cannot view? Design teams often use file systems that may not be compatible with your device. With an online pdf file viewer, you can upload the file to view it. Some advantages include:

• You can easily view PDF files, no matter where you are. Many PDF files are often too large to be rendered on the device. 
• You can even convert them to other formats that you can store on your mobile device. 

Artwork Flow offers pdf file viewing for collaborators without any software download.

#3 Edit, Sign, or Compare PDF files. 

PDF files are great for portability, security, and compatibility. However, PDF files can often be a headache for managers. They’re hard to sign or edit without the proper software. You may also need to reduce the file size too. Online PDF editors such as smallPDF can help you:

• Sign and edit PDFs
• Compress PDF documents
• Convert PDF documents to other popular formats.
• Merge or split PDF documents

Merging files into a PDF and compressing them is a great way to share a lot of content via emails in a single attachment. 

Comparing artworks using Artwork Flow

Another essential requirement is the need to compare PDFs. You need to see what has changed after a revision. Has the designer changed the color? Are all the typos corrected? Hunting for these changes, especially while working from a handheld device can be tough. 

To help with that, Artwork Flow has a PDF compare tool that highlights the differences between two PDF files. Notable benefits include:

• Two modes for viewing the differences between files.
• Can work with documents with multiple pages.
• Supports PDF documents up to 50MB in size. 

#4 Weed Out Typos In An Artwork

Received a label design or artwork and need to run it through a spell checker? Most PDF viewers do not come with a spell checker. For that, you will need the full suite. For instance, Adobe Acrobat DC comes with a spell checker, but the free viewer – Adobe Reader, does not have it. Streamlining this process is vital for efficient Label and Artwork Management.

When working from a mobile device, the lack of such an essential feature can be problematic. There are freemium online tools that give you limited spell check abilities. You can also use Artwork Flow’s spell checker tool for checking for typos in your label artworks.

#5 Easily Verify Colors in Label Artworks

While you may get tools to check for typos in a PDF, what is hard to come by is a color picker tool. Is that the right shade of green? Is the Pantone 485C? 

Different devices have varying display calibrations. Designers and printers use color codes to communicate to standardize colors. However, as a manager, verifying the consistency of these colors throughout the labels of multiple SKUs can be tiresome.

Imagine an online tool, where you can simply upload a PDF and get all the colors from that document listed neatly, with their Pantone or CMYK codes. Wouldn’t that simplify things? The color picker from Artwork Flow does exactly that. It can 

• List all the unique colors present in a document
• Includes both CMYK and Pantone codes
• Provides a total count of all the shades in the document

#6. Translate Copy on Labels Without Messing Up The Layout

Do you sell your product across multiple regions? Do you need to have labels in different languages? How significantly will the design or layout change when you translate the label into other languages?

You can use onlinedoctranslator.com, a free tool to translate your labels into PDF while preserving the layout. 

#7 Manage complex workflows with ease

Artwork development takes numerous people: the designers, the printers, the marketing team, quality control, the legal team, and more. Managing a project involves creating workflows, assigning tasks, and setting up deadlines. 

While online spreadsheets can be used for organization purposes, there are better tools for the job. While many online project management tools exist, none of them are built with artwork management projects in mind. For artwork project management, Artwork Flow provides all the necessary tools for collaboration and proofing.

Wrap Up

Are there any tools that we have missed? What tools do you use to organize and manage your projects? Let us know in the comments below.