Artwork approval is a tough process. 

There’s timeline pressure. Coordination is important. And errors lead to rework and loss of time and money. Hence, what brands and design agencies need are seamless workflows, to make artwork approvals more efficient and reduce production costs. 

Artwork management helps to:

1. Speed up time-to-market
2. Improve project management
3. Reduce artwork revisions
4. Get easy access to resources

All of this can be made possible with the right automated artwork management software.

What is Artwork Flow? And, What is the Importance of Artwork Management in Packaging Artwork Process?

Several brands often use traditional channels of communication and proofing for artwork management. It could be emails, calls, messages, ad-hoc requests that happen between teams. All of these can be difficult to track and error-prone.

By using a platform, like Artwork Flow, you can plan, manage, and proof packaging artwork for brands right from design and ideation to approval. It also facilitates collaboration between teams and contributors. 

“Artwork Flow is a cloud-based platform that can streamline complex artwork management processes. “

Artwork Flow can help with:

1. Customizable Workflows

The steps that make up the artwork approval process define the workflow. This sequence could be subjective for every brand packaging.

With Artwork Flow you can create your own custom workflow, add checklists, and set the sequence of tasks across different departments. This helps teams get a bird’s eye view of the process and understand their priorities better.

Also check out our latest product updates here.

2. Project Status Tracking

Measuring progress is important. Tracking team performance can help avoid delays in the project timeline.

Shared artwork management software makes project tracking simple. Since the tool is used by all teams and departments working on the artwork, project managers can pinpoint bottlenecks, anticipate hurdles, and plan more accurately, to meet deadlines.

Check out this handy user guide on how to create your project!

3. Digital Artwork Proofing

Before finalizing any packaging artwork for printing, it’s essential to thoroughly verify it. Even the slightest variation in color or font can cause a product rollback. Hence, the brand packaging artwork needs to be cross-checked before full-scale production.

Online proofing tools can help to proof artwork PDF files instantly in terms of measuring design elements, extracting fonts, and the colors used in the artwork. Such tools go beyond manual checks and do a better job of reducing the risk of errors. 

4. Collaboration Between Stakeholders

Several teams - marketing, legal, finance - are part of artwork approval while designing the brand packaging artwork. And the design team is the only common link. It can happen that change requests made by one team could be missed by others and mess up the approval process or delay product marketing. 

A collaborative environment makes the process seamless. Online tools help internal teams and even external agencies comment, annotate, and see whose approval is pending by bringing in transparency. 

5. Version Tracking

Having multiple versions of an artwork file is inevitable. But organizing and tracking them is important. Especially since teams work on multiple projects and several files. 

Version tracking or version control allows access to the revision history of a design file. Every time a designer edits the artwork, the update is time-stamped. This eliminates the hassle of searching for the design in a vast media library.

Version tracking brings in clarity on design iterations. It also lets managers devise measures to speed up the artwork approval process and roll out the brand packaging faster.

6. Digital Asset Management

Traditionally, the designer’s computer is the warehouse of all creatives. Only the final versions of packaging designs are shared across different departments. This creates dependency and a huge bottleneck in the artwork approval process. 

A digital asset management library facilitates the organization of artwork files. It offers cloud storage to safely and securely keep packaging artwork files. The library allows easy access to files by reducing request-receive time. And, helps designers collaborate and receive feedback on artworks in a centralized place.

Endnote

Operational issues, miscommunication, and lack of transparency are roadblocks to a brand's packaging artwork approval processes. An artwork management software like Artwork Flow makes working in teams better. By proving a single platform to manage files, collaborate, get feedback, share resources, track progress, it drastically improves the overall operational efficiency.

What are the challenges that you face while approving your brand packaging artwork? Are there any particular tools you’re looking for? Do you think proofing tools like PDF Compare, Font Finder, Color Extractor can help you?

We’re all ears for your thoughts.

BONUS: Watch how artwork management can make your team productive!