Forwarding for Approval or Feedback

Sometimes it makes sense to forward an approval off to someone else for feedback. This person may or may not be included in the original Approval Request, but you might like to use their feedback to inform your own decision-making.  

Once someone has sent work to you to review, click the blue Forward button. From this screen, you may have the option to either Forward for Approval or Forward for Feedback: 

What's the difference between Approval and Feedback?

Some organisations give you the choice on whether you can forward for approval or feedback. Others do not. If you have the choice, it may be helpful to be aware of the difference between the two options. 

Essentially, both options provide users with an approval screen, with the ability to add comments and mark up to work. However, there are slight differences with how this feedback is 'approved' and sent back to you. 

• Forward for Approval provides users with with the option to add mark-ups, approve or request changes, just as you can on your current screen. You might forward for approval to another colleague or boss.

• Forward for Feedback provides users with access to a similar approval screen where they may add mark-ups, or provide feedback on the item before sending it back to you. The only difference between screens is that feedback may be marked as positive, neutral or negative. Usually feedback is used to inform your own approval. You might forward for feedback to another colleague, or even a legal team.

 

Approval Workflow Screens

Once you click either Forward for Approval or Forward for Feedback, you’ll be redirected to a new screen where you’ll be able to choose who to forward the item to. 

Adding Your Approvers

The approvers section allows you to add the individual or group of people that you would like to review and give feedback on your artwork. Type in someone's name to add them to the forwards recipient list. 

Clicking on the pen icon next to Approvers, you have more advanced options, such as the added luxury of choosing from a list of admation users, using the Project Team, Users and System Groups tabs at the top of your screen. Click the green arrows  on the resulting screen to add to your forwards recipient list, or click the red cross  next to a person's name if you make a mistake.

You can also forward to external users by clicking the External Users tab at the top of the screen. This function is only available from the Advanced Screen. If you would like additional help forwarding work to someone outside the admation system, visit this guide. 

You can also view our alternative guide for using our continuous, any and all approval features or our guide on using approval levels if you’d like to add some complexity to the approval workflow here. Otherwise, simply add the names of the individuals or groups in this section. Every user on Approval Level 1 will see the artwork first.

Applying a Deadline for Forwarding Recipients

From the approval workflow screen, click the pen icon next to Deadlines.

Then specify the deadline of the forwarded approval request. This specifies how long your recipients have to respond to you. You can also schedule up to three automatic reminders, which will notify the approver(s) of the pending approval request as the deadline approaches. Click Done.

 

Adding Messages to your Forward Request

Each recipient is sent an email notification and in-system message with a link to the approval artwork by default. You can also add an optional personalised message to go along with this notification. Type out your quick message using the allocated text box on your screen.

Adding Attachments to your Forward Request

Any supporting documentation you’d like to include with your work can be added under the attachments section. It might help to further inform your approvers about why you’ve made the design or marketing decisions you have made in your submission. These attachments will also be sent in the email notification.

You can either Browse and upload files from your computer, or you can Select Project Documents which will bring up a list of any documents that were uploaded to your admation project.

Adding Quick Annotations to Work Before You Send it For Approval

When sending artwork for approval, you may find it handy to add specific annotations for your approvers to see and be aware of, along with the original piece of artwork. For example, you may like to point someone's attention on a specific area of the piece. You may also want to ask for an opinion on the specific area of the work.

To do so, submit your work for approval and head on down to the bottom section titled 'Items'. The left of the two icons in the top right corner of the deliverable thumbnail will allow you to 'add markups'.

A thumbnail of the work you're sending off will show in the centre of your screen. Use your markup tools to highlight an area of the work you'd like to comment on. Type in your comments and hit Done once you're happy with your changes. 

Admation will show that you've created an annotation on the artwork you're sending off. Continue filling in your approvers, messages and Submit your items for approval when you're ready. 

Any annotations you've written up will be shown separate to your approver's comments. The reviewer will have the option to Show Markups on the file as well.

 

Adding Region Masks to Your Forward Request

Why use a Region Mask?

Region masking is useful for a user who might want to hide or conceal sections of their work which may not be relevant for their approvers.

Imagine this. A designer is creating a catalogue which includes products from multiple vendors or suppliers. The designer might want to hide another supplier's products from one set of approvers if that imagery isn't relevant to them. However, the designer may want to show the entire catalogue to illustrate product placement and spacing in order to get the catalogue approved. This is where the region mask comes in handy.

What Approvers See When a Region Mask is Applied to Artwork

When a Region Mask is applied to work, these users see a black square or rectangular shape which conceals the hidden area. Reviewers won't be able to remove the mask under any circumstances. This means that sensitive or confidential information stays that way! Reviewers still retain the ability to approve, change and make comments to the work as standard. 

Selecting Approvers Before Applying a Region Mask

You need to select your approvers for your items before applying a region mask to an approval request. When you submit an item for approval, you’re brought to a screen where you can select individuals or teams to approve or review your work. Select your users, then head on down to the 'Items' section at the bottom of your approvals screen. The right of the two icons in the top right of the deliverable thumbnail will allow you to apply region masks.

Applying a Region Mask Before Submitting an Approval

Each of your approver(s) will be located on the top-left of the screen. If you've forgotten someone, you'll need to go back to add your users to this list.

To apply a region mask, select a person's name from the list along the left hand side of your screen.

Then select the square tool from the bottom of the screen. It will turn blue once selected. Then drag and drop your mouse from left-to-right over the area you wish to conceal. Click OK to confirm your region mask for that user.

Repeat this step as necessary until all required region masks have been applied for each individual or group. Once you have applied the appropriate region masks to all users, then Done to save your changes.

Making Edits to Region Masks

To move an existing region mask, click the Hand tool and move the shape as required. Click OK to save the updated mask. Click Done once all the necessary changes have been applied.

Back on your approval workflow screen, you'll now see the icon displays the region masks you have applied. Make any other changes as needed on this screen. Then click Submit once you're ready to send your request off to your approvers. 

Submitting your Forward Request

Review your selections, then click Submit to forward the artwork. Admation will take you back to the approval. You will be able to see the current status of the job from the Forwards tab on review screen.

Click Show All Reviewers to see everybody on the approval path, then click Exit once you are ready to leave the page. Note that you do not need to click Approve or Changes until you have heard back from these stakeholders.

 

Adding a Manual Approval to your forward request

Manual Approvals gives greater control to you when feedback for an approval request will be received, this feature enables you to lock and unlock an approval request whenever needed.

Similar functionality has now been added to Forwarded Approval Requests.

When you forward on an approval request, you will be able to manually lock the request, which prevents additional feedback coming in after you have already processed the request yyourself. If needed, you can unlock the request again to allow feedback to come in once more. 

From here, you may like to:

• view the approval status of the work that's been forwarded for approval or feedback
• learn how to lock your approvals once you no longer wish to receive feedback from your forwards, or
• read up on how to collate feedback from stakeholders once they respond.