In this article, you will learn
- where an Approval Project can be created from,
- how to create an Approval Project.
1. Introduction
The Approval Project provides a central area for managing print data approvals. Within an Approval Project, all print data intended for approval is clearly displayed as a list. In addition, the current status of each Approval Project is shown. Besides enabling the download of reports, the Approval Project supports structured execution and management of an entire approval process.
The Dashboard > Approval Projects menu displays an overview of all Approval Projects. The current status of each Approval Project is immediately visible. This allows you to identify which steps are still required at any time – for example, sending an Approval Report to the customer or adjusting a print file – and to keep track of the progress for all approval processes.
2. Access to Approval Projects
Creating an Approval Project is available in various areas of $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW application. The procedure for creating an Approval Project is the same in all areas. Once an Approval Project has been created, it can be found in an Approval Projects dashboard, where it can be centrally managed.
If an Online Approval Portal is used, an Approval Project is uploaded to an Approval Portal after creation. If required, an E-mail is automatically sent to the customer informing them that the print data is ready for approval.
2.1. "Print Data" Tab
The Print Data tab [1] is available in the Articles, Orders, and Production Jobs menu items. Click the title of a Print Item or an Article in the respective list to open the corresponding detail view. The Reports command [2] is available there. Select the Create Approval Report [3] menu item to create an Approval Project with an Approval Report for the selected Article or Print Item.
Only for the selected Article/Print Item
Please note that at this level, an Approval Project can only be created for the currently selected Article or Print Item. Creating an Approval Project for multiple Articles or Print Items is not possible in this context. However, additional Articles or Print Items can be added to an existing Approval Project at a later stage.
Figure 1: Print Data tab of an Article
2.2. Using the Toolbar
If one or more Articles or Print Items are selected in an overview list, an Approval Project can be created for these Print Items via the toolbar.
To do this, select Articles or Print Items in the list that you want to group in an Approval Project, and select the Create Approval Project [5] option from the Reports [4] command.
Figure 2: Overview list in the Articles menu showing the Create Approval Project option
2.3. For Collections
If multiple Articles are grouped into Collection, an Approval Project can be created for the Collection. To do this, navigate to Articles > Collections and select the desired Collection. Then, select the Create Approval Project [7] option from the Reports [6] command in the toolbar. Please note that an Approval Project can only be created for one Collection at a time.
Figure 3: Collections menu item showing the Create Approval Project option
2.4. For Orders
Approval Projects can be created for both Orders and Print Items. To do this, open the detail view of an Order by clicking its title. At the top level, you will find all options that apply to the entire Order. To create an Approval Project for an entire Order, click the Reports [8] command and select Create Approval Report option.
If you want to create an Approval Projects for selected Print Items in the currently selected order line, first select desired Print Items. Then, on the same level, click Reports [9] command and select Create Approval Project [10] option.
Figure 4: Detail view of an Order
3. Creating an Approval Project
Once the print data has been normalized, it should be approved by the customer so that subsequent steps – such as creating an Imposition – can be performed. This example describes how to create an Approval Project containing multiple Articles.
- Navigate to Articles menu item. From an Article list, select the print data that you want to combine in an Approval Project.
- Click Reports [11] command in the toolbar and select the Create Approval Project [12] option from the selection menu. The "Add Approval Project" dialog opens.
Figure 5: Selected Articles for which an Approval Project will be created
Detailed Configuration Options
Detailed description of all configuration options available in the Add Approval Project dialog can be found in the article Preliminary Settings.
- Add Approval Project dialog is divided into three steps – General Settings | Report Parameters | Share Options.
- In General Settings step, you define the basic settings for an Approval Project as well as the content and layout of the corresponding Approval Report.
- Print Item selection [13] displays all selected Print Items. If required, individual Print Items can be excluded from the Approval Project by disabling the corresponding checkbox.
- Under Print Item Preview and Additional Pages [14], you define the content of the Approval Report. Enable the corresponding checkboxes to select the required options.
- Assign a Project Name [15] either by entering it manually or by using Placeholder [16]. The placeholders are automatically replaced with the corresponding information.
- Enter the name for an Approval Report Name [17]. Here, the name can also be entered manually or defined using Placeholders [18].
- Finally, define an Expiry Date [21] and Expiration Time. Optionally, you can enter a Comment [19] and an Ext. ID [20].
- After entering all required information, click Next to proceed to the next step.
Figure 6: General Settings step in the Add Approval Project dialog
- In the Report Parameters step, you define all settings related to report generation. Select desired Layout [22]. An application includes four standard layouts by default. Custom layouts can be created and made available for selection. Optionally, you can also enter customer-specific information for the report.
- Customer [23] – select a customer that has already been created in the application.
- Contact Person [24] – if the customer is a company, you can also select a contact person.
- E-mail [27] – when a contact person is selected, the stored E-mail address is automatically entered. For an individual customer, the E-mail field can be completed manually. Please note that the entered E-mail address is automatically used to send the notification E-mail informing the customer that an Approval Project is available in the Approval Portal.
- Length Unit [25] – select the length unit to be displayed in the Approval Portal. Available options are Millimeter (mm), Points (pt), Centimeter (cm) and Inch (in).
- Comment [26] – enter any additional information that should be displayed by default in the header of the Approval Report.
- Click Next to proceed to the final step.
Figure 7: Add Approval Project dialog in the second step
- In Share Options step, you define whether an Approval Project should be published in the Online Approval Portal and if the recipient should be notified by E-mail. If no Approval Portal is used, the creation of the Approval Project can be completed by clicking Save. Otherwise, the following settings can be configured in this step:
- Publish to Approval Portal [28] – enable this option to additionally publish the Approval Project in the Online Approval Portal.
- E-Mail Settings [29] – select whether and how a recipient should be notified about an approval. The following options are available:
- No E-mail notification – select this option if you do not want to send an E-mail notification to the customer.
- Use the Integrated E-mail Service – select this option if you want to send an automatic E-mail using the E-mail service integrated into the application. The files are first uploaded to the online server, and an E-mail is then sent to the defined customer. Please note that this option is only available if E-mail sending from within the application has been configured.
- Use a local E-mail application – enable this option if you want to use your local E-mail application to send the E-mail. The E-Mail Account (Sender) [32] option is hidden when this option is selected. Please note that in this case, the E-mail is not sent automatically.
- Select required E-Mail Template [30] and the corresponding E-Mail Recipients [31].
- Finally, select required E-Mail Account (Sender) [32] that should be used to send an E-mail. This option is only available if you use an integrated E-mail service.
- Click Save to create an Approval Project, publish it in the Online Approval Portal, and automatically send an E-mail to the customer.
Figure 8: Share Options step in the Add Approval Project dialog
Article Update: $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW 2.1.0 – 06/2026