Project Collaboration is an automated workflow application that allows creative and marketing teams to upload and route images and PDF files to multiple users for review and comment. With PDF files, Adobe Shared Review technology can be used to embed annotations in PDF files. Files uploaded into Project Collaboration can be automatically transferred into Widen’s Digital Asset Management application once the project is approved.
Projects
Any file uploaded into Project Collaboration is a project (See Figure 1). A project can have a Description, Due Date, assigned Routed Users, and assigned Owners. Projects can be setup to require all routed users to approve a project before the project is marked as approved or they can be setup to be approved by the first routed user who approves it. Once a project is approved, it is removed from all users Pending Projects list.
Figure 1: Project Collaboration Account Page
Routed Users
A user has to be assigned to the route to review that project. These users will receive email notifications when there are projects to review. Email notification reminders will be sent out when the Due Date approaches and the user has not yet reviewed the project. Routed users can be assigned as visible or hidden users. Hidden users and their comments are only visible to an owner of a project. Visible users and their comments can be seen by anyone on the route and by the owner of the project.
Owners
Assigned Owners of projects will receive email notifications when users have reviewed or approved the projects. Owners of the project can update the assigned Routed Users, modify the Due Date and Description, and upload additional versions.
Project Versions
Projects can have multiple versions of files. All previous versions’ comments and details are stored with the original project.
Figure 2: Project Details Page
Uploading Projects
Any image or PDF file can be uploaded as a project. To upload a single project or multiple projects, files are dragged and dropped into an applet with the appropriate Project Upload Profile selected. If multiple projects are uploaded, they are contained within a Project Set so they can all be accessed and reviewed at one time (See Figure 2).
Project Upload Profiles
Default settings are set on projects by choosing the appropriate Project Upload Profile. The upload profile can have predetermined Routed Users, Owners, and Due Date. Once a project is uploaded with the correct upload profile, no other changes are necessary. However, the project’s Routed Users, Owners, or Due Date can be modified at anytime.
Reviewing and Approving Projects
When a Routed User receives an email notification to review a project, they can use the link in the email to go directly to the Project Details page. All projects that need to be reviewed will be listed under the Routed User’s Pending Projects list.
Figure 3: Review & Comment Window
Routed Users can see other users' comments as long as the routed user is not marked as a hidden user by the administrator. A larger view of the project is available to zoom in on the detail of the project. Any comments about the project can be entered in the Review & Comment window (See Figure 3). If the project does not need any changes, the user can approve it. All comments and approvals, including a routed user viewing a project, are time-stamped.
Adobe PDF Shared Review
PDF files can be setup with Shared Review in Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0 and then uploaded into Project Collaborator. Routed Users can then use the Adobe Commenting tools to directly annotate on the PDF file when they review the file. All users’ comments are stored with the Project Details.
Releasing Projects to Digital Asset Management
Once a project is approved, it can be released into Widen’s Digital Asset Management application. Owners can select to release approved projects or the Project Upload Profile can be setup to automatically release the project once it is approved. The project’s history will still be available in Project Collaboration for future reference.