Proofreading assets lets you annotate multiple file types when you edit an asset in the Content tab to identify changes and provide feedback. You can draw on or highlight specific items and leave a comment for another team member to carry out the required changes.
To start proofing an asset, go to the Content tab and click Edit for the uploaded asset you want to annotate.
Supported file types
Content Marketing Platform (CMP) supports the following types for proofing directly.
Type | Extensions |
PDF |
|
Microsoft Office | DOC DOCX XLS XLSX PPT PPTX |
Images | BMP - auto-converted to PNG GIF JPG / JPEG PNG TIF - auto-converted to PNG |
Video |
MP4 Other formats will be transcoded by CMP into the MP4 format in order to support proofing. The original file will be retained for publishing and download purposes |
Other | HTM / HTML |
Types of annotation
In the asset editor, select the tool you want to use from the toolbar and drag or click the area of the asset you want to highlight. You can then leave an associated comment with the annotation to provide context and request changes. Find the list of tools mentioned in detail below.
Click the following highlighted options to access the tools.
- Microsoft Word files – Open the options menu (...) and select Manage versions.
- Other files – Click Edit (pencil) for Proofing & Versioning.
Text Tools
- Text tool – Highlight text in any color. Click A to use the text tool, and select a color.
- Select text – Click and drag your cursor to highlight text.
Shape tools
The shape tool allows the selection of an area by using a shape in any color. To access the shape tool, click the "Circle" icon, and select your desired shape and color. You can then drag the shape around your desired area.
Freehand
Freehand lets you draw on the asset in any color. Click the Pencil icon and your color of choice. You can then freehand draw on the asset.
Comment
To leave a comment, click Comment (icon) and click the asset where you want to leave a comment. A comment box displays.
You can find even more color coding features by clicking on the following dropdown button.
Comment area
Comments appear to the right of the asset. Select a comment to see the highlighted area on the asset, or selected a highlighted area to identify the comment.
Download assets
To download an asset, click the download icon within the proofing toolbar.
- With Comments (PDF) – Download a PDF version of your file that you can open in a desktop PDF reader to show the comments and associated page highlights.
- Without Comments –Download the original, source file in the format that it was uploaded in.
The downloaded file (without comments) will look like this:
Compare asset versions
You can compare versions of the asset by selecting a draft to compare with the current version.
The 3-panel layout displays the older draft on the left and the latest version on the right and the difference are shown in the middle.
The central pane shows an overlay of each version with changes between the versions:
- Red – Content from the older version.
- Green – Content from the newer version.
- Gray – Shared content between versions. No change.
You can scroll in the central panel, which scrolls the versions at the same time. Comments are highlighted directly on the drafts so you can determine if a change was made correctly. However, you cannot reply to comments when in the comparison mode. To change the versions being compared, each panel has a drop down that lets you select a draft in each panel.
You can switch off the central panel.
Proofing Video Formats
Optimizely Content Marketing Platform (CMP) includes support for proofing video formats directly within the interface. Supported formats include MP4, OGV and WEBM with browser-supported codecs. Any other formats are automatically transcoded to MP4 in to allow for proofing of the video content. To ensure your original file remains intact, it is retained and used for publishing and download purposes.
Proofing a video allows the same features and proofing tools as any other document with some key areas to note:
- Proofing tools – Select your tool, color and thickness options.
- Video Timeline – Shows where on the timeline comments were made. Selecting a user avatar skips to that point in the video.
- Comment String – Shows comments made on the video. Select the annotation type link (Rectangle / Freehand) to skip to that point in the video.
If you upload an unsupported format, it is converted to the MP4 format. Your original version remains for publishing and downloading purposes automatically.
Some corporate firewalls may block the use of the Asset proofing feature. If you have any problems using this feature, ensure that your IT team has placed https://*.welcomesoftware.com/* on the allow list through your firewall.