Chapter 3 - Workflows

Project Types - Advanced Setup

Introduction

xxx

Project Type base settings

Once a new Project Type has gets created, the following base settings are available:

• Label - This value will appear in the Web Portal when selecting the project type. (Please Note; The label value needs to get applied for each language you require.
• Agent - Select a previously configured Agent to process new Proofs (see Agent Configuration - Basic Setup for more details).
• Provider - Select PDF for PDF or documents, IMAGE for all Image formats, or MOVIE for all Movie formats. (See Processing options section below for additional settings).
• Tree Node - Create / Select the Tree structure if you are using the Assets Browser feature (see Tree Node section below for additional information), or if you want to organize the projects within a project tree structure
• State - (Deprecated feature, left for legacy customers) The State field is used to assign a state to the creation of the project. Unless you are using this setting, leave this as "Select," and no state will be assigned to the project.
• Version label - The version label allows administrators to replace the standard V1, V2, V3, etc., with custom labels, e.g., "First Version," "Second Version," etc.
• Department - This is an optional field used to arrange projects by departments. Departments are set up in the "Global Settings" > "Department" section
• Metadata
• Description - This is an optional field. If used, the content added will be taken into consideration when searching.
• Project color - If configured, any Projects subsequently assigned with this Project Type will inherit this color setting. The project color shows up in the "Project List" and is a quick way to categorize projects using color-coding.
• Flow - Select a workflow from the "Flow" pulldown list to enable that workflow for newly created projects.
• Flow enabled - If you enable this checkbox, projects with this "Project Type" will follow the Workflow defined in the Flow menu.
• Proofs - Use this setting to create placeholder proof pages. E.g., perhaps additional pages will only be available after the project is started but must be considered from the project start. (Please Note: Empty/placeholder pages will only get created if the option "Do not create empty proofs" is unchecked).
• Start date - This setting is used in conjunction with "Deadline" for the default project deadline in days. This sets the offset of the project start date, which is available when running actions and workflows. You set the offset by selecting the offset to the current date/time.
• Deadline - The deadline gets used in conjunction with the deadline for the default project deadline in days. This sets the offset of the project deadline. You set the offset by selecting the offset to the current date/time.
• Holiday dates - used with the workflow business days setting to determine non-working days in a project.

Project Options

Below are the available project options and their descriptions.

• Email copy - This enables notifications to be sent by the system to other participants, regardless of whether they are project admins or customers. Notifications only related to the participant will get sent if you do not check this option.
• Check before notifying - Use this option to redirect notifications from the Aproove processing Agent to the Manager (user role). The Manager will then decide if the notification should get sent to its intended recipient. This option and the 'Notify all' (below) are mutually exclusive.
• Notify all - All users, group manager, and the project manager will receive notifications from the agent. This option and 'Check before notify' (above) are mutually exclusive.
• Hide commit action button - The commit action button allows for manual pushing of annotations and triggering events back to the server. (Please Note: This option should only be unchecked for legacy or specific workflow purposes. By having this option selected, these events will happen automatically in real-time
• Do not create empty leading proofs - This feature is dependent on having a predefined naming convention in place. When checked, the Aproove Agent will not create empty [leading] pages at the start of a job.
• Do not create empty proofs - This feature is also dependent on a predefined naming convention. This option is similar to the 'Do not create empty leading proofs' feature but for trailing pages. The Aproove Agent will not create empty trailing pages for the job when checked.
• Do not remove CHANGED status automatically - When selected, a new batch of proofs will not reset the "changed" status of the existing proofs. This can then be set using a workflow action. When unchecked, only proofs with a new version in the last processed batch will get the "changed" flag
• Allow two-factor authentication (2FA) - Project setting to allow two-factor authentication to be set on tasks
• Proof tag applies to all proof versions - With this option unchecked, proof tags get applied to the version where the tag got added
• @mention inherit sender permissions - the user rights assigned to the sender of a task are passed to the user who is @ mentioned.
• Enforce identity on user tasks - When checked, a task can only be opened by the user who was sent the task. This prevents users from forwarding tasks to other users as they will be required to authenticate with the intended task recipients' login credentials.
• Note snapshot - Store an image of the section of the proof where a note is created.
• Barcode protocol - Select which barcode protocols the barcode scanner tries to match in the Review Interface. By default, the scanner attempts to match all the protocols.
• Task sender email - This option overrides the global settings and allows tasks to be sent from the address you input
• Lock - This option enables you to lock the Project, making it accessible in "read-only" mode.
• Lock proof after sending notification - This option allows the locking of a proof depending on whether a Task notification has been sent. When checked, once users click a decision button in response to an assigned Task, the proof in question will only be accessible to them in read-only mode. Other users that have been invited to review the Proof can continue to add notes providing they have not responded/completed their Task.
• Lock proof on approval - This option locks a proof when it gets approved, preventing notes from being added to it.
• Store originals files - Enables the system to store the original files on the Web server and the Agent server for a better end-user experience.
• Aproove notes automatically - Notes are validated automatically after adding a new version of a proof. This setting is mutually exclusive with Creator note approval (below).
• Creator note approval (only with schema) - The initial creator of the note can validate their note, but only if the project is associated with a Schema (See Schemas in the Users & Groups section of this manual). If this option is not checked, only the project manager can validate/resolve a note, not the note creator. This setting is mutually exclusive with Aproove notes automatically (above).
• Allow note comment - Allows users to comment on Notes that were added to a Proof.
• Always allow comment - This option hides the "Allow comments" checkbox within a Note preventing users from turning it off.
• Display note id - Like Projects and Tasks, each Note has its own unique ID. This option will display it within the Note following the Note #. Note IDs are also included on exported PDFs.
• Hide resolve note tool - Users will not have the ability to resolve Notes.  
• Disable new note proof selection - This option hides the "Apply to proof selection..." dropdown option within a New Note.
  
  

Processing Options

The processing options determine how the Agent server will render the files for viewing in the Review Interface. (Please note: Some of these values will change depending on which Provider gets chosen for the Project Type).

For the PDF Provider type, the following options are available:

• Force version generation - This option forces the system to create a version if a duplicate proof is uploaded. The default system behavior is for the Agent to create a new version of a proof only if it detects the content changed in the uploaded file. This setting overrides that default behavior.
• Bypass agent error - When processing uploaded files, ignore any Agent error(s) and continue the processing of other files in the same batch. The default behavior is for the Agent to stop processing the current batch of uploaded files if a processing error occurs.
• Ignore missing file - Ignore the missing files and do not create placeholders for missing files.
• Color layer tools - This setting processes the color layers for viewing in the Review Interface. (Please note: The User rights for the Colour layer tools and Layers will still need to be granted for this option to be available to Users).
• Uniform resolution - Separate pages in a project may have different resolutions. This setting requests that all the project proofs get created with the same resolution. Suppose the target resolution (from this setting) is not possible (higher than the resolution of any of the project files). In that case, processing will run again using a lower resolution until it is successful. Each page will then have an acceptable resolution that does not generate any error during agent processing. (Please Note: The lowest resolution acceptable for the whole project will get used).
• Anti-aliasing - This setting is used for PDF files. Anti-aliasing will smooth any vectors and font outlines. It achieves this by blending the line (on the resulting proof) with its background color to smooth the edges, thus making the appearance sharper. We recommend that this setting be checked except for those projects containing Packaging files.
• Delta mask color - Select the color you wish to use when highlighting differences between proof versions in the Review Interface compare view. (Please note: This setting is applied when processing the files; therefore, if you process files and then change this setting, proofs must be reprocessed for the new settings to take effect.
• DPI - Sets the dots per inch (DPI) of the processed proof/s. The greater the resolution, the greater the detail and the higher the zoom level. The higher the DPI, the longer the file processing will take.
• Maximum zoom (Mpx) - is used to force the size in megapixels for each page of the document to be processed. If the size required by the proof is less than the setting value, then some zoom levels will be removed, reducing processing time. Leave the value at 0 if you do not want to change the original size of the document.
• Jpg Quality - Deprecated. This option defines the compression rate for the tile images used for the Zoom functionality. This setting is a percentage with the default value being 80, and the range of values extends from 1 to 100. When the value is 100, there is no compression. (Please note: Aproove now uses a proprietary compression format that is more efficient than JPEG, but the setting label remains. The rate of 100 is therefore used to obtain a result without any loss of quality (lossless).
• Render using RGB values (noICC - CMYK+SPOT only) - This render mode is mainly used for Packaging artwork files. In order to offer a more accurate rendering of Pantone (Spot/special) ink colors at the expense of ICC conversions of CMYK inks. ICC profile conversions get used for all colors according to conversion settings (see ICC section below).
• Disable deep zoom - Disabling deep zoom reduces the number of tiles and the zoom levels offered when viewing proofs. This will reduce the amount of processing time for the Agent but the view will be reduced in detail.
• Enable layers processing - This setting instructs the agent to process each layer of a PDF file (this will be expanded to other formats such as PSD in the future) If this setting is enabled users can display different layer combinations inside the proof viewer.
  

For the Image Provider type, the following options are available:

• Force version generation - This option forces the system to create a version if a duplicate proof is uploaded. The default system behavior is for the Agent to create a new version of a proof only if it detects the content changed in the uploaded file. This setting overrides that default behavior.
• Bypass agent error - When processing uploaded files, ignore any Agent error(s) and continue the processing of other files in the same batch. The default behavior is for the Agent to stop processing the current batch of uploaded files if a processing error occurs.
• Ignore missing file - Ignore the missing files and do not create placeholders for missing files.
• Color layer tools - This setting processes the color layers for viewing in the Review Interface. (Please note: The User rights for the Colour layer tools and Layers will still need to be granted for this option to be available to Users).
• Delta mask color - Select the color you wish to use when highlighting differences between proof versions in the Review Interface compare view. (Please note: This setting is applied when processing the files; therefore, if you process files and then change this setting, proofs must be reprocessed for the new settings to take effect.
• Jpg Quality - Deprecated. This option defines the compression rate for the tile images used for the Zoom functionality. This setting is a percentage with the default value being 80, and the range of values extends from 1 to 100. When the value is 100, there is no compression. (Please note: Aproove now uses a proprietary compression format that is more efficient than JPEG, but the setting label remains. The rate of 100 is therefore used to obtain a result without any loss of quality (lossless).
• Maximum zoom (Mpx) - is used to force the size in megapixels for each page of the document to be processed. If the size required by the proof is less than the setting value, then some zoom levels will be removed, reducing processing time. Leave the value at 0 if you do not want to change the original size of the document.
• Disable deep zoom - Disabling deep zoom reduces the number of tiles and the zoom levels offered when viewing proofs. This will reduce the amount of processing time for the Agent but the view will be reduced in detail.

• Force version generation - This option forces the system to create a version if a duplicate proof is uploaded. The default system behavior is for the Agent to create a new version of a proof only if it detects the content changed in the uploaded file. This setting overrides that default behavior.
• Bypass agent error - When processing uploaded files, ignore any Agent error(s) and continue the processing of other files in the same batch. The default behavior is for the Agent to stop processing the current batch of uploaded files if a processing error occurs.
• Ignore missing file - Ignore the missing files and do not create placeholders for missing files.
• Mobile Support- This setting generates a low-resolution mobile-friendly version of the video files
• Generate multiple streaming resolution - This setting generates multiple streams to cater for multiple screen resolutions dynamically
• Burn time code in video - This setting adds time codes to the Proofing video; a preference of video professionals
• Max bandwidth - This setting is a per client streaming bandwidth throttling (which has an influence on compression)
• Width and Height -This setting forces the output of specified resolution (original is kept)

ICC Settings

ICC profiles are used to manage the color rendering used when creating Proofs for viewing in the Proofing Viewer.

ICC source profile
The ICC source profile is a mandatory setting that determines how the Agent will render files for viewing in the Proofing Viewer. Depending on the files you intend to upload, you will need to set the ICC source profile to a CMYK or RGB profile. If an RGB file is submitted to a project that is configured for a CMYK source profile (or vice versa), it will error on the Agent.

ICC destination profile
The ICC destination profile is a mandatory setting determining how the Agent will render files for viewing in the Review Interface. We recommended that the destination profile is set to sRGB for viewing in your browser.

ICC Intent
ICC intent determines the rendering used, and the choice should depend upon whether or not your screen is colorimetric.

For a non-colorimetric screen, there are two options:
Perceptual: Colors are close to subjective reality, but colorimetry is inaccurate.
Saturation: Colors on the screen are saturated to force the tones.

For a colorimetric screen, there are two options:

Absolute colorimetry:
Color rendering in terms of measurement, with respect to the white point of the source profile (for example, a simulation of the white paper, in the case of a press simulation). Please note that the output profile must have a sufficient gamut (color capability as extensive as the source profile described).

Relative colorimetry:
Color rendering in terms of measurement, with respect to the white point of the destination profile (for example, disregarding the white paper in the case of a press simulation). Please note that the output profile must have a sufficient gamut (color capability as extensive as the source profile described).

ICC proofing profile
You can perform a simulation using an ICC profile other than the destination profile by configuring the ICC proofing profile.

In the example above, we want to view the photos in a project using a specific non-RGB profile from a publisher's press.

For comparison purposes, the image below left is processed from an AdobeRGB profile to an sRGB profile. The image below right is the result when using the printer profile without any out-of-gamut warning. As you can see that the colors are more matte.

The picture below left is an example of when the out-of-gamut warning is enabled. The diagram below right explains why any out-of-gamut color will be replaced by white.

Colors in the image get based on the rendering mode at the intersection of the source and destination profiles. In this example, the two modes are perceptual.
With the "Image" Provider, you can also indicate a secondary ICC profile:

This enables you to process images with different colorimetric profiles with a single project configuration (in the example above, quadri and RGB images get processed in the same project).

The JPEG Quality option is used to define the compression rate for these JPEG images. This setting is a percentage where the default value is 80, and the range of values extends from 1 to 100. When the value is 100, there is no destructive compression. The image format is no longer a JPEG. Instead, it has become a proprietary Aproove format which is more efficient than JPEG. The rate of 100 is therefore used to obtain a result without any loss of quality (lossless).

Below left, you can see a series of artificial pixels (visual artifact) resulting from an image compression of 80.
Below right, the value is 100. With the same zoom, you can see that the area does not present any visual artifact.

Booklet

The booklet option is an Agent setting to enable the creation of booklets. (Please note: For users to view the booklets, they will require user permissions). The display is also used in the Review Interface "Project view" area. 

If the booklet option is chosen, you must define the position of the binding by selecting the appropriate display.
Below we explain the booklet options along with an example of how the selected view looks in the Review Interface "Project View" area:

Please note: When the Booklet option is not checked, the proofs in a project will be displayed as follows:

Note: When the Booklet option is not checked, the pages of the project are displayed as follows:

Crop

The crop function is an Agent setting that will simulate the cropping that will be applied to a PDF proof. This setting is used independently for each page in each PDF file for the project. It is important to note that this setting does not apply any crops to the physical PDF itself. The cropping is simulated when the file is processed, and the view of the PDF inside the Review Interface will reflect what settings you apply here.

The Custom box option enables you to simulate any cropping that will be applied to the pages in the project. This physical crop helps highlight inappropriate technical choices with the help of the simulation, as opposed to the extracted settings of the PDF file (trim, crop, media, etc.).

In this example, the image on the left is viewed in regular size. The image on the right is cropped using the Custom box setting. Twenty (20) mm have been removed from each margin in this example. This feature allows you to define your PDF viewing preferences to view based on the media, crop, bleed, trim, or custom box.

Naming Conventions

Below is an illustration of the available naming convention options.

• Page index offset - This setting is used to offset page numbering to allow for future versions of a multi-page proof to have more pages. For example, setting this option to 100 would make the proofs of the first file use proof numbers 1,2,3 up to 99, and the second file use proof numbers 100,101,102, up to 199. (Please note: If no offset is selected and your project has more than one multi-page document, processing will fail if the second version proof has more pages than the previous version).
• Part number - This allows you to select a portion of the filename that will contain the starting proof number for each file. Choose basic to target the file name and regexp for a regular expression.

Ignore Part - Basic
This option tells the system to ignore certain parts of a filename when trying to match new versions of existing files. This enables you to manage most of the simple naming convention scenarios. The separator is a prefix or suffix to the part to be ignored within the file name.

You should select the separator and the position relative to the separator to use this functionality, which can appear several times in the name.

This option tells the system to ignore certain parts of a filename when trying to match new versions of existing files. This enables you to manage most of the simple naming convention scenarios. The separator is a prefix or suffix to the part to be ignored within the file name.

You should select the separator and the position relative to the separator to use this functionality, which can appear several times in the name.
In the example below, the underscore is the separator. The position relative to this separator must be defined.

Example: AAAAA_BBBBB_CCCC.pdf

Position 1: AAAAA
Position 2: BBBBB
Position 3: CCCCC.pdf

The position is used to specify the position of the part to be ignored within the file name. This allows Aproove to compare different versions of PDF files:
0001_AAAA_12345.pdf  When the Ignore part option is enabled, the separator is _, and the position is 3:

0001_AAAA

0001_AAAA_32314.pdf would also get interpreted as 0001_AAAA.

This method enables you to ignore, for example, the unique serial number of the file often generated by workflows such as Dalim Twist or Prinergy. This avoids having to rename files before opening a newer version of a page in Aproove.

Ignore Part - regexp

You can use a regular expression to extract the page number or ignore a variable part of a file name.
Example: the page number is in the first three characters of the file name
Therefore, the naming convention is:

For example, when a file gets added bearing the name 003 – XXX.pdf, it will appear on the page 3 position:

With a regular expression, the position value represents the group's position that you wish to extract (use) within it.
For example, we have to extract the page number from files bearing the naming convention:

123_ABCDE_page123.pdf (the position of the page number is indicated in red)

The regular expression can be:
(^[0-9]{3,})

_((?<=).+?(?=))_page((?<=_page).+?(?=\.))

It consists of three groups of extractions, and the one that concerns us is the 3rd from the left. Therefore, we should enter position 3.
The same principle is used to ignore a part. A regular expression must be composed, which extracts the variable part of the file name.

For example, we want to ignore files that have a version number. The files will have the naming convention: 123_ABCDE_V123.pdf
The regular expression is: (.*)

(_V[0-9]*.)

Therefore, we are going to use position 2 to ignore group 2
By submitting in succession the files Briefing_V1.pdf and Briefing_V2.pdf, we obtain a single page in two versions:

Naming Conventions

Below is