Sending & Approving Customer Proofs

For orders where you want customer sign-off before production starts, Web2ink's proofing workflow lets you send a proof, and the customer approve (or request changes to) it — all tracked against the order.

Why use proofs

Proofs are especially useful for:

• Custom artwork or personalization the customer hasn't seen rendered yet
• Orders flagged during design for lower-resolution uploaded art
• Large or high-cost orders where a mistake would be expensive to redo
• Any shop policy where you simply prefer sign-off before production, regardless of order size

Sending a proof

1. From the order, generate a proof — this creates a secure, shareable proof link tied to that specific order and design.
2. Send the proof link to the customer (via the order's communication tools or directly by email).
3. The customer opens the link — no account login required, since proof links use a secure, obfuscated URL rather than requiring the customer to sign in.

Customer approval

The customer can:

• Approve the proof as-is, which signals your team to proceed with production.
• Request changes, which flags the order back to your team rather than silently approving something incorrect.

Approval status is tracked against the order, so your production team can filter to "approved and ready" versus "awaiting customer response" instead of checking emails.

Where this fits your production workflow

Pair proofing with your custom order statuses (see Managing Orders: Statuses, Production Calendar & Due Dates) — for example, an order can sit in an "Awaiting Proof Approval" status, and only move to "In Production" once approved. This keeps your production calendar realistic instead of counting days where you're actually waiting on the customer.

Troubleshooting

• Customer says they never got the proof link — resend it; also check it didn't land in spam, since it's an automated email.
• Proof shows outdated artwork — proofs are generated from the design as of when you created the proof; if the design changed afterward, generate a new proof rather than relying on the old link.
• Need a paper trail of approval — the approval action and timestamp are recorded against the order, so you can reference it later if there's a dispute about what was approved.

Related: Managing Orders: Statuses, Production Calendar & Due Dates, Approving Your Design Proof (customer-facing version).