Artwork inspection

Inspection is how you look at a change in the artwork, and how you pull the words and codes out of a PDF so they can be checked on their own. It lives in the viewers you already use: the proof page, the 1-up editor and Quick look in Files.

Versions in the viewer#

When a file or a proof has more than one version, the viewer shows the version you are on, a short note when that version has one, and previous and next. One version on its own does not show those controls.

On a proof, the control is in the header, next to the version menu. The left and right arrow keys do the same thing while you are not typing. They do not change the page: page up and page down still move between pages. The zoom and the place on the page stay put, so a small text move is what you see, not a jump back to the whole page. Comments and Approve / Reject still belong to the version the link asked you to review. A strip under the header says so when you are looking at another one (see Artwork versions).

In the 1-up editor the same arrows, and the buttons beside the version in the header, open that version of the file in the editor. You stay in the editor. The zoom is kept when the page can restore it. The note on the version, if you wrote one when it was saved, shows next to the version number.

In Files, Quick look (Space on a file) has its own version buttons when the file has more than one version. The left and right arrow keys there still move between files. Compare wipes the preview of this version against the one before it. Flip (X) shows one version across that preview, then the other. A label under the preview names the version you are seeing, with its note when that version has one.

Compare with the previous version#

Compare lays the previous version over the one you are looking at. A slider wipes between them: the left side is the previous version, the right side is the current one. Drag it across a line of type to see a nudge. Flip (X) shows one version across the whole page, then the other, and leaves the wipe where you parked it. A label names the version on screen, with its note when that version has one. Drag the wipe and the split view comes back.

On a proof, both sides are drawn from the PDF, the same way a simple proof draws the file. That is true on an advanced proof as well, for as long as Compare is on, so the two versions line up with each other. Plate-by-plate difference of the separations is not part of this wipe.

In the 1-up editor, Compare and Flip are on the viewer toolbar when the open file is a PDF and an earlier version exists. The previous version is drawn over the page. The die and the other guides stay on top.

Scan content from the file#

Content is a tab in the right panel for PDFs opened from Files, and is also accessible from the File tab. With that panel open in 2D, the viewer toolbar shows Content and Draw a box. They hide when you choose another panel, close the panel or switch to 3D. One Scan this file reads that PDF and lists the copy on that version, in the order a reviewer usually checks it. The scan classifies each block from the words. It does not look for a particular product. When it cannot tell, the block stays under Statements rather than a regulated heading.

When a page has no live text, because the letters were drawn as artwork, the scan reads the words from a picture of that page and classifies them the same way. A page whose only text is a short wrapper around a picture of the carton (an application number and a page caption, for example) is read from that same picture. Barcodes are read from it too. If the picture can't be read, only the live text is listed. A page that already has its copy as real text uses that text.

A long file is not read cover to cover into hundreds of blocks. The scan prefers the pages that hold the carton or container copy (a Drug Facts panel, a nutrition table, an NDC, a package quantity) and reads enough of those pages for that copy to be complete.

• Drug Facts — one panel for a Drug Facts box, or for short highlights that use the same sections: active ingredient, purpose, uses, warnings, directions, other information, and inactive ingredients. The inactive ingredients are also listed under Ingredients. A sentence that only mentions directions stays a statement. A carton whose words are only a picture often does not come back as a Drug Facts panel.
• Nutrition — the nutrition table: nutrition facts or typical values, together with a serving, calories or kcal, daily value, or per 100 g. Ingredients that sit above the table are not part of the panel.
• Ingredients — a list that starts with Ingredients, or with Inactive ingredients, including an allergen named inside that list.
• Allergens — a line that starts with Contains, or May contain, and names an allergen (milk, wheat, soy, and the like). A line such as "Contains real fruit" stays a statement.
• Net contents — a quantity of the package on its own, such as 310 g, Net Wt. 12 fl oz, 32 fl oz (1 qt) 946 ml, 5 mL, 200 mg, 30 capsules, or 2x80 count. A strength inside a sentence, such as "each tablet contains 200 mg", stays a statement.
• NDC — the National Drug Code on its own, such as 12345-678-90. It is not a barcode. An NDA or application number is not turned into one.
• Barcode — a symbol read from a drawing of the page when the bars decode to a real GTIN, or a GTIN, EAN or UPC number found in the text, including the human-readable digits. A number taken from the text is marked as such. An all-zero placeholder is not a barcode. An 8-digit code sitting next to a longer GTIN is not a second barcode; on its own, a real GTIN-8 still is. If neither the text nor the symbol has a real GTIN, the barcode category stays hidden. The scan does not invent a code. Dragging a box around a code on a proof still uses the barcode tool (see Reviewing a proof).
• Claims — a short line that is the claim itself, such as Organic or Gluten-free. A sentence that only mentions a claim stays a statement.
• Legal — a distributor line (Distributed by, Manufactured for, Packed by), a country of origin, or a recycling line, when the scan can see that wording.
• Statements — every other readable line. A wordmark set as spaced single letters is left out.

A category is listed only when this version has a suggestion or copy you are keeping, or as soon as you add that kind. Ignored and removed copy does not leave a heading behind. An empty file does not show "No NDC in this file" or any other empty category.

When a Drug Facts block reads as a panel, it is shown as those sections, each with its wording. When a nutrition block reads as a panel, it is shown as a table. A typical values panel (per 100 g or per 100 ml, energy in kJ and kcal) stays in that shape: each nutrient, the amount per 100 g, and a per-serving amount when the panel has one. A Nutrition Facts panel keeps the serving size, the servings per container, calories, and each nutrient's amount and % daily value. A per 100 g table keeps the per 100 g column. Ingredients are the list. An allergen block is the Contains or May contain line. Net contents, an NDC and a barcode are one value each, and the barcode stays the digits. If a Drug Facts or nutrition block cannot be read as one of those panels, the text stays and the block says This could not be read as a standard panel.

The sections, the cells, the ingredient lines, the allergen line, the quantity, the NDC and the barcode digits can be edited. Saving updates the text stored on that version, so the proof shows the same copy. Edit still opens a text box for copy that is not one of those panels. Words that are not in a general English dictionary are listed under Not in the dictionary. A name written with a capital letter is left off that list. Ordinary words, and simple plurals and endings of words in the list, do not. A lowercase misspelling is still listed. The dictionary is a hint. It does not block approval of the artwork.

When the file has an earlier version whose copy was scanned, each block says New on this version, Changed or Unchanged. Changed copy shows the previous wording under the block. Copy that was on the previous version and is not on this one is listed under On the previous version. The first version has nothing to compare, so those labels stay off.

Each block keeps a short list of who edited the text, who set Suggested, Approved or Rejected, who sent it, and who approved or rejected it on the proof, with the time. A later edit does not remove the earlier name. A package label is reviewed as structured copy with a record of edits and approvals, the same way a regulated label is.

Press Scan this file. After that, the button is Scan again. A scanned block starts as a suggestion, with Add and Ignore.

Add keeps the block. It is not the same as Approved. After you add it, Suggested, Approved and Rejected, and Send for approval, work as they do for any kept copy. Approved means the shop accepts the copy. Rejected keeps it off the proof.

Ignore takes a suggestion off the list. That is how you drop a bad read. The dictionary can still flag odd words; ignoring the block is how you dismiss that line. A later scan of this version does not bring it back when the kind, the wording and the page are the same. Different wording can still be suggested.

Remove on a kept block stops tracking it. It leaves the list, and a later scan does not bring that same wording back. The record of who changed it stays, including a Removed by line.

Scanning again keeps kept copy: the text you edited, Suggested, Approved or Rejected, a group, and anything already sent. It replaces suggestions you have not added or ignored.

Add what the scan missed#

Add content is on the same Content list. Choose Nutrition, Ingredients, Allergens, Net contents, Barcode, Claims, Legal, Statements, Drug Facts or NDC. If none of those fit, choose Other and type a name. That name is stored on the block. Then type the value. Nutrition and Drug Facts use the same rows as a scanned panel (a nutrition table, or the Drug Facts sections). The other kinds are one value.

The category appears as soon as the block is saved. It is not shown before that.

Draw a box appears on the viewer toolbar while the Content panel is open in 2D, and beside Add content. Drag a rectangle around the copy. That box is stored with the block, so choosing the block highlights the region and zooms to it. You can draw first and then pick the kind and type the value, or open Add content and draw from there. Cancel, or Esc, returns to the select tool.

You can put more than one value in the same box. Type a group name to keep them together, or leave the name blank to add them on their own.

Each block is one line in the list. Click the line to highlight that region on the page and zoom to it. The outline stays until you choose another block, press Clear highlight, or press Esc while the select tool is on. A block with no stored position says No position on the page and does not zoom. While the Content list is open, ↑ and ↓ move through the blocks and the view follows. Left and right still step versions. X still flips Compare. H and holding Space still pan.

Groups#

Select the kept blocks you want together, type a name (for example Front panel copy) and press Group. The same name again adds more blocks to that group. You can also draw one box, add one or more values, and type the group name on the add form. Leave group or Remove from group puts a block back with the ungrouped copy, under its kind (Nutrition, Ingredients, and the rest). The kind and the name you type are different: the kind is how the copy is classified, and the name is the bundle you approve or send together.

Approve group and Reject group set every block in the group. Rejecting a group takes that copy off the proof.

Send for approval#

Send for approval on a block, the selection, or Send group for approval accepts suggested copy and puts it on the proof for this version. Share the proof the way you already do (Sharing proofs from the editor); the sent copy is part of that version, not a separate approval. Rejected copy is not sent. Suggested copy you have not sent does not appear as something the customer must approve.

On the proof, the Content tab lists only what was sent, for the version on screen. A panel is the same table, list or single value as in the editor. The customer presses Approve or Reject on a block, or Approve group or Reject group. The tab says which version that is, and what they chose. That decision is stored on the file version and shows in the editor as Waiting for the customer, Customer approved or Customer rejected. Approve or Reject in the proof header is still the decision on the artwork (see Decisions, locking and reset).

A scan reads a PDF. An image file has no PDF text to scan, and the scan says so. A food label, a household or personal-care label and a pharma carton each use this list. The paths are on Label copy by industry.

What is not in this yet#

Compare wipes one version over the previous one. The Content list is the wording the scan found. Barcodes come from that scan, and from the barcode tool on the proof.