With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the shift of many offices to remote working, the focus of this release was on optimising Approval Manager for team collaboration. This was accompanied, says vjoon, by improvements in the user experience (UX) and in the integration with seven, vjoon’s DAM platform.
Often, when it comes to coordinating varied content, several people are involved in the approval process. Publishing systems such as vjoon K4 ensure clearly structured workflows, secure versioning, and fast information exchange within the team. The goal for the new version of K4 was to further simplify the coordination and approval processes, especially in distributed work environments.
Sticky notes now also in Approval Manager
Sticky notes can already be created and edited in K4 Layout and K4 Edit, the plug-ins for InDesign and InCopy, and in K4 Overview, the module affording you a clear view of the production process. While they were visible in other K4 clients previously, sticky notes can now also be created and edited in Approval Manager.
This special client enables teams to quickly and easily review content and obtain approvals from management. A simple click of the mouse is all it takes to give a go or no-go. With the addition of sticky notes, Approval Manager now offers users completely new ways to collaborate, says vjoon. As in a chat, team members and managers can comment on layouts and their content, point out change requests, or provide explanations of content and design elements. Editors, layout designers, art directors and managers don’t have to set foot outside their home office to do this. As such, magazines, annual reports and marketing materials can be produced safely and quickly.
Optimized editor UX in Approval Manager
According to vjoon, another highlight is the new editor in Approval Manager. The new UX offers a modern, spacious editor that makes it easier to enter text in the browser. As desired, the editor interface can overlay the layout preview for text editing without completely covering it. This keeps the view focused on the essentials to allow for efficient editing.
Enhanced integration with vjoon seven
With version 12, this connection has also been further enhanced. Users can now include objects from seven placed in the layout in the Approval Manager approval process.
“With the enhancements in Approval Manager, we are continuing our ongoing optimization process in the development of K4,” says Christian H. Hollstein, Senior Product Manager and K4 Product Owner. “We still have a great many ideas, stemming from our customers, our partners, and our own team of publishing experts, that we will be implementing in upcoming versions. We plan to continue writing the success story of K4 for a long time to come.”
The new version 12 of vjoon K4 will be available at the beginning of June.
You can find out more about vjoon in our Publishing Services Directory.
