Client work
Client approvals without the email chain
A client approval process for agencies: named approvers, review links that open without signing in, a clear decision with a note, and every version kept.
10 min read
Design approval software
Designs signed off, not lost in email.
Put a design up for approval, name who decides and give it a due date. Your client opens it from the email, pins comments on the image or PDF page, and approves or asks for changes. Every version and decision stays on the job.
How it goes
From first draft to signed off.
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Step 1
Ask for approval
Choose the designs on the job, name the approvers, add a due date and a short brief.
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Step 2
Clients open the email
Each approver gets their own secure link. It opens the review without signing in.
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Step 3
Comments on the spot
They click on the design to pin a comment exactly where they mean it.
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Step 4
A clear answer
Approve, Approve with changes, or Request changes with a note. Your team hears straight away.
Feedback on the design
Comments pinned where they belong.
Clients click anywhere on an image or a PDF page to leave a comment there. Replies stay in a thread on the pin, and resolving it clears it once it's done.
- Every page of a PDF opens in the browser, so a comment can sit on page 12
- Internal comments for your team only, never shown to clients
- @mention a colleague and they're told
A comment thread on the Brand guidelines v3 job with messages from Leo, the client Tom, and Priya, including @mentions, an emoji reaction and a mention picker.
Three clear answers
More than yes or no.
A design that's nearly right shouldn't need a whole new round. Approve with changes lets a client say yes with small fixes, written down so they get made.
Approve
Signed off. The person who asked and the job's team are told.
Approve with changes
A yes with a note of the small fixes to make.
Request changes
A no that says why, so the next version gets it right.
Everyone, or any one
Ask several people and choose Everyone must approve or Any one approver.
Rounds without the file names
Version 2 asks again, and shows what changed.
Upload a new version with a note on what changed and everyone is asked again. Earlier versions and their decisions stay on the record, so nobody has to work out which file is final.
- Compare versions side by side, with a slider, or with a fade
- PDF pages turn together when you compare
- Open comments come across to the new version, showing where they were first raised
- Turn comments into tasks for your team
A phone showing a review opened from an email. Tom Becker, the client, pins a comment on the homepage hero, “Logo a touch bigger?”, chooses Approve with changes and says what to change, and the request turns Approved with changes: Leo Ortiz has been told.
Check it before the client does
Your team approves first, if you want.
Add a team check and your designers or art director approve the work first. The client is asked once the team has passed it.
- Clients see only whether it has been checked, never who checked it or what they said
- Skip the team check on a new version when it's a quick fix
Clients approve free
Your client never needs a seat to say yes.
Invite a client to their project as a single-project guest. They review, comment and approve without taking a paid seat, on either plan.
The invite dialog on a job: tom@northwind.co typed into Email addresses, a line saying someone new joins as a free guest who sees that project only, a preview marking Tom as new with an invitation to send and no change to the paid seats, and a Send invitation button.
- Pins on images and PDFs
- Comments sit on the exact spot, page by page.
- A record for every version
- Who decided, when and how, kept for each version.
- Clients approve free
- Single-project guests are never billed, on either plan.
Approvals are on every plan: free for up to 5 users, then $3.99 per user a month. Clients approve free as single-project guests. See pricing
FAQ
Questions about design approval
Everything about asking, reviewing and deciding is on the client approval software page.
What is design approval software?
It gives a design one place to be reviewed and signed off: the client sees the latest version, comments on the spot, and gives a clear answer that is recorded. In Skybase that place is the job your team already works on.
Do clients need to sign in to approve a design?
No. Each approver gets their own secure link by email, which opens the review without a password. They do need to join your workspace once, which is free for a client on one project.
Which design files can clients comment on?
Images and PDFs open in the browser with comments pinned to the exact spot, page by page. Video plays in the review with comments at a moment. Other files can be downloaded and discussed in general comments.
How do revisions work?
Upload a new version with a note on what changed, and everyone is asked again. Earlier versions and their decisions stay on the record, and open comments come across to the new version. You can compare versions side by side, with a slider or with a fade.
What does it cost?
Approvals are on every plan. Skybase is free for up to 5 users, then $3.99 per user a month, and clients approve free as single-project guests.
Read next
Client work
Keeping clients apart: client teams and join links for agencies with several clients
Run several clients in one workspace without them seeing each other: client teams, join links that need your approval, and guests who stay free.
8 min read
- Guide Get work approved Ask the right people to approve files by a date, review and decide from the email, comment on the spot and keep track of every round. Read the guide
- Guide Invite your team and clients Members or guests? How to invite people to your workspace, a project or a single job, and which roles count towards your bill. Read the guide
Get your next design signed off in Skybase.
Free plan, no credit card. Clients approve as free guests.
Free plan · No credit card · Clients always free