If you collaborate on content, you know how painful version control can be.
You might be searching through a chaotic list of almost identical files to find the most recent one. And you can’t tell if “Final_Approved_v3c.pdf” was the approved version. Nor can the rest of your team.
If you’ve ever encountered a nightmare versioning scenario, you get it. Having multiple versions of a file in circulation can quickly wreak havoc on your creative workflows. It’s frustrating, time-consuming, and has a negative impact on the quality of your projects.
So, how can you keep file confusion from derailing your creative work?
What Causes Versioning to Go Wrong?
Almost all creative projects end up needing to go through multiple versions, and the number depends on the complexity of the files and project.
But what is it that tips things over into confusion? A major cause is the use of multiple channels to work on, share, and communicate about a project – often offline. Requests, feedback, updates, and approvals come in from all directions.
When there isn’t one central source of truth for everyone to refer to, it’s hard to have clarity or consensus about which is actually the most up-to-date version of the file.
22% of managers and other collaborators struggle with version control at the review stage. – State of Creativity Report 2024
There’s, of course, human error. If someone is facing multiple versions of a file jumbled together in a folder or a lengthy email chain with lots of different attachments, it’s all too easy to select the wrong one by mistake. In particular, when file names are unclear or misleading.
These problems converge during the review stage. The number of people needing to review and access a file can add up. An Adobe survey suggested that 22% reported struggling with version control at the review stage and 19% with sharing files.
The Impact of File Confusion
Confusion over files isn’t just (very) frustrating, it has a direct impact on the success of your project.
Each version is a building block. Feedback turns into edits. Updated creative become new file versions. Normally, each version improves on the quality, with a logic behind it – bringing the creative closer to meeting its goals. If you can’t trace that history, it’s easy to go backwards and lose momentum. Extra revisions can mean project delays and budget overruns.
It can also cause serious bottlenecks in the collaborative process. As well as wasting time searching for the correct version, people might find themselves duplicating work already done by colleagues, having to redo tasks, or needing to seek clarification on feedback that doesn’t match the current version. Likewise, approvers could find themselves in the frustrating position of having to provide multiple feedback rounds if they accessed the wrong version to begin with.
Even if you do have a perfect filing system in your DAM, not being able to access the full history of how a creative got to its final state takes away a degree of accountability. It makes it more difficult to work out what was done (or not done) when, why, and by whom.
In addition to slowing the project down even more, these issues can cause tension between team members and lead to blame games.
How to Solve File Confusion
Here are some strategies you can use to keep track of versioning and help everyone to stay in control.
Agree On Naming Conventions
We’ve all seen a file titled something like this: “Spring_Campaign_Version10__Final_Revised(4)(2)”.
In fact, a quick search throws up many discussion threads dedicated to sharing file name horror stories. And while they can definitely be entertaining, they can also be a major source of confusion.
Agreeing on some simple naming conventions could make a massive difference to the amount of time and energy everyone has to spend dealing with file ambiguity.
Centralize Communication
Ditch those complicated email chains and confusing attachments and keep communication about a piece of creative in one collaborative place.
Having a centralized repository for storing and sharing files makes it easier to update people when a new version is created. Everyone should know exactly where to find the most up-to-date version when they need it. Much like how all customer information is entered into a CRM or project information into a PM tool, your whole team will benefit when the review and approval of creative work is in one place.
Systemize Version Control
Use tools specifically designed to store all the versions of a file and log changes. They’ve been used by software developers for years, but they can be just as useful for agencies, designers, and other creatives dealing with a high volume of iterations.
Older versions are locked when a new one is added, and they enable you to review past versions, compare versions against each other to verify who made a particular change and why.
Use an Online Proofing Tool
For ultimate control and peace of mind during the creative review process, use an online proofing tool. As well as centralizing feedback conversations on one platform, online proofing software like ReviewStudio are purpose built to help you keep your feedback and approval process confusion-free.
The ability to leave very precise feedback and have threaded discussions with context can help to reduce the number of versions required to get a project delivered.
Sequential versioning keeps everything organized. Once you’re ready to upload the next version of a file, you can simply upload the updated file, which will become the active version for everyone. Old versions are locked, so you don’t need to worry about people leaving feedback on the wrong file. You can easily cycle back through old versions, though, for reference or if you need to revert.
Comparing versions is straightforward. You can view two files side-by-side to identify changes. You can also highlight all the differences between them so that subtler changes don’t fly under the radar.
Marianna Magalhães at Elephant Skin has seen this make a big difference to her team: “With interior images, we often have many precise and minute changes in terms of furniture or finishings. Compare mode allows us to quickly see how much the image has changed from one version to another. We like to use it to show clients the work done within this process for accountability.”
Gain Control Over File Versioning
Confusion around versioning can have serious consequences for productivity, team cohesion, and the quality of the work.
By taking a more systematic approach and using the right tools, you can keep track of your files and make sure everyone is quite literally on the same page.
