Customer Proofs: send a proof, get a yes

Sign in and open Catalog in the sidebar. Customer Proofs is under Quotes & client portal and on the Agency and Print & promo starter kits; it opens at aikit.ai/tools/proofs. Pin it to your dock to keep it one tap away. Home also lists proofs with changes requested and proofs waiting on customers, each with a button that opens exactly those proofs.

The top reads "Send a proof, get a yes." with a New proof button. Under it are five count tiles: Waiting on customer, Changes requested, Approved, Not sent yet, and Past due. Each tile is a button: press it and the list shows only those proofs, with a line that reads "Showing: Changes requested" and a Show all → link to go back. Press the same tile again to clear it.

The search box finds a proof by its job name, client, or the name or email of anyone it was sent to. The client menu narrows the list to one client (or No client), and Archived shows proofs you've put away. The list is filed by client: each client's name is a heading you can press to see only that client's proofs. Every row shows a picture of page 1, the job name, the version, the answer-by date (in red once it has passed), when something last happened, a small circle for each person with a colored dot for their status (yellow sent, blue opened, green approved, orange changes), a red pin with the number of open comments, and the proof's status.

Every view has its own address. A filtered list, one client, or one proof (aikit.ai/tools/proofs?proof=…) can be bookmarked or shared with someone on your account, and the Back button works the way you expect.

• Press New proof. Drop the file on the box or press Choose a file. PDF, PNG, JPG, WEBP, GIF, and SVG files up to 40 MB work. A PDF shows up to its first 30 pages.
• Or press "Or pick a version from Prepress Studio" to use a version you already made there; its proof file comes in on its own. Accounts with Logo Kit can pick a Logo Kit logo the same way.
• Your browser turns the file into one picture per page right away, so you see page 1, the page count, and the size before anything uploads. Use a different file starts over.
• Give the job a name (it starts as the file name) and pick the client it belongs to, or No client.
• For printed pieces, tick "Show cut and safe lines" and enter the finished width and height in inches and the bleed in the file (1/8 in to start). Your customer then sees a red cut line, a blue dashed safe area 1/8 in inside it, and the bleed shaded, and can turn them off.
• Press "Next: who gets it". The file uploads (a bar shows how far along it is) and the Send window opens.

• Send to: type or paste email addresses. A whole list works: commas, semicolons, and new lines all separate addresses, and "Dana Rivera <dana@example.com>" keeps the name. Each person becomes a chip. An address that doesn't look right turns red and is named under the box so you can fix it before sending.
• Each chip has a role. Approver says yes or asks for changes. Can comment adds pins and notes but doesn't sign off. FYI only sees the proof. The first person you add is an Approver; at least one person must be.
• People you've sent proofs to before are remembered for each client. Under the box, "Sent to before" offers that client's people in one tap, and typing part of a name or address shows matches from every client.
• Approved when: Any one approver says yes, or All approvers say yes.
• Personal note: a short message that sits at the top of the proof and in the email. When you send a new version, the note starts empty, so last round's note never reads as current.
• Answer by: an optional due date. With a date set, "Remind approvers the day before it's due, and on the day" sends each approver who hasn't answered one reminder the day before and one on the day. Reminders go out only once email is set up for your account.
• Links stop working: Never, or in 7, 14, or 30 days. After that the page still opens but says the link expired and answers are closed. You can extend or remove the limit later in Settings.
• Press Send. Each person gets their own private link, so every comment and approval carries their name.

Send always makes the links. If email isn't switched on for your account yet, the window reads "Your links are ready" and "Email turns on once email is set up. Copy these links to send them yourself." Each person has a Copy link button. Paste each link into your own email or a text to that person only, since a link answers as that person. The proof's timeline notes "link made; email isn't set up" so you know nobody was emailed.

When email is on, the email to your customer carries your logo or business name at the top (from your Shop profile), your personal note, a picture of page 1, the answer-by date, and a Review the proof button. Replies go to you. aiKit appears only as a small "Sent with aiKit" line at the bottom.

• Your logo and business name at the top (on a phone, the logo alone), the job name and version, "Answer by" for approvers when you set a date, and your note. On a new version, "What changed in version 2" sits next to it. On a phone the notes show two lines each with Read all, so the proof starts on the first screen. Once the proof is approved, the top reads Approved and the comment buttons go away.
• The proof on a neutral background. Zoom with the + and − buttons, a pinch, or ctrl and scroll; drag to move around; Fit goes back. A PDF shows page thumbnails underneath, each with the number of comments on that page. When the version has cut and safe lines, a Cut & safe lines button turns them on and off. From version 2 on, Compare with version 1 shows the two side by side, moving together (on a phone it switches between them with two tabs), and Show what changed keeps the new version in full color, fades everything that stayed the same, and draws an amber box around each area that changed, with a count under the proof. Hide pins clears the numbered pins off the art so nothing covers the words being checked.
• Pin a comment (in the bar just above the proof, and in the bottom bar on a phone): press it, tap or click the exact spot on the art, and type what should change. Pins are numbered on the art and listed under Comments with the person's name and time; tapping a pin opens its comment, and tapping a comment shows its pin. General comment adds a note that isn't tied to a spot. Anyone can Reply in a pin's thread, including you.
• Your answer (Approvers only): Does version 1 look right? Approve opens a short checklist (Spelling and names, Colors, Size and shape, Content: dates, prices, phone numbers). Every box must be ticked. Then they type their full name to sign; it shows in a handwritten style, and their name and the time are saved with the proof. Request changes takes a note (or their pins are enough) and an optional picture or PDF up to 3 MB.
• After answering, they see a receipt: "You approved version 1" with their signature and the time, or their change request. One answer per person per version. When you send a new version, the same link shows it and opens a new round.
• Reviewing this proof lists everyone's first name and where they are, and says whether one yes is enough or everyone has to say yes. Email addresses are never shown to other people.
• On a phone, Pin a comment and Answer stay in a bar at the bottom, and the comment box rises above it so the pin stays in view. Download the file gets the original.

• Open any proof from the list. The top shows its status, the version, when it was sent, how many approvers have said yes and what the rule is, and the answer-by date.
• People lists each person with their role and status: Sent, Opened (only after the page actually loaded in a browser), Approved with their signature and time, or Changes with their note and any attachment to download. Copy link copies that person's link. Send again re-sends it. Remind sends a reminder to an approver who hasn't answered. The × takes a person off the proof, and their link stops working.
• Comments shows every pin and note on the version you're looking at, numbered like the art. Reply answers in the thread (your business name shows as Sender), and Mark done grays a pin out once it's handled. Add a note only your team sees saves a note marked Only your team; it never appears on your customers' page.
• Timeline lists everything that happened, newest first: sent, opened, pinned, replied, approved with the signature, changes requested, reminders, and new versions.
• Approval record (once anyone has answered) opens one printable page with every version, every person, and every answer with the typed signature, the boxes they checked, and the exact time. Print it or save it as a PDF for your files.
• Settings changes the job name, client, approval rule, answer-by date, reminders, and when links stop working. Archive puts the proof away (links keep working). Delete removes the proof, its files, and every link for good, after you confirm.

When anyone asks for changes, the proof shows an orange box: "Changes were requested on version 1." Summarize the changes turns every change note and open pin into one short numbered to-do list with a small AI model. It uses only what your customers wrote, and it can still miss nuance, so read the comments too.

Make the changes in your own design app or in Prepress Studio, then press Upload new version. Add the file and fill in "What changed in this version". The Send window opens with the same people already in it and your note filled in; press Send and everyone gets version 2 on the same link they already have. Version tabs above the proof let you look back at any earlier version, and Compare shows the last one beside the new one.

• Each link is a long random code that can't be guessed. Anyone holding a person's link can act as that person, so send each link only to that person.
• Proof pages are never listed in search engines and never show your account, your other jobs, your other customers, or anyone's email address.
• Files up to 40 MB; PDFs up to 30 pages; up to 25 people per proof.
• An approval here is a sign-off on the proof, not a signed contract or a payment.