Mark up files during development and approval

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Applies To: Dynamics Marketing

Important

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing has been discontinued and is no longer available. All customer data related to this product has been permanently deleted from all Microsoft servers and is no longer available for extraction. This documentation is being provided for historical purposes only.

When your files have been uploaded to Microsoft Dynamics Marketing, you can mark them up by adding comments, arrows, post-it notes, and other visual tools. You can use these tools to collaborate during development or give feedback during a formal review/approval workflow.

Note

  • Markup functions don’t change the file in any way. When you upload a file, Dynamics Marketing generates thumbnail images of each page in the file and makes them available to the markup page. You can then add notes to the thumbnail images.

  • A thumbnail must be available before you can mark up a file. If your thumbnails are missing, choose the Process Process button button on the file’s Properties page to generate them.

  • You can generate thumbnails and apply markup to only the first 100 pages of a file.

  • The markup page includes a button that lets you export a marked up file to a PDF file so you can rout it for approval and additional markup outside of Dynamics Marketing. Though the markup is always included in exported PDF files, you won’t see it if you open the file directly in Google Chrome (and possibly other browsers). To see the markup, open the exported PDF file using a dedicated PDF reader, such as the system PDF viewer (included with Windows) or Adobe Acrobat.

  • Only PDF exports include markup. If you download the file you will instead get the current version of the original file in its original format without markup.

  • Dynamics Marketing can't generate thumbnails for Microsoft Excel workbooks, so you can't add markup to them.

Prerequisites

To work with folders, files, and libraries, you must have some or all of the following privileges, depending on which features you require:

  • Edit/View Approvals: Provides access to approval workflow features.Edit/View Markup: Provides access to file markup features.

  • Edit/View Files: Provides access to the file browser window, including access to the Properties pages for the folders and files listed there.

  • Edit/View Library: Provides access to the file and library browser windows. This privilege is also required to mark folders as libraries, publish libraries, and view library URLs.

More information: Work with user accounts and staff contacts

File formats supported for markup

The markup feature supports many types of image and document files.

Images and documents

Dynamics Marketing supports the following image and document file formats:

  • Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, InfoPath, OneNote, Project, Publisher) (Excel workbooks are not supported.)

  • Microsoft AutoCAD (DXF)

  • Standard raster image formats: JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, BMP, EXIF, EMF, WMF

  • Standard vector image formats: PostScript, EPS / EPSF, XPS (XML Paper Specification), WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation / Silverlight), SWF (Flash), SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)

  • Adobe Acrobat (PDF)

  • Adobe Photoshop (PSD)

  • Web pages (HTML5, CSS3)

  • Plain text (including Unicode)

  • Rich Text Format (RTF)

  • WordPerfect (WPD)

  • Lotus 1-2-3 (WK1)

Important

For document formats that support multiple pages, Dynamics Marketing generates thumbnails for the first 100 pages. You can add markup to only the first 100 pages.

Audio and video formats

Important

Audio/video annotation features have been discontinued and removed from the standard version of the product. However, you can re-enable them if required by placing a request with Microsoft Support. You must furthermore use a Web browser that supports Microsoft Silverlight to access this feature. More information: Browser support for digital asset management

When this feature is enabled, Dynamics Marketing supports the following video file formats: ASF, AVI, DIVX, IFO, FLV (Flash), M1V, M2V, M4V, MOD, MOV (QuickTime), MP2, MP4, MPA, MPE, MPG, MPEG, SWF (Flash - Compressed SWFs are not supported), and WMV.

When you open a video or audio file for markup, Dynamics Marketing displays a media player so you can play back the file, stop the playback at any time, and attach a comment to that point in the timeline. Comments you add to the file are linked to the insertion point and can be viewed on the timeline below the media player. All comments are also listed on the right side of the page; choose any comment in the list to advance the player to the insertion point.

Add markup from the file browser

To mark up any file shown in the file browser:

  1. Go to Assets & Media > Files > Files to open the file browser.

  2. Use the file browser to locate the file you want to work with (see also Find, organize, and upload files in the file browser).

  3. Choose the file name to open its Properties page.

  4. Choose the Markup Markup button button in the version column (below the thumbnail image).

    Note

    If you want to mark up an older version of the file, you must first choose that file’s thumbnail image to move it to the top of the version column; the Markup button only applies to the current (topmost) version.

  5. Use the available markup controls to add comments and other marks to the file. If you are not sure how a control works, hover your cursor over the control icon to see a tooltip.

    Tip

    Many of the markup tools accept text input; text entered using these tools displays in the comment panel with contact information for the user who added the comments. You can also reply to the comments you see here.

  6. Choose Submit when you are ready to save your work and close the markup page.

Tip

The markup page includes a button that lets you export a marked up file to PDF so you can rout it for approval and additional markup outside of Dynamics Marketing. Though the markup is always included in exported PDFs, you won’t see it if you open the PDF directly in Google Chrome (and possibly other browsers). To see the markup, open the exported PDF using a dedicated PDF reader, such as the system PDF viewer (included with Windows) or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Add markup during approval

When an item is waiting for your approval, you will typically be notified by an email alert, the approval widget, or by direct communication from the requester. Alert emails and the approval widget provide convenient links directly to the approval request; otherwise, go to Projects > Approvals > Approvals and use the search form there to find the request.

When you have found and opened the request, look below the Approval Items heading to see the list of files included in the request (often there will be just one). To add markup to any item listed here, choose the Markup Markup button button below the item you want to work with. The markup tools provided are the same as those you saw when working directly in the file browser, as described in the previous section.

Send a webpage for markup and approval

Webpages are not usually uploaded directly as files to Dynamics Marketing. Instead, you can route any existing webpage for approval by specifying its URL as part of your approval request; Dynamics Marketing then generates a thumbnail of the page and attaches it to the approval request so reviewers/approvers can add markup and comments in progress.

To add a webpage to an approval request:

  1. Go to Projects > Approvals > Approvals and create a new approval workflow. Set up the workflow and choose Save. More information: Manage review and approval routing

  2. Choose the Web Page Webpage button button in the upper-right corner of the Approval Request page and type the full URL.

    Note

    The Web Page button is enabled after you have saved the approval workflow at least once.

  3. Dynamics Marketing now loads the URL you specified, generates a thumbnail of it, and attaches the thumbnail to your approval request. Approvers/reviewers can open and apply markup to the approval request.

  4. Finish setting up your approval, and then choose Send to launch the workflow.

See Also

Manage your digital assets
Manage review and approval routing
Set up file options for digital asset management
Browser support for digital asset management
Find, organize, and upload files in the file browser
Manage file properties and use version control
Manage folder properties and publish folders as libraries
Manage security settings for files and folders
View and analyze file usage