A useful way through
- Write the use cases. Identify the audience, message, placement and what must be legible or actionable. Supply approved wording, brand references and any actual output specifications. Ask for a clearly scoped proposal with review points and exclusions.
- Agree the handover before work starts. List the editable application/version, linked assets, agreed export formats and naming convention. Ask who will update the files later and what software they have. A flattened preview does not replace an editable master when editability is part of the scope.
- Resolve dependencies and rights. Record who supplies each photograph, illustration and font and the permitted uses. Adobe’s package workflow can gather an Illustrator document, linked graphics and a report; it does not remove licensing obligations. Adobe Fonts files should not be transferred as a packaged font collection.
- Test the actual deliverables. Open the handover on the intended recipient’s system, check missing links and fonts, inspect representative exports at their intended size, and record the approved version. Retain a readable preview beside the master so a future editor can identify the intended result.
Read the map as text
WHAT BELONGS IN THE HANDOVER? · project / approved-v03 · master/ · Editable source · links/ · Permitted linked assets · exports/ · Output-specific files · README · Versions, rights, open issues · Fonts: recipient obtains the required licence; do not copy blindly.
- Use cases and acceptance
- Editable master and links
- Export specifications
- Rights and handover record
Put it into practice
An illustrative café commission requires one editable menu and a screen export. The handover contains menu-v03.ai, approved linked artwork, a PDF proof, a screen PNG and a README naming software, export settings and asset permissions. The café checks prices against its approved copy and opens the master before signing off. This is a sample folder plan, not a real client job.
Illustrative example, not a reported client project or test.
Your take-away checklist
Commission graphic design with a usable handover
- □ Use cases and acceptance: ____________________
- □ Editable master and links: ____________________
- □ Export specifications: ____________________
- □ Rights and handover record: ____________________
Before you act
Different applications, printing processes and asset licences have different requirements. Ask the actual designer, printer and rights holder. A licence to use an image in one design is not automatically a right to redistribute its source file.
The README that saves the next job
Include project owner; approved version; application/version; master filename; linked assets; fonts and how the recipient obtains a licence; export purpose; colour/output requirements supplied by the printer; outstanding issues. Do not include passwords or private account tokens.
Define a correction precisely
“Make it better” is difficult to verify. “The venue name must remain readable at the agreed smallest print size” identifies an observable requirement. Keep approval of wording separate from approval of the visual treatment.
Sources & context
The earlier How to Outsource Graphic Design Work? page was dated 2022-04-22. Its subject is developed here as a new procedure, with the original byline retained separately. This edition does not carry forward the page’s supplier recommendations or unsupported outcome claims.