The buyer decision
Evaluate vendor export capability for review records, excluding workflow approval steps and legal audit assurances.
Criteria & methodologyIf review evidence must remain understandable outside the product, export capability belongs in the selection requirements. A button labeled Export does not establish that the resulting file preserves the decision, version and relevant participants.
Define the record a later reader must interpret. This is a functional selection framework, not a legal audit or retention-policy assessment.
Specify export contents
| Required context | Question to answer |
|---|---|
| Reviewed file identity | Can the reader identify the relevant asset? |
| Version | Is the decision attached to the intended revision? |
| Participants | Who commented and who made a decision? |
| Outcome | Is a decision distinguishable from ordinary feedback? |
| Export scope | Which information remains only in the application? |
The buyer may not require every item. What matters is making the actual need explicit before comparing products.
A documented entitlement distinction
Ziflow documents proof reports and PDFs with comments as different exports, with edition-specific availability. Its proof report includes review details and workflow context; a PDF with comments is another format.
Do not treat those export labels as equivalent. Confirm the proposed edition and inspect the actual output for the buyer’s requirement.
PageProof documents reviewer decisions, including summaries and identifying who made a decision. That establishes in-product decision context, not automatically the contents of every downloadable report.
Evaluate the artifact, not the button
Use two harmless file versions and several fictional participants. Make a decision on one version, add comments and generate the proposed export.
Ask a person who did not attend the demonstration to explain what was reviewed and decided using only the exported artifact. Where context is absent, record that as an unresolved requirement rather than relying on the supplier to explain it verbally.
Then export after a later version exists. Check whether the earlier decision and new review state can still be distinguished. The publication has not carried out this evaluation.
Choose according to the retained record
If in-product access is sufficient, a simpler record model may fit. If evidence must be interpreted elsewhere, require a demonstrated output in the offered package.
A PDF’s existence does not prove legal sufficiency, completeness or independent authenticity. Those judgments are outside this product-fit framework.
Browse the Document Decisions hub and demo evidence scorecard for documenting the unresolved export questions.