Case Study: Ashore Helps Captain Notepad Chart a Faster Course

The mission of Ashore has always been to help our users get approval on their projects faster. We do this by helping creatives ask for better feedback, making it as easy as possible for customers to review and approve, and keeping everyone up to date with the proofing process. Essentially, Ashore facilitates a more streamlined approval workflow.

No matter the nature of your print shop, workflows are a tricky thing to master. Several people may need to review a project internally before you even send proofs to customers. And when feedback starts coming in and new versions are created, the process quickly becomes confusing. Juggling more than a few projects at a time may be your limit.

That’s why we made Ashore in the first place. While we have the privilege of seeing our mission fulfilled every day, it’s still exciting to share our users’ successes with the world. For one such company, Captain Notepad, we’ve seen their workflow transformed with Ashore, resulting in faster approvals and a better customer experience.

Captain Notepad

Captain Notepad is a Colorado-based printing company specializing in—can you guess?—notepads! Journals, stationery, prescription pads, booklets—they do it all. They originally began making notepads as real estate marketing collateral, and now, the majority of their orders are notepads. Since opening at the turn of the century, this small, local print shop has grown into a larger operation supporting customers across all 50 states and Canada.

They handle the entire printing process in-house, from design to pre-press to production. From the beginning, their website has been key to collecting customers. Years before eCommerce became the norm, Captain Notepad saw the value of the web for expanding their customer base. You might think this means they were always ahead of the curve technologically, but finding a system that works for both designers and customers isn’t always straightforward.

The Old Workflow

In the early days, Captain Notepad’s website functioned more like an online lookbook.

“It was essentially a catalog of images that customers could look at online,” explains David Betty, front office manager for Captain Notepad. “Then, customers would fax us their order and mail actual copies of logos and photos to be used in the design.”

Yes, fax. Once an order was created, their in-house art department would email it to customers for approval.

“Sometimes, customers would mail us their approval,” David recalls.

As eCommerce capabilities improved, customers could submit orders directly from the website. Once an order was submitted, the art department designed the proof and conducted the approval process via email—often a long thread of back-and-forth messages before getting approval.

While common, email is not ideal for proofing. Miscommunications happen, responses are delayed, and important messages end up in spam or buried in inboxes.

“Since all orders are custom printed,” David explains, “the biggest pain point is that when we send a proof, the person at the other end could miss it, causing them to forget all about it or become frustrated.”

Finding a Better Solution

About a year ago, Captain Notepad had the opportunity to modernize their workflow with the hiring of a new lead graphic designer. They began exploring proofing software.

They tried several options, but none quite fit their needs. Some had outdated interfaces. Others lacked white-label email capabilities, meaning customers received messages from the software provider rather than Captain Notepad’s own email address. These limitations kept them searching—until they found Ashore.

“Instead of forcing our business into someone else’s idea, Ashore was able to easily integrate into our idea for our business,” says David.

Ashore’s flexibility was key. Users can customize almost anything—tags, workflow stages, automated reminders, customer email templates, branding, and review links. Captain Notepad particularly appreciated Ashore’s white-labeling, allowing their brand to remain front and center. The modern interface and easy navigation sealed the deal.

A New & Improved Workflow

Here’s how Ashore changed their process:

1. Order submission: After a customer submits an order, it takes 1–2 days to finalize the artwork.
2. Proof upload: The graphic designer uploads the design to Ashore as a PDF and sends it to approvers using Ashore’s email templates.
3. Automated reminders: Customers receive regular reminders to review and approve.
4. Daily monitoring: The team checks Ashore’s dashboard daily to track proof statuses—approved, not approved, overdue, or awaiting review. If a proof sits unopened too long, they follow up by phone.
5. Pre-press handoff: Approved orders move to pre-press.

Results

• ~50% of proofs are approved within one day.
• ~25% go through one revision and are approved within two days.
• The remaining 25% involve more extensive revisions or are abandoned.

“We receive about 50 orders a day,” David explains. “With that many proofs being turned out daily, it’s quicker to send a proof this way than by composing and sending an email.”

Favorite Features

White-Labeling
A deciding factor for Captain Notepad. Ashore allows users to display their logo on review screens and emails, integrate their email address, and create custom review link domains.

Automated Reminders
Reminders are customizable down to the day and time. Settings can be applied account-wide or per-approver. Template variables auto-fill approver names, proof names, and more.

Checklists
Checklists require approvers to confirm they’ve reviewed every aspect of a proof before approval, improving decision quality.

What Will Your Favorite Features Be?

Captain Notepad is one of thousands of Ashore users who have improved productivity and boosted approval rates. On average, Ashore users see a 50% increase in approval rates by making it easier and faster to receive high-quality feedback.

Everyone uses Ashore differently, and every team finds their own favorite tools. You might love review links, the audit timeline, or the integrations possible through Zapier.

Sign up for free today to experience Ashore’s proofing software firsthand.