9. Preparing Your Project for Production

Once your project has started to develop from an idea into an actual product, you may find yourself ready to start using our Production module. In order to streamline this process, we have made it possible to directly copy a project from the Editorial module over to the Production module. This can be done via the Outputs tab, which we will provide an overview of in this article. 

First, though, you have the ability to start building out a prospective Production schedule by using the Production Roles tab. The information that you input here will transfer over to the Production module once you copy your project over, making the transition between processes all the more seamless. 

The Production Roles Tab 

This is where you can start building out a prospective Production schedule for your Editorial project. This tab is one that you will also be able to use within the Production module, but its presence here is designed to help you with planning ahead. You also have the ability to assign tasks to people within this screen, making communication between the Editorial and Production teams much more streamlined. 

When you open the tab, you will be presented with this screen: 

The first thing to note is that in order to use this screen, regardless of which module you are using, you will need to have created a default Production Roles schedule template. The instructions for this can be found here. 

From here, you can start to get an idea of how long the production team will need to complete a project on time, using the pre-configured schedule templates. For example, you can enter a start date for the first task, and the subsequent tasks will be autofilled based on the durations assigned in the template. This will tell you when that project could then be completed. There is a whole host of functionality within this tab that will keep the transition to the production process organised and easy to access - for more detail on what can be done within this tab, click here. 

The Outputs Tab

Once you are ready to copy an Editorial project to the Production module, you can open up the Outputs tab, which will present you with the following screen: 

There are a number of things you can do from this screen: 

• Link your project to a Work. Note that if no work for this title currently exists within the system, you can use the checkbox to create one from this screen. 
• Add your product's Final Title and Subtitle.
• Add your product's Target Pub Date.
• Note any Edition details.

You can also then create records for this project in both Production Manager and Title Manager. Please note that, in order to create a Production record, you will need to either create a corresponding Title Manager record, OR link this project to an existing Title Manager record. Here are the basic steps you need to follow to do this: 

1. Give a name to the Production Label field. An example could be "Reprint 2026" or "First Print" - you can add any name you like, baring in mind that this will be used to distinguish between print runs for this title. 
2. Select a Project Sequence number - the default will be 1 but this can be edited to reflect whether this is a second print run of a title, for example. 
3. Select Update - upon doing so, these fields will disappear as the information is finalised. 
4. If the output is linked to an existing title, click on the field Linked to and select the title that your title is linked to from within your Title Manager system, eg: you are performing a stop go analysis on a reprint, so you want to link the re-print to the original product.
5. If you are creating a new title management record, fill out the details of the various Formats that your project will take.
6. Ensure that the "Create in Title Management" and "Create print run?" check boxes are selected. 
7. Press Update to save the information. A 'Create Products Now' button will then appear. Select this, and Title Manager and Production Manager records will be created.

Note that when a project is moved to Production, it will not be moved out of Editorial. This is because this part of the system has been designed to keep a record of all of your Editorial projects and the decisions made throughout the Editorial process in case you need to refer back to any data. Any edits made to the Title Manager record (e.g. a change of title) will not copy back into the Editorial module. The data flow is one way.

Congratulations! You have now taken your title through the Editorial module. For a more detailed look at what the Editorial module can do, see our full Editorial guidance section here.

To get started with our Production Manager module, click the link here.