Campaign File Preflight: A Free Review Checklist
A finished campaign file should help one buyer take one useful step. Before you upload an image or send a deck, use this free checklist on the actual exported files. It works with CampaignPress output or creative prepared elsewhere.
Check each statement only after inspecting the file. Open the guidance under any section that needs work. Checks are temporary and may reset when you leave or reload this page; this checklist does not submit your answers or approve an ad.
If the campaign direction is still unclear, first read why more AI ad assets do not fix a weak idea. Resolve the buyer and promise before reviewing additional exports.
1. Preserve the buyer and the action
If the message depends on missing context
Imagine a local workshop owner reviewing a beautiful poster. The picture may establish the subject, but a line such as “Make it happen” does not tell a new visitor what is offered. Read the headline without its neighboring slide, then pair it with the destination page. Restore the concrete task before adding more visual detail.
For ads assembled from separate assets, test several plausible combinations. Google’s responsive display guidance explains that components can appear in different combinations. A carefully arranged mockup is only one view.
2. Inspect the delivery copy
If the file looks right only in the editor
Start with the actual destination: an image component, a complete uploaded creative, a social post or a presentation. Record the official specification and date checked. Then compare the delivered file’s format, dimensions and size. Avoid treating a remembered banner dimension as a rule for every placement.
Review the small view without zooming. If the image loses its essential detail, change the crop or composition. If all the text becomes unreadable, simplify the message. A technically accepted upload is not evidence that the buyer can understand it.
3. Review the document experience
If another person must use the file
Give presentation slides descriptive titles and check the sequence in which their contents are read. Open links from the exported PDF, rather than assuming the source document’s links survived. Inspect notes and hidden material before sharing a delivery copy.
The W3C image decision tree helps distinguish image roles. Microsoft’s presentation accessibility guidance provides application-specific checks. Combine automated checks with manual review; this checklist is not an accessibility certification.
4. Decide the next review
If a statement remains unchecked, make it the next task. For example: “Re-export the PDF and test the checklist link” is more useful than “Fix the deck.” After a change, reopen the affected file and repeat that check.
Keep a written review
The campaign file review worksheet collection contains ten independent, one-page PDFs for inventory, crop, headline context, image purpose, reading order, links, specifications, small previews, attachment contents and translated layouts. Choose the sheet that matches the issue you found.
Start the creative work with a clear buyer
CampaignPress connects buyer and strategy work with copy, imagery and campaign outputs. This resource helps you review the files in their intended context. Explore CampaignPress’s buyer-first workflow when you are ready to build the campaign.

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