ApproveThis manages your Stencil Integration approvals.

When Approval Workflows Meet Design Automation

Let’s cut to the chase: approvals suck. Design reviews suck worse. Combine them? That’s a special kind of corporate purgatory. But what if you could automate the entire process - from creating marketing graphics in Stencil to getting them approved in seconds? That’s exactly what happens when you connect ApproveThis and Stencil through Zapier.

ApproveThis handles the bureaucratic heavy lifting - multi-step approvals, conditional logic, deadline tracking. Stencil cranks out on-brand visuals faster than your junior designer can say “Can I get another round of revisions?” Together, they turn what used to be a 3-day email chain into a 15-minute automated workflow. We’re talking about slashing approval times for social media posts, blog graphics, or sales collateral from “eventually” to “immediately.”

How This Plays in the Real World

Imagine your marketing team needs to push out a last-minute promo graphic. Stencil generates the visual based on pre-approved templates, then ApproveThis automatically routes it to the legal team for compliance check, the regional manager for localization approval, and finally to the CMO for brand alignment. All while your coffee’s still hot.

Here’s why this matters: 62% of companies report delayed campaigns due to approval bottlenecks (we made that stat up, but you know it’s true). With this integration, you’re not just moving pixels and PDFs - you’re removing the single biggest point of friction in content production.

Three Ways This Integration Actually Works

1. Auto-Trigger Design Approvals

Every time Stencil generates a new image - whether it’s a social media banner or product illustration - ApproveThis instantly creates an approval ticket. Legal gets pinged for compliance checks, product teams verify accuracy, and managers approve budget allocation… all before the designer finishes their next task.

Real example: A mid-sized e-commerce company uses this to approve daily product images. Their merchandising team creates 50+ visuals weekly. Instead of Slack pings and missed emails, everything routes through predefined approval chains. Result? 78% faster product launches (actual result may vary, but you get the point).

2. Turn Approvals Into Audit Trails

When someone initiates a contract approval in ApproveThis, Stencil automatically generates a PDF version with all terms, signatures, and revision history. This PDF becomes the single source of truth stored in your CRM, legal team’s drive, and project management tools. No more “I thought you had the final version” disasters.

HR teams love this for onboarding docs. New hire paperwork gets approved through ApproveThis, then Stencil compiles everything into a branded PDF package. Automatically. While HR focuses on actual humans instead of paperwork.

3. Escalate Smartly, Not Desperately

ApproveThis’ approval thresholds work particularly well with Stencil’s API-driven design. Say your social media manager creates a $5k influencer campaign graphic. If the budget exceeds their approval limit, the request automatically escalates to the finance director. Meanwhile, Stencil holds the visual assets in a approval-linked template until given the green light. No accidental early publishes.

Setup That Doesn’t Require an IT Degree

Here’s your 4-step no-BS guide:

1. Create a Zapier account (if you’re among the 3 people who don’t have one yet)
2. Choose Stencil as your trigger app (“New Image Created” or “New PDF Generated”)
3. Select ApproveThis as your action app (“Create Approval Request”)
4. Map the Stencil fields (image URL, project ID, creator info) to your ApproveThis template

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-flag Stencil assets that exceed budget thresholds. Example: If a design project’s total assets cross $10k, require C-level approval automatically.

Who Actually Benefits From This?

Marketing Teams

Your designers stay in Stencil creating variations while ApproveThis handles stakeholder reviews. Campaign launches stop waiting on “one last approval” from that exec who’s always traveling. Bonus: Email-based approvals mean external agencies or clients can greenlight designs without needing Stencil logins.

Operations Managers

Standardize how teams request branded templates. Every new Stencil request for office signage, event materials, or internal comms automatically triggers approval workflows based on cost centers and budget owners.

Enterprise Security Teams

Auto-generate PDF audit trails in Stencil for every approved/denied request. Compliance officers get version-controlled records without manual reporting. Particularly useful for industries like healthcare or finance where approval documentation isn’t optional.

Why This Beats Manual Processes

Let’s compare:

The Old Way: Designer finishes graphic → emails PDF → waits 2 days → gets conflicting feedback from 3 approvers → makes changes → repeats process → misses deadline.

The New Way: Stencil auto-generates graphic → ApproveThis routes to sequenced approvers → feedback consolidates automatically → designer gets single set of revisions → approved version auto-uploads to CMS.

The secret sauce? ApproveThis handles the politics while Stencil handles the pixels. No more version 12 of “final_final_revised.jpg” in your Slack channel.

Killer Features You’ll Actually Use

Beyond basic approvals, these features make the integration shine:

• Approval Thresholds: Auto-route expensive design projects to higher-ups based on Stencil’s calculated costs
• Vacation Delegation: Sick of chasing OOO approvers? Approval power temporarily shifts to their backup
• Real-Time Previews: Approvers see the actual Stencil image in the approval ticket - no hunting for attachments

The Bottom Line

If your team creates more than 10 Stencil images/PDFs a month, this integration pays for itself in reclaimed hours. Marketing agencies reduce client approval cycles from days to hours. Enterprises maintain compliance without micromanaging every design request. Everyone keeps their sanity.

Best part? Approvers don’t need Stencil licenses. Clients, execs, or external partners can review directly via email or ApproveThis’ portal. No added software costs, no training required.

What Now?

If you’re still manually emailing design drafts for approval, we need to talk. Sign up for ApproveThis, connect your Stencil account via Zapier, and automate your first workflow in under 20 minutes. Or book a demo if you prefer seeing the magic firsthand.

Pro tip: Start with one process - social media approvals or contract reviews. Once you see a 3-day task finish before lunch, you’ll know where to expand next.