Fake Brains Software

From Sales Order to Print-Ready Page.

AccountScout Production Suite by Fake Brains is the ad dummying and newspaper pagination software that places booked ads on the right pages and builds them to spec inside Adobe InDesign. It routes every proof through design, sales, and advertiser approval from one queue. Built for newspaper designers, production managers, and the publishers who answer for the deadline.

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The Four Tools

Included with AccountScout

ProofScout - Electronic Proofing

  • Status swim lanes: Design Ready -> Waiting for Sales -> Waiting for Advertiser -> Needs Changes -> Completed
  • Designers see new and revised orders automatically
  • Sales reps approve or reject from their dashboard
  • Advertisers can review and approve proofs online via the Advertiser Portal
  • Full change history - who said what, when
  • Email notifications with the proof attached

See it in action

Included with AccountScout

Digital Asset Manager

  • All assets stored in the database - accessible from anywhere
  • Retrieve graphics from any previous order (not just same advertiser)
  • Track design stages to model your workflow
  • Multiple designers can access simultaneously
  • Camera-ready and in-progress ads visible to all staff

See it in action

Included with AccountScout

AdScout - InDesign Ad Building

  • Ad metrics, instructions, and assets load directly from the order
  • Accurately sized artboard - no guessing at column widths or gutters
  • Publication-specific mechanics handled automatically
  • "Ready to Proof" script generates a PDF and emails it to the sales rep
  • "Ready to Publish" delivers the final ad back to AccountScout
  • Works with your existing InDesign workflow

See it in action

Included with AccountScout

PageScout - Automated Page Layout

  • Create page plans with templates or from scratch
  • Auto-place ads by section, color, and percentage fill
  • Drag-and-drop for manual adjustments
  • Flow classifieds and legals with formatting rules
  • Export as zip -> import to InDesign with one script
  • Track missing ad copy and deadline status
  • Color page management (toggle color/B&W per page)

See it in action

PROOF

What it did for one weekly paper.

One publisher's results after putting the Production Suite in - not an average, and not a projection.

9h to 5.5h
Ad and page work for a single issue
~182 hours
Returned to the production desk each year
3x faster
Ad placement on issues with sixty or more ad pages
Within a week
Designers productive after adoption

“PageScout completely transformed how we manage our page layout. It has saved us an exceptional amount of time. And I haven't even put a pencil to how it has benefitted the newsroom.”

Owner and publisher

Read the full story

ADSCOUT

AdScout: the order builds the artboard.

Ad metrics, instructions, and assets load straight from the order onto an accurately sized artboard — no guessing at column widths or gutters, and no retyping a work order before a designer can start drawing.

AdScout working inside Adobe InDesign: a panel of order detail on the left listing the advertiser, who ordered it, the ad size, section, number of runs and run dates; the ad itself being built in the centre from the advertiser's logo and product photograph; the linked assets beside it; and the AdScout script menu open on the right.
  • Ad metrics, instructions, and assets load directly from the order
  • Accurately sized artboard — no guessing at column widths or gutters
  • Ready to Proof generates a PDF and emails it to the sales rep

PROOFSCOUT

ProofScout: proof status at a glance.

Every ad in the queue sits in a status lane — design ready, waiting for sales, waiting for the advertiser, needs changes, completed — so nobody has to ask where a proof is.

  • Designers see new and revised orders automatically
  • Sales reps approve or reject from their dashboard
  • Full change history — who said what, when
A ProofScout queue: six status tiles counting new ads, ads in composing, ads awaiting the sales rep, ads awaiting the advertiser, ads needing changes, and ads ready to publish; a table of proofs by advertiser, description, status and sales rep; and a preview pane showing one ad proof with buttons to request changes or approve it.

DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER

Do we still have their logo from last March?

The Digital Asset Manager keeps logos, product photos, and reusable graphics in long-term storage inside AccountScout, attached to the advertiser's account — so the version a designer opens is the current one, not the newest email attachment.

  • Reusable creative lives in the same system the order lives in
  • Pull a graphic from any previous order, not just the same advertiser's
  • Still there at renewal, and not stranded on one person's machine

One stored file

One stored file, three orders a year apart. At renewal it is already there — nobody has to ask the advertiser to send their logo again.

PAGESCOUT

PageScout: the whole issue, laid out.

Build a page plan from a template or from scratch, then auto-place booked ads by section, colour, and percentage fill — and drag anything that needs a human eye.

The PageScout page plan for an issue: a toolbar for loading runs, placing ads and paginating pages; counts of pages, placed ads, unplaced ads and ads with no copy alongside column-inch statistics; an ad listing by advertiser, section and classification; and a grid of page thumbnails with booked ads positioned on each page.
  • Auto-place ads by section, color, and percentage fill
  • Flow classifieds and legals with formatting rules
  • Track missing ad copy and deadline status

How It All Connects

YesAd published to DAMPageScout lays out pagesExport to InDesignNo -> Back to AdScout

Pricing Summary

Most of the Production Suite is included with your AccountScout subscription, with no per-seat fees. Additional InDesign designer pricing is shared during your consultation.

ItemPriceNotes
ProofScoutIncludedPart of the AccountScout subscription
Digital Asset ManagerIncludedPart of the AccountScout subscription
PageScoutIncludedPart of the AccountScout subscription
AdScout - 1st designerIncludedPart of the AccountScout subscription
AdScout - each additional designerContact usPer InDesign user

Who It's For

Ad Designers

Accurately sized artboards, organized assets, and clear instructions - fewer mistakes, faster turnaround

Production Managers

Status visibility across every ad, deadline enforcement, and automated pagination

Sales Reps

Proof approval from the dashboard or mobile, with no more emailing PDFs back and forth

Publishers

Page space maximized, fewer late ads, and a clear view of what's on track vs. behind

Common questions about pagination and proofing.

PageScout reads the ads booked in AccountScout and dummies them onto the correct pages inside Adobe InDesign, so the layout starts from real order data instead of a blank dummy sheet. You build a page plan from a template or from scratch, auto-place ads by section, color, and percentage fill, then drag-and-drop to fine-tune before export.

Where this fits

The Production Suite is one part of AccountScout. These are the pieces it hands work to and takes work from.

AccountScout

The platform the Production Suite is part of - CRM, order entry, billing, and reporting on one database

Production and pagination workflow

How a publisher runs the whole production desk, from booked ad to press

Ad design workflow

Specs, assets, and the designer queue, from the designer's side of the desk

Advertiser Portal

Where advertisers review and approve the proofs ProofScout sends them

See It In Action

See the Full Production Workflow in a Live Demo.

We'll walk through order -> design -> proof -> pagination using your actual publications.

Book a Demo

FakeBrains.com/contact | 303-791-3301