Most bands and agents expect the rider back as a redlined copy of their own document: lines you can't provide struck through, replacements written in, and notes on the actual pages. Noctern builds that copy for you from the rider you uploaded to the deal, so you don't have to print, scribble, and scan.
Everything happens on the deal: AdminVenues[venue]Deals[deal].
1. Upload the rider
In the Attachments card, click Upload and choose the artist's rider.
Only PDF riders can be marked up. If the artist sent a Word document, open it and save it as PDF first, then upload the PDF. Password-protected PDFs can't be marked up either — ask the artist for an unlocked copy.
2. Mark it up
Click Mark up rider next to the PDF. The rider opens full width, one page after another, with a list of your marks on the side.
Pick a tool, then place the mark:
| Tool | What it does on the redline | |---|---| | Decline | Strikes the line through in red — you won't provide it | | Substitute | Strikes the line through and prints what you'll provide instead, in red, under it | | Note | Highlights in blue with a comment in the margin — no strike | | Confirm | Puts a green check in the margin |
There are two ways to place a mark:
- Select text — drag across the words on the page, like selecting text anywhere else.
- Draw a box — switch to Draw box and drag a rectangle. Use this for scanned riders, where the pages are pictures and there is no text to select.
Substitute and Note ask for your text before the mark is saved. Every mark gets a number in reading order — the same number appears in the side list, on the redlined PDF, and on the tour manager's page.
Each mark can be tied to your rider checklist. Link to checklist item connects it to an item you already have; Create checklist item makes a new one from the mark. A linked mark and its item stay in step: decline the mark and the item becomes Declined, and changing the item's status updates the mark.
3. Generate the redline
Click Generate redline. Noctern draws your marks onto a copy of the original PDF and adds Venue responses pages at the end: your venue, the artist, the event and date, a legend, and a numbered table of every change with your notes.
Each time you generate, you get a new version (v1, v2, v3…). Older versions stay in the list so you can see what you sent before. The original upload is never changed.
4. Send it to the tour manager
Click Send next to a version. The email goes to the deal's advance contact (set in the Advance card), plus any extra addresses you type — the agent, the production manager. You can edit the short note at the top.
The email includes:
- the redlined PDF as an attachment (PDFs over 10 MB are sent as a link instead, and the email says so);
- the rider share link, where the tour manager responds. If the deal doesn't have one yet, sending creates it.
Sending moves a Draft advance to Advanced.
What the tour manager sees
The share link needs no account. The tour manager can:
- download the Redlined rider (PDF) — always the latest version you have sent;
- review Venue changes: each numbered mark with its page, the original text, and your note;
- Accept each change, or Push back with a note explaining why.
They can't edit your marks or see internal costs. A version you've generated but not sent stays private until you send it.
Back on the deal, each mark shows the tour manager's response, and the rider shows a summary badge — how many changes are accepted, pushed back, and still pending. If they push back, adjust your marks, generate a new version, and send again.