How I do it: My editing and proofreading methodsI use various ways of editing or ‘marking up’ content, and of providing notes and queries about specific phrases, sentences and so on. It all depends on the kind of service you need, the document format and your preferences. I’ll use whichever of the methods outlined below is suitable, unless we agree otherwise.
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Editing Microsoft Word documents
I’ll edit the text and adjust the formatting as needed, mostly with Track Changes turned on. Unless you say otherwise, I might leave some simple changes untracked, to reduce clutter and save time for you. I’ll also provide notes and queries for you, either in comment boxes or (typically when there are a lot of them) in a separate document.
Then, you can look through my changes and accept or reject them. It’s also important to read my notes and follow up on my queries – more on this below.
Are you unsure about working with Track Changes or comments? Please visit the Guides page and download free guide #2, ‘Working with tracked changes and comments in Word’. If you still need help, let me know.
Then, you can look through my changes and accept or reject them. It’s also important to read my notes and follow up on my queries – more on this below.
Are you unsure about working with Track Changes or comments? Please visit the Guides page and download free guide #2, ‘Working with tracked changes and comments in Word’. If you still need help, let me know.
Proofreading PDF documents
Rather than actually changing the text in a PDF document, I just mark up suggested changes, and give you notes and queries.
I usually do this using the Comment feature in Adobe Acrobat, but can use stamps representing the BSI (British Standards Institute) symbols instead (here are explanations of the most common ones).
Are you unsure how to work with comments that have been provided using Adobe Acrobat? Go to the the Guides page and learn about this in free guide #3, ‘Working with Adobe PDF mark-ups’. Let me know if you still need help with this.
You’ll then need to apply my suggested changes (if you agree with them) in the source document, recreate the PDF file in your usual way, and check the results. After that, I can do a second proofread for you, if we agree on the schedule and terms.
I usually do this using the Comment feature in Adobe Acrobat, but can use stamps representing the BSI (British Standards Institute) symbols instead (here are explanations of the most common ones).
Are you unsure how to work with comments that have been provided using Adobe Acrobat? Go to the the Guides page and learn about this in free guide #3, ‘Working with Adobe PDF mark-ups’. Let me know if you still need help with this.
You’ll then need to apply my suggested changes (if you agree with them) in the source document, recreate the PDF file in your usual way, and check the results. After that, I can do a second proofread for you, if we agree on the schedule and terms.
Editing or proofreading website content
There are different ways of doing this. Usually, I’ll copy the content into one or more Word documents (unless you do this yourself) and make my suggested changes there, using Track Changes as described above under ‘Editing Microsoft Word documents’. I’ll also give you notes and queries, usually in comment boxes, or alternatively in a separate document.
Then, it will be up to you to accept or reject my changes, follow up on my queries, and upload or copy the changed content into your web pages.
Another method would be to ‘print’ each web page onto a PDF document. I would then mark this up as described above under ‘Proofreading PDF documents’. Or you could give me access to your content management system so that I could edit the content directly; however, you would then have no way of seeing what I’ve changed, and we’d need to agree on how I should provide notes and queries.
Then, it will be up to you to accept or reject my changes, follow up on my queries, and upload or copy the changed content into your web pages.
Another method would be to ‘print’ each web page onto a PDF document. I would then mark this up as described above under ‘Proofreading PDF documents’. Or you could give me access to your content management system so that I could edit the content directly; however, you would then have no way of seeing what I’ve changed, and we’d need to agree on how I should provide notes and queries.
Other media
I can also edit PowerPoint slides. PowerPoint doesn’t have a change tracking function, so it won’t be so easy for you to work out what I’ve changed, but I can provide comments to highlight and explain my changes where needed.
Handling notes and queries
When editing or proofreading, I usually come across some points that need to be clarified and raise queries about them. There might also be some things that I want to explain to you in notes – for example, to clarify why I’ve made a particular change. The way these notes and queries are handled will depend on what type of content I’m working on, the service I’m providing, and your wishes – see below.
For publishing companies
If you have a preference about how my notes and queries for the author should be provided and handled, please tell me up front. For example, when copy-editing, I might keep a working copy of the manuscript, send my notes and queries to the author in a separate document, and make further edits later based on the author's responses. Or, for a proofread, they might be part of the handover documentation, to be resolved without my involvement.
For other customers
Usually, I’ll just give you my notes and queries at the end of the job, and leave it to you to follow up on them. If you prefer a back-and-forth approach to resolving the queries, please mention this when asking for a quote.
For publishing companies
If you have a preference about how my notes and queries for the author should be provided and handled, please tell me up front. For example, when copy-editing, I might keep a working copy of the manuscript, send my notes and queries to the author in a separate document, and make further edits later based on the author's responses. Or, for a proofread, they might be part of the handover documentation, to be resolved without my involvement.
For other customers
Usually, I’ll just give you my notes and queries at the end of the job, and leave it to you to follow up on them. If you prefer a back-and-forth approach to resolving the queries, please mention this when asking for a quote.
If you would like to know more about my working methods, please get in touch.
