ResourcesIf you’re thinking of hiring an editor or proofreader – and especially if you’re not in the publishing trade – here are some free downloadable guides that should help things to go smoothly.
Guide #1: Tips for formatting your Word documents |
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If you create documents that support your business or organisation – reports, reviews, newsletters and so on – it’s important to format them in a thoughtful, consistent way. This will help your target readers to find their way around them, and to read them easily.
A professional editor can help with this. But it will also help if you make good use of Word’s formatting functions when writing the document in the first place. This will let your editor focus mainly on the wording, rather than struggling to work out how the document is organised and how it should be formatted.
This guide covers the basics of using Word’s formatting features to create a professional-looking document, including the use of styles and templates.
A professional editor can help with this. But it will also help if you make good use of Word’s formatting functions when writing the document in the first place. This will let your editor focus mainly on the wording, rather than struggling to work out how the document is organised and how it should be formatted.
This guide covers the basics of using Word’s formatting features to create a professional-looking document, including the use of styles and templates.
Guide #2: Working with tracked changes and comments in Word
When we editors work with Word documents, we normally use the Track Changes function so that you can see exactly what we’ve changed. We also usually add comments to provide notes, advice, queries and so on.
This guide will help you to follow and understand the change tracking and comments, which isn’t always easy when you find a mass of red lines, boxes and underlined text on the screen. It will also explain how useful these features are, and advise on how to follow up on your editor’s changes and comments as you work towards a polished final product. It covers:
Note: This guide doesn’t yet cater for the ‘Modern Comments’ feature that started appearing in the Microsoft 365 version of Word in 2021. I hope to update it at some stage, once the functionality has been finalised (many users have an opt-out, at least for the time being). Apologies for any confusion.
This guide will help you to follow and understand the change tracking and comments, which isn’t always easy when you find a mass of red lines, boxes and underlined text on the screen. It will also explain how useful these features are, and advise on how to follow up on your editor’s changes and comments as you work towards a polished final product. It covers:
- how tracked changes are shown on screen
- types of tracking
- the Reviewing Pane
- useful settings for Track Changes
- how to accept or reject changes
- what comments are used for
- different approaches to resolving queries
- replying to, resolving and deleting comments
- moving from one comment to the next.
Note: This guide doesn’t yet cater for the ‘Modern Comments’ feature that started appearing in the Microsoft 365 version of Word in 2021. I hope to update it at some stage, once the functionality has been finalised (many users have an opt-out, at least for the time being). Apologies for any confusion.
Guide #3: Working with Adobe PDF mark-ups
When we’re asked to work with PDF documents, we proofreaders often use the Comment tools in Adobe software products such as Acrobat Reader DC. This is an efficient way of suggesting changes and providing notes and queries.
This guide will to help you to understand the ‘mark-ups’ that we use when we do this, and to follow up on them as you resolve errors and inconsistencies in your document. It covers:
This guide will to help you to understand the ‘mark-ups’ that we use when we do this, and to follow up on them as you resolve errors and inconsistencies in your document. It covers:
- the Comment option
- how mark-ups are shown on screen
- types of mark-up: insertions, deletions, substitutions, formatting changes, notes and queries
- clarifications
- customising the Comment pane
- following up on the proofreader’s mark-ups: replying, keeping track of progress, deleting mark-ups.
▶️ If you have any questions about these guides, please contact me.
