A proofread focuses on the details of your text as it will look when it is published. It should be the final quality check before your text is published after editing, design and layout have been completed. It’s the final polish to make sure that your text is clear and consistent before it is presented to your audience. Oxford Dictionaries define proofreading as:
‘The reading of text in proof in order to find and mark errors for correction’.
Proofreading is the last step of the editing process before publication.
What a proofreader does
A proofreader looks for any issues with the layout and design, checks for any errors introduced during typesetting (when text is put into its final format) and corrects any mistakes that have been missed at earlier stages in the editorial process.
When they are working on your text, a proofreader will:
check for errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar
address any inconsistencies of spelling and the use of hyphenation and other marks
identify any missing or duplicated text and any text that is ambiguous or confusing
review all headings, page headers/footers and compare to the contents list (where there is one)
highlight any elements of the page that might distract a reader or that make reading difficult.
How proofreading works
After your text has been edited and put into its final layout and design, you submit it to a proofreader for review. At this stage, your text is called a proof. A proof is the final version of your text set as it will appear when it is published. That means that all the formatting and design elements are included.
During a proofread, a proofreader will mark your text with any corrections or adjustments needed to fix any issues. If you send your proofreader a PDF file, they will mark it up using comment tools. If you send a Word document, they will use Track Changes.
When the proofread is complete, you’ll receive a marked-up file so you can review all the changes that the proofreader made. If the markup was done in PDF or hardcopy format, these changes will need to be updated in the original proof. If the markup was done in Word or Google Docs using a tool like Track Changes, you can accept the changes directly in the file. You may also get a list of queries or comments for anything that seemed confusing or incomplete, to make sure that your text is as good as it can be when it is published.
What proofreading isn’t
There are some things that a typical proofread won’t cover. Significant changes such as rewriting sentences, reordering content and adding or updating parts of the text that are missing are not done during a proofread. Tasks such as indexing, fact-checking and producing bibliographies require different and specialist skills and, while many proofreaders will be able to do some or all of them, they are not part of proofreading.
A good editor is your partner and ally, here to make sure your words work. To find out how editorial support can help you, why not get in touch?