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Proofreading Tips
- Each step must be the reviewing of “like” elements; i.e., review all photos in one step, review all captions in one step, review all main heads in one step – until all elements are reviewed. That’s the most efficient way to maintain consistency. The human eye will more likely catch
deviations when it’s done that way.
- Even the best proofreaders find it very difficult to read their own work. We
humans read perfection into the words we write (it’s the “human condition”).
- Reviewing the job on-screen and reviewing it in print must be two different steps. It is much harder to catch errors on-screen.
- Watch those headlines! Typos occur most often in headlines, because proofreaders focus on the details, not the big picture. The same holds true for large graphics and elements.
- Pay close attention to client names and special spellings.
- A proofreader must see every syllable, not just the word; e.g., “responsibility” could easily become “responsibilty.” (Did you see the error immediately?) A proofreader must read it as “re-spon-si-bil-i-ty.” (It goes back to the human condition – we recognize the word instantly, so we don’t pay attention to each letter.)
- Inappropriate double spaces are one of the most common errors; always
single-space between sentences and after colons. The easiest way to correct a document that has double spaces is to do a universal search of the document, replacing double spaces with single spaces. Then do it again, in case there was a triple
space (that now became a double space), and repeat that process until the number of occurrences (of double spaces) becomes zero.
- Spell-check is an effective tool, to a degree:
- It will catch most typos.
- It will not catch “like” words, such as too, to and
two, or dropped letters, such as in the and he.
- Watch for repeated words; e.g., the the or and
and – they are very easy to miss.
- Check the end of each paragraph for a period. If the period is missing, chances are, copy is also missing.
Proofing Methods
- Set the copy aside for a while; you’ll catch more mistakes when the copy is fresh.
- Ask another person – a fresh pair of eyes – to proof the job.
- Read the copy aloud to yourself; you will be using two senses rather than just one.
- E-mail the message to yourself, so you see it as the reader sees it.
- For “visual” or “graphical” proofing, flip the copy or proof upside down. Then you won’t see the “nose as a nose”; you’ll see it just as a blob of color, so it won’t be as distracting.
- Read with a partner – while one of you reads the original aloud, the other proofs the new version. (This method can be very
accurate with practice. It can also save time for things like columns of numbers, but it may not be faster for regular copy.)
- Read the sentences forward, but in the inverse order; i.e., read the last sentence, then read the next-to-last sentence, etc. Your eyes will more likely catch punctuation and verb tense errors when they can’t rely on context.
- Read the words forward, but in the inverse order; i.e., read the last word, then read the next-to-last word, etc. You’ll catch more misspellings this way, but it is definitely time-consuming.
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