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Editing Vs Proofreading

Editing, proofreading, and copyediting are often confused but have distinct purposes. Editing focuses on improving writing quality through revising sentences and paragraphs. Proofreading examines the final draft to catch any remaining errors. Copyediting combines proofreading with ensuring consistency with an organization's style guidelines. The document provides examples of what each role entails.

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Farah Nadia
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211 views2 pages

Editing Vs Proofreading

Editing, proofreading, and copyediting are often confused but have distinct purposes. Editing focuses on improving writing quality through revising sentences and paragraphs. Proofreading examines the final draft to catch any remaining errors. Copyediting combines proofreading with ensuring consistency with an organization's style guidelines. The document provides examples of what each role entails.

Uploaded by

Farah Nadia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Editing vs.

Proofreading: What’s the


difference?
When hiring a freelance writer or editor, it’s important that both you and the freelancer have the right
expectations. Are you certain you know what it is you need help with?

Editing, proofreading (also called “proofing”) and copyediting are often assumed to be the same thing
— but they’re not. Are you looking for someone to improve the style and flow of your writing, or do you
simply want someone to ensure that your commas are in the right places?

In publishing, it’s typically understood that a document that has been edited will still need to be
proofed. An editor is often hired for their individual style or specialization in a particular subject area,
but if you’re looking for someone to go through a text with a fine-tooth comb, you need to find a
proofreader or copyeditor.

To help clarify things, we’ve created this helpful guide to explain the differences between these three
skills.

Editing
When hiring a freelance editor, you’re hiring someone to review and change your text with the intent
to improve the flow and overall quality of your writing. An editor has the freedom to remove entire
sentences or rewrite entire paragraphs. A good editor will correct any obvious errors they come across,
but their main goal is to use their expertise and intuition to ensure the document makes sense, cut
down on wordiness, and clarify any ambiguity.

Proofreading
Proofreading is the process of examining the final draft of a document or text — after it has been
edited — to ensure there are absolutely no errors. A proofreader will review for spelling errors,
punctuation errors, typos or incorrect use of regional English (i.e. ensuring that you’re using American
English or British English when necessary).

For important proofreading, you will want to hire an experienced freelancer with the the ability to find
even the smallest grammatical errors that others might normally dismiss. Hiring a proofreader is
particularly helpful if you’re not confident in your writing, or if English is not your first language.

While proofreading can be done electronically — for example, using track changes in Microsoft Word —
it is just as often done on a printed version (also referred to as a “hard copy”) or PDF. In this case,
you’ll need to familiarize yourself with proofreaders’ marks, a collection of symbols and shorthand to
indicate corrections. (Rest assured: professional graphic designers will also understand these marks!)

Copyediting
To “copyedit” a document is to proofread it — with the added expectation of ensuring style consistency
with other content from the company or publication. Copyediting is also known as “sub-editing” in the
UK, Australia and elsewhere.
When looking for a freelance copyeditor, ensure they have the talented eye of a proofreader as well as
additional expertise in matters of different styles of writing. Some measures of consistency include
making sure names, locations and dates are always treated the same way. A copyeditor will also have
expert knowledge of different style guides and may also perform fact-checking or have specialized
knowledge in a particular field. As such, a great copyeditor may cost a bit more than a proofreader.

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