Editing and proofreading: what’s the difference?

Editing and proofreading are two very different stages of the publishing process. However, the terms are often used interchangeably, and many people are unsure where editing finishes and proofreading begins.

Both are important, but they have different purposes and take place at different points in the production of a book or document.

What is editing?

Editing is usually the first close examination of a manuscript by a professional editor. Before beginning, the editor and author should agree on a clear brief setting out the type and level of editing required.

This might be a structural or developmental edit, a line edit, a copyedit, or a combination of these. The agreed brief determines how deeply the editor will work with the manuscript and which aspects will be addressed.

Depending on the level of editing, the editor may consider:

• structure and organisation

• clarity and flow

• grammar, spelling and punctuation

• word choice and meaning

• sentence and paragraph construction

• repetition and unnecessary material

• consistency of style, tone and voice

• continuity and factual consistency

• checking possible defamation issues

• headings, captions, references and cross-references

• adherence to a particular style guide

• drawing up a style sheet

• suitability for the intended audience and purpose.

An editor may also identify gaps, ambiguities or passages that require further explanation. Queries and suggestions are returned to the author, who then reviews the changes and decides what to accept, reject or discuss.

The manuscript may go back and forth between the author and editor through several iterations. Eventually, they arrive at a final, agreed and approved version of the text.

What happens after editing?

Once the text has been edited and approved, it moves into the design or typesetting stage.

The manuscript may be imported into a professional design program such as Adobe InDesign, or it may be formatted in Word or another program. At this stage, the plain text becomes a designed document.

The designer or typesetter may introduce:

• page dimensions and margins

• fonts and type sizes

• headings and subheadings

• page numbers and running heads

• photographs, illustrations or other images

• captions and quotations

• tables, text boxes and decorative elements

• paragraph spacing and indentation

• intentional white space.

The text is allowed to flow through this new layout, creating the pages that readers will eventually see.

This designed document is called a proof. It is usually supplied to the editor as a PDF so it can be proofread and marked up without disturbing the layout.

What is proofreading?

Proofreading is the final checking stage after the text has been edited, approved and designed.

The proofreader checks the designed proof against the approved edited manuscript to ensure the text has transferred correctly. Words, sentences or formatting can sometimes be accidentally changed, omitted, duplicated or misplaced during typesetting.

Proofreading also examines how the document works as a finished visual product.

A proofreader will check such things as:

• missing, repeated or altered text

• spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors that remain

• incorrect line and paragraph spacing

• inconsistent fonts, type sizes or heading styles

• awkward or incorrect page breaks

• isolated lines at the top or bottom of a page

• headings separated from the text they introduce

• inconsistent margins, indentation and alignment

• page numbers, running heads and footers

• the contents page against the final page numbers

• captions, tables, footnotes and cross-references

• image placement, size, quality and captions

• quotation marks, dashes, italics and other styling

• excessive or insufficient white space

• compliance with the design brief

• problems introduced during late corrections.

At this stage, no one in the process is rewriting or substantially editing the work (any substantial issues should have been resolved in the editing stage). Major changes at this stage can disrupt the layout, alter page numbers and introduce new errors which causes extra time and consequently, money, to resolve. Any essential changes should be clearly marked and carefully checked again after they have been made.

Why are both stages necessary?

Editing concentrates on improving and refining the manuscript itself. Proofreading checks that the approved text has been reproduced accurately and presented consistently in its final form.

Put simply, editing asks:

Is the text clear, correct, consistent and suitable for its reader?

Proofreading asks:

Has the approved text appeared correctly in the finished design, and is the document ready for publication?

A manuscript can be professionally and well edited and still develop problems during design and typesetting. Similarly, proofreading cannot take the place of a proper edit because it happens too late in the process for extensive rewriting or restructuring.

Editing and proofreading work together, but they are not the same service. Allowing time for both gives a book or document the best chance of being accurate, professional and ready for its readers.