Proofreading
Proofreading occurs after layout of material in final format; it follows, and is not a substitute for, copyediting. During the proofreading stage, the goal is to eliminate errors in textual and visual elements before printing, publishing, or distribution. It includes checking to ensure:
- Correction of mechanical, stylistic errors, such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, or deviations from style sheet
- Removal of repeated words, phrases, or paragraphs
- Correction of any corrupted characters, sometimes created by copying or converting from one software program to another
- Consistent styling of fonts, running heads, colors, header tags, hyperlinks, metadata, cross-references, etc.
- Consistency of design elements, such as leading, kerning, line breaks, paragraph indentations, margins, and line spacing
- Appropriate placement of and captions for photographs and graphics
- Accuracy of table of contents to page numbers
- Juxtaposition of text and images on a page