A BLOG FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

Another email from a Parlour reader ... the answer will be of interest to anyone with similar manual dexterity issues and who is considering a career as an proofreader ...

Rachel asks:

‘I am looking into a career in proofreading. I have multiple sclerosis and need to work from home. I was wondering if you know whether any of the online courses cover the use of things such as Track Changes. Unfortunately, I have lost almost all manual dexterity and am unable to mark up on hard copy. I am, however, able to use a keyboard and mouse comfortably.’

Thanks so much for your question, Rachel.

So the good news is that because you can use a keyboard and mouse, and you therefore prefer to work onscreen, professional proofreading is certainly a viable option for you (assuming your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are up to scratch, and you're ready to market your business effectively).

Furthermore, there are industry-recognized training courses and resources that will support your onscreen learning.

One thing we need to look at is how different client types’ expectations of what proofreading entails present challenges for you.

It’s important to me that you’re forewarned about this so that you can target your clients appropriately, and communicate your service offering in a way that makes it clear what you will and won’t do.

I’ll tackle that issue first and then move on to the training options available.

Proofreading – expectations and possible challenges
So, you’ve told me that your MS affects your manual dexterity, but my first thought was whether it also leads to fatigue. You didn’t mention this in your email, but I think it’s worth discussing for reasons that I hope will become clear.

In my first decade of proofreading practice, almost all of my clients were mainstream publishers. Now I work exclusively with self-publishers (a few businesses but primarily writers of fiction).

What’s clear from my experience is that the expectations of what has to be done and how it has to be done often differ depending on client type.

Furthermore, how much will be done by the proofreader is often (though not always) quite different.

What and how much does a proofreader do? Traditional publishers
When working for traditional publishers, a proofreader is usually annotating designed page proofs. These are the pages (either paper or digital) that are almost identical to what readers would see if they pulled a book off the shelf.

It’s a quality-control check of a book that’s been through developmental-, line- and copy-editing. The author has reviewed the files at each stage. Once the team is happy that the book’s ready to be laid out, an interior designer or typesetter will format the book to professional, industry-recognized standards.

The proofreader’s job is to find anything missed during an extensive copy-edit, that no errors have been introduced at design stage, and that the various elements of the book are rendered consistently, correctly, and according to the design brief.

In this case, the proofreader is looking at more than just spelling, punctuation and grammar. She’s also spotting problems with page numbering, chapter headings, line spacing, paragraph indentation, running heads, image captions, table and figure numbering, widows and orphans, page depth, prelims and end matter, and more.

In my experience, because most of the problems in the text have already been attended to during previous rounds of editing, there might be only a few changes that warrant querying or marking up on each page.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but, on the whole, most of a proofreader’s time is spent carefully reading and checking rather than marking up.
That’s important for you because while your hand movement is somewhat impaired, your vision isn’t.

And because you wouldn’t have to make thousands of changes, the strain on your hands wouldn’t be excessive or challenging.

What and how much does a proofreader do? Non-publishers
Outside of the mainstream publishing industry, things become a little more tangled. The role of the proofreader is not nearly so well defined.

It’s not unusual for clients to ask for a service they call ‘proofreading’ but that a traditional publisher would call ‘copy-editing or even ‘line editing’. Here the raw text is amended (or suggested recasts to the text are made using Word’s commenting tool).

Furthermore, it’s not unusual for the so-called proofreader to be the first professional to work on the text.

And that means that the changes made might well run into the thousands. We’re not talking about a few amendments on each page, but hundreds per chapter, perhaps even per several pages.
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Of course, it does vary, but every change, every query, requires the use of one’s hands. So you need to be aware of the potential impact of this kind of work on your health, and think carefully about how it will affect your hands and your fatigue levels.

I’m not saying that working for non-publishers isn’t an option for you. Rather, you’ll need to take your speed and fatigue levels into account and factor them into the time you assign to complete projects.

If you're working in Word, I suspect that =2K–10K-word business documents, Master’s dissertations, journal articles, short stories, brochures and newsletters won't present you with the same challenges as book-length work of 80K–100K words will.

How does a proofreader mark up? Traditional publishers
Because the proofreader is usually providing a pre-publication quality-control check on designed page proofs, most publishers like the annotations to take the form of industry-recognized proof-correction marks. In the UK, these are BS 5261C:2005.

Any decent professional training course will teach you how to use these appropriately.

Traditionally, these annotations were made on paper but publishers are increasingly providing PDF proofs.

This affords you an opportunity because you can use a keyboard and mouse to annotate the page proofs in a way that mirrors a paper markup. There are a few options, but many proofreaders use a combination of a PDF editor’s (e.g. Adobe Reader DC, Acrobat Pro, or PDF-XChange) onboard comment and markup tools and digital proofreading symbols (custom stamps).

I supply free files of stamps that proofreaders can download and install in the stamp palettes of their PDF editors. These stamps conform to BS 5261C:2005.
 
How does a proofreader mark up? Non-publishers
Because many non-publishers supply Word files, you’ll be working directly in Word and using Track Changes.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of several macro suites and find/replace strings that will improve your efficiency and reduce the strain on your wrists and fingers.

That’s good news for all of us – with or without MS or other manual-dexterity issues – in terms of time, quality and consistency.

Summary of what, how, and how much
So, all in all, it’s worth your taking the time to think about the types of clients you’ll work for, how many changes you might be required to make, how those client types will expect you to mark up, what length the projects will be, how long it will take you to complete the different project types, and how all of those things fit in with your specific health condition.

Professional training
My two recommended online proofreading training providers in the UK are the Society for Editors and Proofreaders and The Publishing Training Centre.

The SfEP has practical online courses on the technical aspects of professional proofreading, a grammar brush-up course, and editing in Word. Of the latter, the SfEP says, ‘It includes chapters on styles and templates, find & replace and wildcards, and macros. Guest chapters have been written by Paul Beverley on FRedit, Daniel Heuman on PerfectIt and Jack Lyon on The Editorium. All chapters contain downloadable study notes, exercises and model answers.’

The PTC offers a grammar course, and its flagship Basic Proofreading course.
Before you sign up, I’d recommend you have a conversation with either or both organizations in order to assure yourself that the course materials are usable in a way that suits your needs.

Additionally, there are numerous free online tutorials and screencasts on how to use Word’s Track Changes, so Google will be your friend here. Search for one that matches your own version of Word.

The most important issue for any professional proofreader is understanding first what to change, and making sure that she and the client are on the same page, figuratively speaking, about what degree of intervention is expected and how it will be rendered.

Online books and resources
Here are some resources that should help you on your journey:

• My favourite punctuation guide is R.L. Trask’s Penguin Guide to Punctuation – straight to the point, lots of easy-to-understand examples, logically organized, and short! If you can manage print, there’s a paperback on Amazon.
• If you need an online version, try this guide by the same author, and available free online via the University of Sussex: Guide to Punctuation.
• New Hart’s Rules online: If you’re a UK library member, you can access the premium version of Oxford Dictionaries, which includes NHR and a number of other excellent online grammar and style resources. I like it because it’s easier to search than the paper version, but you’ll benefit from the fact that you can access its content using a keyboard and mouse. You'll need your library card number.
• The Chicago Manual of Style: There’s a searchable online version of this too. Great for all the same reasons as NHR!
• Jack Lyon’s Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word is brilliant for helping the complete novice learn how to use wildcards to save time when editing/proofreading Word docs. It’s a small book, but, again, if the print version’s going to impede access, then use Google Search. Try, for example, Graham Mayor’s Find and Replace using Wildcards.
• Check out the myriad macros on Jack’s The Editorium, too.
• PerfectIt is a simply gorgeous Word add-in that, in my opinion, is a must-have for any professional editor or proofreader working in Word. There are lots of tutorials on the developer’s website.
• Rich Adin’s EditTools is also popular with non-fiction Word editors and proofreaders.
• ​And let’s not forget the mountain of macros available via Paul Beverley – do check these out; they’re all free!
• Finally, for a tiny but excellent summary of BS 5261C:2005 proof-correction marks, visit the SfEP website. There are freebies online but they’re not always up to date. This is still, for me, the best and cheapest reference guide to the marks. It comes as a sturdy piece of folded card, so I’m hoping it won’t be a challenge for your hands.

I hope this helps you move forward, Rachel, and wish you all the very best in your search for a career that will work for you alongside your MS rather than in opposition to it.

Good luck!

Further reading

• Not all proofreading is the same: Part 1. Working with page proofs (Louise Harnby)
• Not all proofreading is the same: Part 2. Working directly in Word (Louise Harnby)
• PDF Editing – Making the Most of the Stamps Tool​ (Louise Harnby)
• Does Training Matter? What Publishers Say about Proofreading & Editing Courses (Louise Harnby; The Proofreader’s Parlour)
• The Proofreader’s Corner: Page Proofs and the Domino Effect (Louise Harnby; An American Editor)
• Proofreading Practice: Exercises with model answers and commentary, 2nd ed. (contact Margaret Aherne direct)

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in helping self-publishing writers prepare their novels for market.
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She is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors, and runs online courses from within the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series. She is also an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Louise loves books, coffee and craft gin, though not always in that order.

​Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at Louise’s Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.

If you're starting out on your journey as a professional proofreader and you're marking up PDF proofs, this one's for you.

​There was a time when if a publisher commissioned me for a proofreading project I could expect a large, heavy parcel of paper to turn up in the mailbox.

The parcel would contain at least the final page proofs (see Not all proofreading is the same: Part I – Working with page proofs).

If I was required to proofread against copy, the parcel would also include the galley proofs (a printed copy of the pages of raw text supplied by the author on which the copy-editor had marked initial corrections).

Paper proofreading is an expensive business before the publisher has even paid the editorial freelancer’s invoice. And it’s a double whammy – the client has to pay for the proofs (and possibly the galleys) to be delivered to the proofreader, and it has to bear the costs of the return postage.

I’ve worked on large academic books in the past that incurred postage and packaging costs of over £70 per proofreading project. And let’s not talk about the cost of paper and ink.

It’s not surprising, then, that some publishers and project-management agencies have embraced cost-effective solutions. PDF markup has proved to be an effective alternative. Digital delivery costs nothing as long as the client and proofreader already have internet access.

It’s not just good news for the client – the proofreader benefits, too. I live in rural Norfolk and have to drive to my nearest post office. That’s time that I can’t bill for, not to mention the wear and tear on my car (though HM Revenue & Customs does have a mileage allowance). Even so, I have better things to do.

Visits to the post office aside, many proofreaders have found PDF proofreading to be a more efficient task than paper-based work. For those of us working for publishers on a fixed-fee basis per project, this means a better hourly rate.

Given that some publishers haven’t increased their freelance rates for many years (or have done so but only minimally), such efficiencies can mean the difference for the proofreader between continuing the working relationship and waving goodbye to the client.

The proofreader’s options for PDF markup
Most PDF editing software includes onboard commenting and markup tools for annotation purposes so that the proofreader can:

• mark for insertion, deletion and underlining
• draw basic shapes and lines
• highlight and comment
• attach sticky notes
• pin files
• type text and specific instructions to the designer (this typed text can itself be formatted in terms of font, size, alignment and colour, and it can be italicized, emboldened, underlined or struck out)

Stamps (digital proofreading marks) are another option. See The Proofreader’s Corner: Using the Stamping Tool for PDF Proofreading Mark-up, An American Editor, September 2015, for an overview of the subject.

The Working Onscreen archive on the Parlour has other related content that may be of interest to new entrants to the field.

Platforms include (but are not limited to): Futureproofs (client pays for use of platform), PDF-XChange (considerably cheaper and trusted alternative to Acrobat Pro with excellent functionality), Acrobat Professional (well-known and trusted but expensive) and Adobe Reader (free, and increasingly user-friendly. Latest version is DC).

Potential pitfalls to avoid
Onscreen proofreading can save the proofreader and the client time and money, but there are a number of pre-project steps that should be taken to ensure that the final outcome is a happy experience for all parties.

Making assumptions based on your own preferences, or your colleagues’ experiences, could lead to readability and compatibility problems.

Ask your client what they want
Ask your client what their preferences are rather than making assumptions. Be prepared to be flexible.

Some publishers have streamlined their production processes and have a strict set of guidelines concerning which annotation tools should be used for digital proofreading.

Some clients will be happy for you to use digital stamps based on publishing-industry-recognized markup symbols. Others might insist on sticking to a particular PDF editor’s onboard comment-and-markup tools. Yet others may expect a mixture of both.

Some may even want you to actually edit, rather than just annotate, the PDF (though this is very risky as it could interfere drastically with the layout of professionally typeset page proofs).

Some publishers are experimenting with Futureproofs (which has its own onboard markup system – for a review, see my recent article Digital proofreading using Futureproofs, Parlour, November 2015).

I merrily used the onboard commenting tool for a Spanish business client for two years, assuming wrongly that she wouldn't have a clue what the British Standards Institution proof-correction symbols were. She then surprised me by asking whether I knew how to use the “more efficient standard proofreading markup language”. I was happy to oblige, using stamps, because it was quicker for me, but I’d wasted precious time for two years because I’d made a flawed assumption.

Test the platform
Once you've agreed with your client on how you will mark up the PDF, do a small test to check that both of you are seeing the same annotations and that the markup “sticks” during the delivery process.

For example, I wanted to use the stamping tool in PDF-XChange on a recent project with a new client. We agreed in principle that this was acceptable.

• I extracted one page from the PDF page proofs and annotated it using several different stamps, the onboard commenting tool and the onboard strike-through, polygon and highlighting tools.
• I then saved the page and opened it up in my recently downloaded version of Adobe Reader DC. All looked well.
• I then compiled a list of all the test changes I’d made (briefly describing the actions and the line/paragraph where they occurred: for example, highlight [word] on line 2, paragraph 2; comment at line 4, paragraph 2; delete stamp in margin and strike-through [word] in text at line, 9, paragraph 3).
• I emailed the list and the marked-up PDF page to my client. He confirmed that all the markup appeared as it should on the software he was using.

I then felt confident to continue the proofread as planned.

File size
Some marked-up PDFs can be huge.

A client once sent me a PDF of 2,329 KB. By the time I'd stamped it, it was 25,395 KB (I zipped it down to 23,646 KB). 

If your email provider won’t handle large files, you will need to agree an alternative delivery system with your client.

Examples could include setting up a shared file in Dropbox, uploading directly to the client’s ftp site or using the likes of FileZilla, or transferring via an internet-based service such as WeTransfer.

Again, don’t assume that what suits you will suit your client. One of my project managers was happy in principle to use Dropbox (which I have) but then found out via her IT department that she wasn’t allowed to download the software to her PC. We had to work out an alternative.

Up-to-date software
Keep your software up to date. Perhaps Acrobat Standard (version 9) or PDF-XChange Viewer worked for you and your clients three years ago. However, the clients you’ve inherited recently are working with different software or more updated versions of existing tools. Installing regular updates and upgrading to the latest versions can help to reduce the risk of compatibility and readability issues at either your end or your client’s.

Resource guide

• Article: Onscreen proofreading tips: Reorganizing your stamps palette in PDF-XChange (June 2015, Parlour)
• Article: PDF Editing — Making the Most of the Stamps Tool (January 2012, Parlour)
• Article: Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links) (August 2012, Parlour). This includes a link to my installation instructions; for PDF-XChange users, there’s a video tutorial as well as written instructions.
• Article: Six Tips for Ergonomic PDF Proofreading (March 2012, Parlour)
• Article: The Proofreader’s Corner: Using the Stamping Tool for PDF Proofreading Mark-up (September 2015, An American Editor)
• Course: Digital Proofreading (The Publishing Training Centre. Course director: Anne Waddingham).
• Course: In June and July 2015, Adrienne Montgomerie ran a webinar on “Editing on PDF” via the Editorial Bootcamp. You can still buy the five video-recorded sessions and the companion handouts and exercises here.
• Course: In the UK, the SfEP and The Publishing Training Centre, to give just two examples, include onscreen markup as part of their broader distance-learning proofreading training.
• Resource hub: Editing Tools section of Katharine O’Moore-Klopf’s Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base: Search using the key words “PDF Editing Stamps”. This will bring up a number of useful resources.
• Resource hub: The Working Onscreen archive (Parlour) provides links to, and articles about, digital work flows more broadly.
• Stamps: If you want to use the BS 5261C:2005 proof-correction marks to annotate a PDF, visit Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links). This provides the access links to a full set of downloadable PDF proofreading stamps in black, blue, and red, as well as the installation instructions.
• Stamps: US stamps files are available via the Copyediting-L site, under the Resources tab. Scroll down to “Diana Stirling’s (2008) editing marks for PDF documents (Zip documents)”.

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader. She curates The Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, you might like to join Louise’s Writing Library. Members receive monthly updates featuring self-publishing news and resources.

In my latest article for Rich Adin's An American Editor blog, I show you how to create your own digital proofreading stamps for PDF proofreading and editing. The article includes the following:

• A recap of existing digital resources
• Reasons why you might need to create your own stamps
• How to create stamps
• Saving and installing the new stamps
• Related reading

To read the article in full, visit The Proofreader’s Corner: Creating Your Own Proofreading Stamps for PDF Mark-up.

Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader and copyeditor. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

In my latest article for Rich Adin's An American Editor blog, I provide an overview of PDF proofreading mark-up using the stamping tool. I address the following:

• What are proofreading stamps?
• Which mark-up language should you use when stamping PDFs?
• Why use mark-up language on digital proofs?
• Where can I find digital stamps?
• Where can I learn onscreen mark-up?
• What does a stamped PDF proof look like?

To read the article in full, visit The Proofreader’s Corner: Using the Stamping Tool for PDF Proofreading Mark-up.

Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader and copyeditor. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you plan to download my proofreading stamps for onscreen editing within PDF-XChange, using Windows 10, my colleague Nicholas Fisher has kindly taken the time to confirm that the installation procedure for Windows 10 is exactly as per Windows 8, 7 and Vista.

However, he did need to locate the AppData folder because it wasn’t visible. If you find your AppData folder is hidden, there are numerous online articles that will show you how to solve the problem. Here are a few examples:

• Windows 7:  How to Find the AppData Folder in Windows 7 (Solve Your Tech)
• Windows 8: Windows 8 AppData Folder Location (Guy Thomas, Computer Performance Ltd)
• Windows 8.1: How to Make Missing AppData Folder Visible in Windows 8.1 (TechZend)
• Windows 10: How To View The AppData Folder In Windows 10 (Windows Themes 10)

I've also included a note about this in my installation instructions, which can be accessed here:
Installation Instructions for Proofreading Stamps. Scroll down to the text below the image of the video link and read the section entitled Can't find the AppData folder?.

Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader and copyeditor. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

In this post I show you how to reorganize the display of your digital proofreading stamps in PDF-XChange so you can improve the efficiency with which you work.

The free digital stamps files I’ve provided here on the Parlour contain over 70 individual images, all based on the British Standards Institution’s “Marks for copy preparation and proof correction” (BS 5261C:2005).

​The issue for many newbies is that the palette can appear cumbersome – we all work in different ways, and the symbols that we most often use may not be positioned in the most convenient place for our particular needs.

Having the full palette open on the screen takes up a lot of space, even if, like me, you use multiple screens. I prefer to have my palette near the text because it’s quicker to access, thus increasing my efficiency:

Decreasing the size of the palette is one option, and allows placement on the screen that won’t interfere with the text. However, this requires using the scroll bar on the palette in order to access the stamps located further down the palette, reducing efficiency further because not all the stamps are on display.

Reorganizing the stamps for your own needs 
When I created the original stamps files, I ordered them according to what my specific needs were at that time. But my preferences have changed since 2012, and it’s not unusual for my current preferences to change on a job-by-job or client-by-client basis.

For example, one particular client for whom I work provides me with PDFs that frequently require the use of the Turn over character(s)/word(s)/line(s) symbol. This symbol is located near the end of the downloadable stamps files. This meant that when I first opened up the palette in XChange it appeared as follows (see highlighted area at the bottom of the image below):

The solution is to move the frequently used symbol to the top of the palette for this particular client work. This is most simply done by renaming the stamp in a way that forces it into the required position. My preference is to name most of my stamps with numbers rather than descriptive names (see image above and compare the often-used Delete symbol (named 1) with the rarely used Change to small caps mark (named 9.83).

The beauty of renaming with numbers is that you have the freedom to move any stamp anywhere at any time. You can change the positions as and when you wish. For demonstration purposes, I’ve chosen to move the right-hand margin Turn over symbol to the top of the palette and place it next to the Delete symbol.

The process is quick and simple:

1) Left-click on the symbol you want to move. The area below the mark, where the symbol's name is located, will appear with an orange tint.

2) Move your mouse to the top of the palette and left-click on the “Rename” tab. A window will appear, housing the stamp’s current name.

3) Type in a new numbered name that will force the stamp into the numerically ordered position you desire. In this case, I want the Turn over symbol to appear next to the Delete symbol. Delete is named “1”; the stamp to the left is named “0.52”. Choosing any number between 0.52 and 1 for Turn over will therefore ensure preferred placement. I decide to rename Turn over as “0.99”. I type in the number and select “OK”.

4) Note that the stamp has been renamed but it still hasn’t moved into its new position.

In order to force the repositioning, I need to move out of the currently displayed palette and then reopen it. This can be done in two ways. Either close the palette completely by clicking on the X in the top-right-hand corner of the window (then reopen via the menu: Tools>Comment And Markup Tools>Show Stamps Palette) …

… or switch to a different Collection and then move back into the original Collection in which you renamed your stamp. The Collections can be found on the left-hand sidebar of the XChange palette, and you can move this sidebar in and out of view by clicking on and dragging the thick grey line, as highlighted below.

5) When you reopen the palette and click on the appropriate Collection, you’ll see your renamed stamp positioned exactly where you want it. To move the Collections sidebar out of view, simply click and drag on the grey line. This will provide more space in which to display all your proofreading symbols.

Marginal gains for increased efficiency
If renaming stamps seems like a lot of effort for little reward, remember that marginal gains count for a lot with editorial work. This is why tools such as macros, shortcuts and find/replace are useful. The same applies to creating an efficient stamps palette.

Every second you spend scrolling to find the stamp you want adds up. Seconds become minutes, and minutes become hours. If you’re being paid per hour, and your client doesn’t have a top-line budget, it may not matter how long it takes you to do a job, nor that you’re working inefficiently.

However, many clients do have a top line, and many editorial professionals are working for fixed fees. Efficiency matters. Furthermore, some of us need to attend to the way in which we use our hands, wrists and arms repetitively when working onscreen.

Organizing a stamps palette in a way that is memorable to you, and enables the fastest possible access, speeds up the onscreen markup process and reduces physical strain.

If you haven’t got round to renaming your stamps numerically, try it and see whether it makes a difference.
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I’m delighted to welcome Will Travaglini from Tracker Software Products, developers and creators of the rather marvellous PDF-XChange. Will’s agreed to talk to us about how Tracker’s product range can help editorial freelancers with their PDF-related business needs.

Louise: First of all, Will, can you tell us a little bit about PDF-XChange – what it is and how we can use it? I know that this isn’t Tracker Software’s only product but it’s the one that most proofreaders and copy-editors working with PDFs might initially be most interested in, so I’d like to start there.

Will: PDF-XChange is a range of products that are meant for the viewing, annotating and manipulation of PDFs, as well as the conversion of many, many different file types to PDF (such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, CAD files, etc.)

Louise: Anyone who’s bought a new computer lately might well be working with Windows 8. Is your software compatible?

Will: Definitely. I’m running Windows 8 on three separate machines (all with very different hardware) and everything works as expected for myself. I also have two of colleagues that are running Windows 8 and it works fine for them – we have been given our official Windows 8 compatibility certification from Microsoft, so there should be no issues.

Louise: So, I imagine that Adobe Acrobat is your primary competitor. Let’s talk about the freebies on offer from both Adobe and Tracker Products. Is there anything the free version of XChange can’t do that Acrobat Reader can? Are there any other differences?

Will: I believe that the key differences are that we offer more extensive mark-up capabilities, such as a greater flexibility with the customization of the annotations themselves, a more extensive stamp creation ability, etc. Adobe Reader isn’t able to save data that has been entered into a fillable form, which is something that Viewer is capable of. We also offer a free OCR (Optical Character Recognition) module that comes with the Viewer and that is entirely free to use, which I don’t believe that Adobe Reader has. Lastly, if you have a license for the Viewer, then PDF-XChange Lite (conversion printer) also comes free with that license, so you would be able to install a licensed version of one of our print drivers.

Louise: What are the main differences between the free PDF-Change Viewer, the Standard version and the PRO version?

Will: Well, the Viewer is a PDF Reader/PDF Annotation tool. It allows for PDFs to be both viewed and read, or to be annotated with sticky notes (digital Post-it notes), textboxes, stamps, etc. You can also use it to create PDFs from scratch, rather than, say, converting from a Word document to a PDF. You can also add new pages to existing PDFs and all sorts of other different things.

PDF-XChange Standard, on the other hand, is a virtual printer that acts like a real, physical printer but, instead of printing to paper, it will "print" to PDF. This can be done from virtually any Windows application that can print to a printer. Standard also comes with our Office add-in, which puts a toolbar plugin in any installed Microsoft Office applications and, using that add-in to convert to PDF, it will, in most cases, offer a far better conversion than the regular File --> Print --> PDF-XChange Printer 2012 method. It also installs a plugin for Internet Explorer because, without getting too technical here, web pages can sometimes be difficult to convert using the Windows printing system; the IE plugin allows for a far more consistent conversion that the File --> Print method. The last thing to note about Standard is that it also comes with a program called Office2PDF5, which allows users to convert multiple MS Office documents (i.e. 25 Word documents) into PDF at once or using a watched folder that will automatically convert any supported file placed in the watched folder to PDF.

PDF-XChange PRO 2012 is our three bestselling PDF-related products bundled into one installer and license. Installing this will give you the Viewer, PDF-XChange Standard (the printer that I mentioned) and PDF-Tools, which is a utility for the batch processing of large PDF files and/or large quantities of PDF documents (for example, if you to need to merge 60 PDF files into one, or you need to place the same watermark on 30 different PDF files, etc.).

Louise: And, related to the second question, is there anything the Standard and PRO versions of XChange can’t do that Acrobat’s equivalents can? It’s an important question because your product is significantly cheaper. Many people reading this run small businesses, so it’s not just about the money. We need excellent functionality in order to offer a professional level of service – any return on investment, large or small, needs to deliver value as defined by quality as much as anything else, financial outlay included.

Will: The creation of fillable forms is something that can’t be done with our end user products at the moment, but the ability to do this is going to be implemented in the next major version of the Viewer, in the form of a plugin.

Also, the next major version of the Viewer will be able to edit the base content of a PDF, which Adobe Professional can do now. This next major version has been renamed PDF-XChange Editor, to reflect its headline functionality. I should mention that a pre-release of the Editor is available to try and the editing functionality is implemented already, though it does require a Viewer, PDF-Tools or PRO bundle license.

Louise: PDF-XChange isn’t currently available for Macs. Are there any plans to rectify this and if not, can you advise our readers of a solution?

Will: It’s something that’s been talked about but, for the time being, it’s unlikely we will release anything for Apple platforms. There are a multitude of reasons for this but, largely, it’s because we would have to re-write the program from the ground up and in an entirely different programming language, so it would likely take years to accomplish.

Should users want to use our software on Mac, we have had many reports of great success running our software through a PC emulator, such as CrossOver or Wine for MAC. Users should be aware, though, that we cannot support the program when it’s being run through an emulator and, though we don’t anticipate issues, they do have the potential to occur and users purchase a license at their own risk in such circumstances.

Louise: If someone already has the free version of XChange Viewer, how much will it cost them to upgrade and how do they register to enable all the Pro features?

Will: The Viewer is currently US$37.50, which is, at the moment, about £22.48. It’s important to note that we are in the process of finishing off the PDF-XChange Editor, which is the next major version of the Viewer. Once the Editor has been released for sale, we do intend to increase the price, slightly, to US$43.50, which will reflect the extended functionality/capabilities. 

When that happens the Viewer will cease to be for sale, though it will still be available as a free download.

As for registration of the product - if/when a user has purchased a license, they have two options to get the programs to function in PRO mode. The first, and the one we recommend, would be to uninstall, then re-install and copy/paste the serial key (provided in an email after purchase) into the installer when asked – if you need instructions on how to do this, they are here.

The other method is to enter the keys manually, without re-installation. If you’d prefer this method and need instructions, see this KB article instead. (Note: While this is a KB article for the PRO bundle, it provides instructions on manually entering the key for all of our end user, PDF-related products.)

Louise: Two of my colleagues had some queries about using PDF-XChange. If you could address them here that would be great:

1. “I would like to be able to select text – or even just navigate letter by letter – using the arrow keys. At present the arrow keys move to the next/previous page, which is also covered by PageUp and PageDown.”
2. “I’d like to be able to use a carat tool in the Comment and Mark-up toolbar. Might it be possible to include one of these along with the delete, polygon and highlight tools?”

Will: (1) This isn’t something that can be done in the Viewer, but can be done in the pre-release of the PDF-XChange Editor. (2) In the Editor, the Edit Content tool automatically invokes the carat tool when a block of content is clicked on; this is also be available in the pre-release of the Editor.

Louise: Are there any other Tracker Software tools that you’d like to tell us about?

Will: I’m not sure whether any of our other products would be useful for the average proofreader, but we do offer a printer driver called Raster-XChange that, instead of printing to PDF as our other printers do, prints to your choice of one of 15 different Raster image formats (i.e. tiff, jpeg, png, etc.).

Louise: Many thanks, Will. This is incredibly useful. And thanks to everyone at Tracker for offering Parlour readers a promotional discount!

Screencasting, for those not in the know, is the process of capturing exactly what you’re doing on your computer screen, and it’s often combined with an audio feed. It’s a brilliant and (sometimes) inexpensive way to demonstrate detailed instructions that don’t always translate well using only the written word.

I was fortunate that some of my more experienced colleagues, John Espirian, Nick Jones and Adrienne Montgomerie in particular, had lots of useful advice to share, and while I ended up going down a slightly different route in terms of software (by necessity), their guidance set me on the right road and clarified the process for me.

For my first screencasting project, I decided to experiment with the instructions that I'd prepared for automatic installation into PDF-XChange.

The written instructions have tripped up some new users and I was convinced that a video demo of me installing the stamps might solve the problem. After all, over the past two years I've taken several calls from struggling colleagues and when I've talked them through the installation on the phone, they've succeeded where they’d previously failed. If my voice guiding them could solve the problem, a combined video feed should be even more effective.

The kit
Since the kit was being used for an activity that wouldn't actually generate any income for me, I needed to be careful about what I spent. I wanted quality but  felt it would be foolhardy to invest in expensive commercial equipment and software at this stage.

After some investigation I settled for a Logitech headset that cost me £25. It includes a set of comfortable earphones and a mic attached to the headband that clips down into recording position. They are widely available – I picked up mine from a local supermarket.

I then downloaded Microsoft’s Expression Encoder 4. This probably isn’t the most sophisticated screencasting software on the market, but I found it user-friendly and excellent for the purposes of making a simple video tutorial. And it’s completely free, though you are limited to making videos of no longer than 15 minutes. But honestly – who wants to listen to me rambling on for any longer than that?!

Creating the screencast
After about ten passes, I came up with something that I was happy to post online. It's here if you want to take a look (or if you're struggling to install my proofreading stamps), and I think the video demonstration is a good complement to the written instructions.

It's not perfect, but Adrienne Montgomerie assures me that in this kind of situation, where we're communicating with colleagues and want that personal touch, perfection isn't always necessary.

​As always, we need to consider who our audience is, what their expectations are, and the impact our message will have on our business. If I was creating a promotional video to advertise my business or a testimonial video to complement the written endorsements on my website, perfection would be at the top of my list.

Encoding and uploading my screencast to YouTube proved easier than expected. Not surprisingly, I found a video created by TheBenVidz on YouTube that showed me exactly how to do this with Expression Encoder 4. Then I used Weebly's embed-code plug-in to publish the video on my website.

I'm off now to plan my Oscar-acceptance speech ... 

I'd like to thank my partner [sniffs], by daughter [sobs], my best mate [hysterical howls] and all my colleagues in the editorial freelancing industry [completely breaks downs]. It's been emotional ...

Those of you who specialize in proofreading or editing music notation may be interested in the set of custom PDF mark-up stamps available from Tracker Software (the developers of PDF-XChange). 

I confess that I'm unsure of the degree to which these differ between countries, though if standard mark-up symbols are anything to go by, these music notation symbols may not be appropriate to all. I'd welcome comments from editors/proofreaders who work on music, so I can update this post accordingly.

This roundup provides a quick-access route to all the PDF proofreading marks files posted on the Parlour.

​I should have done this ages ago so apologies to anyone who's had to spend unnecessary time navigating their way around the Stamps archive to see what's available.

I'll keep this updated as new files are added so that there's always one central resource with all the necessary links.

• IMPORTANT: For detailed installation instructions, see my article Installation Instructions for Proofreading Stamps. Please follow these instructions to the letter BEFORE contacting me for support. 
• If you wish to create your own stamps, or you want to see samples of what a marked-up PDF looks like, see my article PDF Editing – Making the Most of the Stamps Tool. 
• For a list of American proofreading stamps visit KOK Edit’s Copyeditors' Knowledge Base and scroll down to "PDF editing stamps".
• For some great PDF mark-up tutorials and tips (using Acrobat), take a look the Acrobat PDF archive on the Right Angels and Polo Bears blog curated by Adrienne Montgomerie.
• You can find more information about onscreen work in the archives here on The Parlour: Stamps archive and Onscreen Work archive.

Louise Harnby is a fiction line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in helping self-publishing writers prepare their novels for market.
​
She is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors, and runs online courses from within the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series. She is also an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Louise loves books, coffee and craft gin, though not always in that order.

​Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at her Self-publishers’ Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.

Those of you who do a lot of onscreen work with PDFs may be interested in this new book by Thom Parker, All About PDF Stamps In Acrobat® & Paperless Workflows. It was published by WindJack Press in June 2012. A full description is available on Amazon.com. UK purchasers can find the book on Amazon.co.uk.

If you’re proofreading onscreen, either with my proofreading stamps or your software’s comment and mark-up tools, it’s worth spending a few minutes to set up the various onscreen elements in an ergonomic fashion as well as familiarizing yourself with basic keyboard shortcuts.

Some aspects of onscreen work are speedier – searching for and implementing global changes, for example – while moving between the various mark-up tools is not as quick as using a hand and pen. There are, however, things you can do to compensate and make your onscreen experience more effective.

​1. Make the toolbar work for you
Shift the most-used elements on your toolbar so that they are near to each other and on the side of the screen with which you operate your mouse. These elements might include the typewriter, mark-up tools, text tools, and stamp and save buttons. Use your mouse to click, hold and drag the elements across the toolbar ribbon.

2. Use the stamps palette
Use stamps of proofreading symbols to complement the comment box and mark-up tools in your PDF editor. You can create your own or use the sets I’ve already developed. They’re available free of charge here. If you’re unfamiliar with these, see PDF Editing: Making the Most of the Stamps Tool.

Remember to keep your stamps palette open; it will save you time when selecting each stamp you want to use.

In XChange you can minimize the size of the symbols as they appear in the palette (see the highlight in the screenshot to the left). This enables you to see a greater number of stamps while you are working without having to scroll up and down the palette. In Acrobat, the palette is not as user-friendly, so use a second screen to get the best of the display.

In XChange, number similar stamps sequentially so that they appear in a logical order. This will make it easier to find the stamp you need, particularly if each palette contains a lot of symbols (If you’ve downloaded my XChange stamps simply change the number-name in order to re-sequence them).

It's useful to keep your palettes of different-coloured stamps separate so that the palettes don't become overly cluttered. Again, this will enable you to locate the stamp you need more efficiently. 

3. Hook up a second screen
I generally use a laptop, but I hook up my old desktop screen to enable me to use two screens at once when I’m doing onscreen work. This works well on three counts: 

1. The desktop screen is larger, so it’s much more comfortable to work on. I can enlarge the PDF view to 150%, which displays most of the page on the screen while presenting the text in a size that’s easy on the eye. 
2. A larger screen means you can expand your stamps palette in a way that will maximize the number of stamps on show without interfering with your PDF page. 
3. It’s inconvenient and time-consuming when you want to write a query to the client only to have the comment box open up under another element, which then has to be moved. To avoid this, you can slide elements such as the Search window and Comments List over to the smaller screen so that they are visible and usable at all times, but not taking up the grey space where the comment boxes appear.

​4. Utilize basic keyboard shortcuts
These are my preferred keyboard shortcuts when working with PDFs. There are many, many more but I like these because all but one can be managed easily with one hand.

Alt Tab: this is one of my most-used keyboard short cuts and is especially useful if you only have one screen to work on and need to flit between different programs or files.  
Ctrl S: save
Ctrl C: copy
Ctrl X: cut
Ctrl V: paste
Ctrl Z: undo
Ctrl A: select all
Ctrl Shift F: opens search window

5. Bookmark key pages
If you refer back to the same key pages time and again and your client hasn’t already bookmarked these (contents, part titles, chapter first page, bibliography, index etc.), it’s easy to do it yourself and will save you time. Use Ctrl B to open the bookmark function in Acrobat, PDF-XChange or PDF-XChange Viewer and name your page.
​
​​6. Use a snipping tool to make your own quickie stamps
If you are constantly using a particular combination of mark-up symbols in a piece of work (e.g. you have to change A to Å many times), you can make your own quickie stamp using a snipping tool. Windows supplies this, but if your operating system doesn’t there are plenty of free alternatives online. Pin it to the task bar at the bottom of your screen to access it quickly.

In the case given above, you would use the typewriter to print Å on your PDF, followed by the replace-slash stamp. Use your snipping tool to draw round both marks and save. Then import your new stamp into your palette. Now you only have to make one click, not two, in order to make the margin mark.

Related articles
To access the stamps files, see the article Free Downloadable Proofreading Stamps. For a more detailed look at using stamps for onscreen work, go to PDF Editing: Making the Most of the Stamps Tool. For installation instructions, click here.

Anything to share?
Do you have any tips to share for more efficient onscreen work, such as favourite keyboard shortcuts or using function keys? Please share them with us in the Comments section below so that we can all improve our onscreen working experience.

For those of you who currently use Acrobat, I would strongly suggest you try PDF-XChange Viewer – it’s free and the stamps palette is far more user-friendly.

If you’ve already downloaded my stamps, then my apologies that I didn’t come across this information until now – I know how laborious it is to download the stamps one by one.

There are still benefits, though – now you can transfer your whole stamps palette to a second PC.

​And should you buy a new computer you won't have to endure the arduous task of downloading the stamps one by one all over again.

• For installation instructions see my article Installation Instructions for Proofreading Stamps.
• For quick-access links to all of the PDF proofreading stamps files, including the original full set of BSI symbols, see Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links).
• If you wish to create your own stamps, or you want to see samples of what a marked-up PDF looks like, see my article PDF Editing – Making the Most of the Stamps Tool.
• Check the Stamps archive to see other articles about using stamps with free PDF viewers/readers.
• For a list of American proofreading stamps visit KOK Edit’s Copyeditors' Knowledge Base and scroll down to "PDF editing stamps". 

If you don't have the full paid-for versions of, say, Adobe Acrobat or PDF-XChange, you can still use my proofreading stamps. At a recent local SfEP chapter workshop, my colleague Sara Peacock demonstrated the stamps. She says: 

"The stamps work with [the free] Adobe Reader, but the proofreader will need to ensure that whoever creates the PDF 'enables comments' before sending it, otherwise the comment tools that are needed (as well as the stamps, the pencil tool, the strikeout tool, and so on) won't be accessible.

"However, all of these tools (or their equivalents) are available in the free PDF-XChange viewer, in which the stamps can also be used. (Personally, I find it a more stable piece of software than the Adobe 
version so I use it all the time anyway. It's a bonus that I don't need to insist on enabled PDFs.)"

I normally work in the full version of Acrobat Standard, but following Sara's comments I decided to give XChange Viewer a try. I must say, it was a doddle and the functionality is exceptional given that this won't cost you anything. The stamps palette is much clearer, for one thing, and uploading the stamps is quicker, too. I'd recommend giving Viewer a try, even if you're a die-hard Acrobat user! Even better, XChange Viewer allows you to upload them all in one go!

To access the stamps files, see the article Free Downloadable Proofreading Stamps. For a more detailed look at using stamps for onscreen work, go to PDF Editing: Making the Most of the Stamps Tool. For installation instructions, click here.

Tips

• Remember to keep your stamps palette open when you are working in both Acrobat or XChange; it will save you time when selecting each stamp you want to use.
• In XChange you can minimize the size of the symbols as they appear in the palette. This enables you to see a greater number of stamps while you are working without having to scroll up and down the palette (see the highlighted circle on the screenshot below).
• In XChange, number similar stamps sequentially so that they appear in a logical order. This will make it easier to find the stamp you need, particularly if each palette contains a lot of symbols (see screenshot below).
• It's useful to keep your palettes of different-coloured stamps separate so that the palettes don't become overly cluttered. Again, this will enable you to locate the stamp you need more efficiently. 

Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader and copyeditor. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

How to annotate a PDF with digital proofreading marks
Below are my free proofreading stamps files in red, blue and black. ​They conform to British Standard BS 5261-2 (2005).

You will not have to resize these stamps – I've designed them to work with the font size that most book files use. Simply upload them into your PDF editor and you’re ready to go!
​
​Tip: In Acrobat you will have to download each stamp individually. In PDF-XChange (even the free Viewer), the process is semi-automatic - just make sure you download the XChange stamps files below and follow the installation instructions.

• For installation instructions, see my article Installation Instructions for Proofreading Stamps.
• If you wish to create your own stamps, or you want to see samples of what a marked-up PDF looks like, see my article PDF Editing – Making the Most of the Stamps Tool.
• Check the Stamps archive to see other articles about using stamps with free PDF viewers/readers.
• For a list of American proofreading stamps, visit KOK Edit’s Copyeditors' Knowledge Base and scroll down to "PDF editing stamps". 

What users are saying ...

• This looks brilliant! I wish I had had these for my last job.
• These are fantastic! I'd never thought of using stamps in this way until I saw how you did it.
• Thanks, these look great! They would have been useful for the job I've just finished.
• This is an excellent solution.
• Having followed Louise's clear instructions, these proofreading stamps are ingenious!
• I am really delighted with this set because they are the perfect size for most of my work without any tweaking.

For Acrobat users (PC and Mac)

For PDF-XChange users (PC)

​Louise Harnby is a fiction line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in helping self-publishing writers prepare their novels for market.
​
She is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors, and runs online courses from within the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series. She is also an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Louise loves books, coffee and craft gin, though not always in that order.

​Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at her Self-publishers’ Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.

How to install my PDF proofreading stamps
This article contains installation instructions for for most versions of Acrobat and PDF-XChange.

Scroll down the page to find the set appropriate for the platform you're working with.

There's also a video for XChange users and link to the stamps files themselves. 

NOTE: Rest assured that you don't need advanced technical knowledge to install the stamps. In fact, you don't need any technical knowledge at all! You simply need to be able to follow the instructions as they are given. I've provided a video tutorial for PDF-XChange users. Some of you may find this more user-friendly than the written instructions.

Please follow my instructions to the letter. I've provided installation support to a number of users in recent years. On every occasion, problems occurred for one of the following reasons:

• the user hadn't actually followed the instructions at all but had carried out what he or she thought were the logical steps
• the user had only partially implemented the instructions (perhaps skimming the written instructions or video tutorial, or paying attention only to the early steps in the process) and then made incorrect assumptions about the later steps
• the user tried to install the stamps using the wrong set of instructions (e.g. a set that relates to a different PDF editor or version thereof)

Again, please ensure that you follow the instructions step by step (or screen by screen in the case of the video tutorial) before you contact me to report that you are having problems. Much appreciated!

One of the main benefits of using PDF-XChange Viewer is that you can import all my stamps in one go.

Video tutorial
For those of you who'd like to watch a tutorial of the steps outlined below, here's a video demonstration in which I talk you through the process, step by step, while actually downloading a set of stamps onto my own computer. It's in screencast format, so you can follow exactly how I navigate my way through the installation.

NB: This is the squeaky-chair edit, a limited-edition version created especially to provide the feel-good factor for editorial freelancers whose home offices benefit from well-oiled swivel-seating arrangements!

 Written instructions 

1. Download PDF-XChange and install it on your computer.
2. Create a special folder for your stamps. To do this:
   a) Open PDF-XChange, select Tools from the top menu, then Comment And Markup Tools, then Show Stamps Palette.
   b) Click on 'New ...' to create a New Collection.
   c) Then click on 'From PDF ...' and use this to copy any PDF you like from anywhere you like in your computer.
   You should now see a New Collection with that PDF in it. Doing this will have automatically created the folder you will need. In Windows XP this should be: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Tracker Software\PDF- XChange Viewer\2.0\Stamps. In Windows 10, 8, 7 and Vista it should be: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Tracker Software\PDF-XChange  Viewer\2.0\Stamps.
3. Navigate to that folder,* select the copied PDF (it will have a weird number – don't worry) and delete it, leaving the folder empty. 
4. a) Open Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links).
   b) Scroll through and click on, and open, the version of the XChange stamps file you want. (Don't worry if you can only see one stamp on the front page. This is as it should be.) Save the downloaded file in the folder you have just created.  
5. Close PDF-XChange and re-open it. You should see a full set of stamps available for use in the Stamps Palette.
6. For each separate file you choose (different colour options or additional sets of stamps) you will need to repeat Step 4b.

* Can't find the AppData folder?
If you can't find the folder, the most likely reason is that the Application Data (or AppData) folder (a hidden folder) is invisible on your computer. 

• To show it in Windows XP, go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Show Hidden files and folders. 
• For Windows 7 and Vista, go to the Windows icon in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and search for 'show hidden files and folders'. Click on this and look down for the Hidden Files and Folders icon. Then check the button labelled 'Show hidden files, folders and drives'. Select OK. Now you should be able to save the XChange files in the correct place, enabling them to appear in the palette.
• For Windows 8, follow the instructions in this tutorial from bleepingcomputer.com: How to see hidden files in Windows 8.

My colleague Helen Mortimor has kindly provided the following installation instructions for use with Editor 6.0:

1. Download the stamps Open Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links) to your This PC > Documents folder. Make a note of which file is which colour.
2. Download Editor 6.0 here.
3. Open any PDF.
4. Go into Tools > Comment and Markup Tools > Stamp Tool > Stamps Palette.
5. Click on the 'Add New Stamp from File' icon, which looks like an open folder.
6. Click on the folder icon to the right of the 'Name' field and select a stamp folder from your documents folder.
7. Click on 'All pages'.
8. Give the stamps a title in ‘New title’ (I think this is where you could select a page at a time and re-name each stamp with numbers).
9. Click the 'Add New' button at bottom right, and give the new collection a name (e.g. 'Red Proofreading Stamps').
10. Click OK.
11. Your stamps should install. Repeat from Step 3 for the rest of the collection.

My colleague Steve Hammatt has kindly provided the following installation instructions for use with Editor 3.0:

1. Go into Tools > Comment and Markup Tools > Stamps Palette.
2. Click on the 'Add New Stamp from File' icon, which looks like an open folder.
3. Click on the folder icon to the right of the 'Name' field and select any PDF from your computer.
4. Click the 'Add New' button at bottom right, and give the new collection a name (e.g. 'Red Proofreading Stamps'). Doing this will have automatically created the folder you will need. In Windows XP this should be: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0\Stamps. In Windows 8, 7 and Vista it should be: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0\Stamps.
5. Navigate to that folder; delete the file to leave the folder empty.
6. a) Open Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links). b) Scroll through and click on, and open, the version of the XChange stamps file you want. (Don't worry if you can only see one stamp on the front page. This is as it should be.) Save the downloaded file in the folder you have just created.  
7. Close Editor and re-open it. You should see a full set of stamps available for use in the Stamps Palette.
8. For each separate file you choose (different colour options or additional sets of stamps) you will need to repeat Step 6b.

1. Open any PDF.
   
2. Select the stamp icon from the Comment and Markup Toolbar (this ribbon should show up at the top of the page) and click on the drop-down menu.
3. Select Create Custom Stamp.
   
4. Click on the Browse button and select the location of the PDF stamps file (e.g. Red Stamps).
   
5. Each stamp will appear on a separate page. Use the scroll bar to select the stamp you wish to upload.   
6. Click Import.
   
7. Click OK.

The first time you do this you’ll have to write in a category (e.g. Red Stamps). When you import a second stamp you can simply select this option. You can also name the stamp if you wish but I didn’t bother, choosing instead to leave the default New Stamp.

When you have uploaded all your stamps and are ready to start marking up your document, select Show Stamps Palette from the stamp icon in the ribbon menu and a box will appear. If you have different categories (e.g. Blue Stamps) you can select these from here.

1. Open any PDF (If the stamp icon isn't on display in the toolbar select the Commenting Toolbar by choosing View, Toolbars, Commenting from the menu).
2. Go to the stamp icon on the top ribbon menu and click on the drop-down menu.
3. Select Create Custom Stamp.
4. Click on the Select button and then the Browse button to select the location of the PDF stamps file (e.g. Red Stamps). 
5. Each stamp should appear on a separate page. Use the scroll bar to select the stamp you wish to create.
6. Click OK.

The first time you do this you’ll have to type in a category (e.g. Red Stamps). When you import a second stamp you can simply select this option. You can also name the stamp.

When you have downloaded all your stamps and are ready to start marking up your document, select the drop-down menu from the stamp icon in the ribbon menu, and the categories you have created will be listed along with the defaults. You can then select the stamp from the category you require.

My colleague Jenny Macgregor has very kindly put together some instructions for downloading my proofreading stamps into Acrobat X. Here's her advice...

1. Download the stamps from this website, whichever colours you use, and save somewhere convenient. At this point I recommend making a list on paper of the number of each stamp, and what it is (it varies between colours). This is worth the few minutes it takes, and is invaluable later on in the process.
2. Open the PDF you are proofreading. In the bar across the top, click on Comment, as you would normally do to start marking up, then open Annotations, if it is not already open.
3. Click on the stamp icon (it takes a few seconds for a grey box to open), then click on Custom Stamps and, from the box which pops up next to it, Create Custom Stamps.
4. The Select Image for Custom Stamp window will open with a browse facility. Use that to find the stamps you have saved earlier, starting with whichever colour you are likely to use most.
5. At this stage you will need the paper you have marked all the symbols on: use it to choose which you are most likely to need, and then use the number and the slider on the right-hand side of the box to locate the first symbol you want to install. You need the number because the images in the box are too small to distinguish easily. Click OK.
6. A new box opens; in the category box, type in the colour, i.e. red stamps/black stamps/blue stamps. I haven’t found any benefit in giving a name to each stamp, so just leave it as New Stamp. Then click OK. The box disappears.
7. Repeat this with any other symbols you are certain to need, and any other colours. After the first one in each category, the category name (red stamps, etc.)  appears in a drop-down box to be selected, which saves time.
8. Once you start the proofread, if you want to add a stamp to the PDF, click on the stamp symbol, and the grey box opens as before, but now it will have the categories of stamps you have installed, i.e. red stamps, black stamps, etc. Click on the colour you want to use and another grey box will open with the symbols in it. Click on the symbol you want to use, and it will ‘ghost’ onto the PDF you are proofing. Move it to where you want it and then click, which will attach it to the PDF. That’s it!
9. The last stamp you used can be added to/removed from a favourites list – favourites appear in the first grey box to open, and can be selected from it, which saves some time.
10. At any time during the proofread, if you find you need a stamp you haven’t already installed, repeat steps 3–6, using your paper list to find the appropriate stamp number.
11. To keep the stamps palette open, click on the stamp symbol, and when the grey box opens click on Show Stamps Palette.

1. Open any PDF.
2. Click on the Tools tab in the ribbon.
3. Click on the Stamps icon. The Custom Stamps icon will now appear in the ribbon.
4. Select Create from the Custom Stamps drop-down menu.
5. Click on the Browse button to select the location of the PDF stamps file (e.g. Red Stamps). 
6. Each stamp should appear on a separate page. Use the scroll bar to select the stamp you wish to create.
7. Fill in the Category (e.g. Red stamps). You can re-use this for the second stamp you add.
8. Give the stamp a name (e.g. '1' or 'delete').
9. Click on OK.
10. Use the Stamps Palette icon in the ribbon to access your symbols (remember to select the relevant category).

Here are a few tips to bear in mind when using stamps. Search the Stamps archive for other useful articles and resources.

• Remember to keep your stamps palette open when you are working in both Acrobat or XChange; it will save you time when selecting each stamp you want to use.
  
• In XChange you can minimize the size of the symbols as they appear in the palette. This enables you to see a greater number of stamps while you are working without having to scroll up and down the palette (see the highlighted circle on the screenshot below).
• In XChange, number similar stamps sequentially so that they appear in a logical order. This will make it easier to find the stamp you need, particularly if each palette contains a lot of symbols (see screenshot below).
• It's useful to keep your palettes of different-coloured stamps separate so that the palettes don't become overly cluttered. Again, this will enable you to locate the stamp you need more efficiently. 

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in helping self-publishing writers prepare their novels for market.
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She is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors, and runs online courses from within the Craft Your Editorial Fingerprint series. She is also an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Louise loves books, coffee and craft gin, though not always in that order.

​Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at Louise’s Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.

Tips for proofreading PDFs
These days, it's not uncommon to be asked to edit and proofread onscreen. If you're editing in Word, all well and good; you can amend the text directly. If you're tackling designed page proofs, you'll probably be working on a PDF. 

The PDF editor's onboard markup tool is one option. Using custom stamps is another, and that's what I'll be exploring today.

​Why use customized stamps?
Even in the standard versions of most PDF editors (as opposed to their freely available readers), the tools can be restrictive. For me, punctuation errors are a major problem – I feel that insertion and deletion tools for punctuation marks (and even single letters) are often ambiguous, with the highlight or strike-out line appearing to ‘spread’ further on the page than would be the case on a paper mark-up.

About the stamps …
I created a set of customized stamps that can be imported into my PDF editing software (I have both PDF-XChange and Acrobat).

The stamps are based on the current BSI proofreading symbols and once downloaded can be imprinted onto the page, giving the proof the appearance of its paper cousin.

No more clunky comments and digital sticky notes, and say goodbye to ambiguous highlighting. Now you can keep the comment boxes in reserve for queries to your author or in-house editor.

​The following is a sample of just a few of my stamps.

Which software is compatible?
I’ve tested the stamps on Adobe Acrobat (standard version) and PDF-XChange and can confirm that they can be imported (other PDF editors that have stamping functions, such as Foxit and PDFill, may also be compatible, though I’ve yet to verify this – comments welcome!).

What if you only have a free reader/viewer?
No problem – you don't need to have the full paid-for versions of Acrobat or XChange in order to use the stamps.

You can use your free Acrobat Reader as long as you ask the person who has created the PDF to 'enable comments'.

With PDF XChange Viewer, you don't even need to worry about enabling comments – the stamps will work on your PDF as soon as you have uploaded them. An additional benefit of Viewer is that you can import all the stamps in one go.

Can you use the stamps with a Mac?
One of the first questions asked after I posted this article was whether the stamps files would work for Mac users.

I work on a PC but an SfEP colleague has informed me that since the stamps files are PDFs it shouldn't make any difference whether you're working on a PC or a Mac. Rather, the most important thing is that you have the Mac version of your PDF editor, e.g. Acrobat for Mac.

What does the marked-up proof look like?
I’ve been delighted with the results, as have many of my clients. The marked-up proofs using the stamps are much clearer to read, as the two examples show.

There are only four amendments in Example 1, the comment-box version. Imagine how much time it would have taken to select the text, choose the relevant option from the Text Edits menu and write the instruction to the typesetter if all the amendments in Example 2 had been made without using stamps.

​And if the typesetter opened up all these comments boxes, what a mess it would have been.

Creating stamps
Creating the stamps is the fiddly part and the most time-consuming.

Getting the correct size, so that you don’t have to resize each stamp when you’re working on a set of proofs, takes a little time and, of course, creating each individual stamp can seem painstaking.

However, the job only has to be done once and I’ve been using mine for a couple of years now. It’s worth spending some time playing around with your designs early on in order to make life easier for yourself later.

I’ve created stamps in red, blue and black because my clients have different requirements.

I used Publisher to create the stamps, but you could use any software with a drawing tool. Set up each stamp on a separate page. Once you’ve drawn all your stamps convert the file into a PDF.

Want to use the stamps that I've already created?
I’m happy to share with colleagues who have the same commitment as I do to improving skills and supporting our industry’s professional standards.

To access your copies of my stamps, click here – there's no charge. If you're using PDF-XChange (I'd recommend you do so), make sure you select the stamps labelled "XChange".

Note: Please note that my stamps are based on proofreading symbols as defined by BS 5261-2 (2005). If you are working outside the UK, not all of the symbols may conform to those you are used to working with.

For a set of stamps that use US proofreading marks, take a look at KOK Edit's excellent Copyeditors' Knowledge Base – scroll down to 'PDF'. 

Importing customized stamps
For installation instructions, and some useful tips, see my article Installation Instructions for Proofreading Stamps.

Future updates
Periodically, I create new or modified stamps to deal with an amendment that's cropping up frequently in a job I'm working on. I'll place these additions in the Stamps archive located on the blog sidebar. Drop by now and then to see if there's anything new that's of use to you. I'll name the post with a description of the stamp and I'll include a picture and downloadable file in case you want to add it.

Which PDF editor do you use?
Do you use customized stamps in PDF editors/readers other than Acrobat and PDF-XChange? Please let us know in the Comments section so that others can see which software is compatible.

UPDATE:

• For installation instructions see my article Installation Instructions for Proofreading Stamps.
• For quick-access links to all of the PDF proofreading stamps files, including the original full set updated in February 2013, see Roundup: PDF Proofreading Stamps (quick-access links).
• For a list of American proofreading stamps visit KOK Edit’s Copyeditors' Knowledge Base and scroll down to "PDF editing stamps".

Louise Harnby is a fiction copyeditor and proofreader. She curates The Proofreader's Parlour and is the author of several books on business planning and marketing for editors and proofreaders.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader & Copyeditor, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you're an author, take a look at Louise’s Writing Library and access her latest self-publishing resources, all of which are free and available instantly.