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The Parlour: A Blog for Editors, Proofreaders and Writers

A BLOG FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

Using Proofreading Stamps in Free PDF Readers/Viewers

9/2/2012

4 Comments

 
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.

Picture
A sample of just a few of my proofreading stamps.
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. 
Picture
PDF-XChange Viewer: screenshot of stamps palette and minimizing tool.

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.

4 Comments
Alison Lees link
10/2/2012 12:57:15 am

These are great, thanks! I have only got Adobe 6, which doesn't seem to open stamps in a palette, so I'll definitely check out the PDF-Xchange viewer.
Also, I have found a gem in something called 'infix', which lets me spell-check a ,pdf, and recognises greek letters, which Adobe 6 doesn't. I forget where I heard about it.

Reply
Louise Harnby | Proofreader
10/2/2012 01:33:27 am

Hi Alison - thanks! Yes, do download Viewer. I have the full version of Acrobat, which cost me hundreds of pounds. But having played around with the free Viewer I'm thinking that I wasted my money! I would also absolutely recommend that you name each stamp with a number as you upload each one from my stamps files. So, give the stamp on p.1 the name "0.1" and so on. I started from 0.1 so that I had plenty of naming options while still enforcing the logical order of stamps.

Reply
Adrienne (scieditor) link
21/8/2012 09:34:17 am

Terrific series, Louise. I'm glad I didn't see it before, or I may not have written my own posts about PDF markup. I am teaching an online course in on-screen editing this fall, and I hope you won't mind my pointing students to your posts.
Now, I'm going to go look around your site some more.

Reply
Louise Harnby link
21/8/2012 11:54:51 am

Thanks so much, Adrienne. And I hope your students find the articles useful!

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