WHAT IS COPYEDITING?

Question 1

Copyediting

Answer 1

Editing the content to match the client’s brief, the needs of the typesetter or designer, and the expectations of the target audience. The copyeditor follows a house style or custom style sheet to make the content clear and consistent throughout, correcting errors in grammar, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation while using templates, codes or formatting to make the document ready for typesetting or uploading. Depending on the quality and completeness of the original, copyediting may include some queries, rewording, rewriting, restructuring or research (eg fact checking).

Question 2

Markup (n)/mark up (v)

Answer 2

Markup (n): the signs and text that indicate amendments to be made; can be done on hard copy or on a digital file.

Mark up (v): adding signs and text to copy/a proof in order to indicate amendments to be made.

Question 3

Copy

Answer 3

The original content of a document intended for publication. Copy is usually supplied as a digital file, where the editing can be tracked or highlighted.

Question 4

Proofreading

Answer 4

Reading and marking up the proofs of a text to fix any problems in layout and design; errors introduced during typesetting; or mistakes missed during copyediting. It is the final stage before the text is released for publication, so the proofreader should not be looking to improve the writing style, layout or any other aspect of the text, and needs to take into account the effects of any changes they mark and how they will fit into the existing page layout.

Question 5

Typeset

Answer 5

At its most basic, to typeset means to set textual matter in type. Today it means taking a text produced in a word-processing program (eg Microsoft Word) and flowing it into a typesetting program such as Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress (sometimes called file conversion) so that it follows the design template for the document.

Question 6

Proof

Answer 6

A sample document of how the final version of the text will look, often supplied by the typesetter, usually in the form of a PDF, which proofreaders or others who are working on the document can mark up on screen or hard copy.

Question 7

Proof-editing

Answer 7

The type of editorial work that is done on unedited material that has already been typeset (usually on a PDF) or that will not be separately typeset (eg it has been prepared in and will remain as a Microsoft Word document). Usually a more in-depth approach is needed than with standard proofreading.

Question 8

Typo (typographic error)

Answer 8

Historically, an error in setting metal type by hand, such as an upside-down character, but today it has come to mean any misprint.