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The Ultimate Guide to Proofreading

This is the ultimate guide to proofreading. If you’ve got questions about what proofreading is and how it works, you’ll find the answers here.

• Post author By Duncan Croker
• Post date August 13, 2020
• 3 Comments on The Ultimate Guide to Proofreading

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Traditional proofreading versus regular proofreading, copy editing versus proofreading, why is proofreading important for businesses, how do you mark up proofread documents.

• What About ‘Stet’ and Other Obelisms?

Proofreading Exercises

How do i become a proofreader.

• AP Stylebook Proofreading Marks Reference Sheet

What Is Proofreading?

Proofreading is the final review of a document prior to publication.

Specifically, proofreading should identify and correct any errors previous rounds of editing might have missed, including typographical errors (typos), incorrect or missing punctuation, spelling errors and formatting issues.

Traditional proofreading involves comparing a typeset proof and the original document, and correcting irregularities.

When books, magazines and other types of hard documents are published, they are ‘typeset’ – a professional typesetter transfers the document into typesetting software, setting it out exactly as it will be printed.

The job of a traditional proofreader is to make sure that this typeset proof is error-free. Ever seen a book with a typo? That’s an example of a traditional proofreader missing their mark.

By contrast, ‘regular’ proofreading (the type of proofreading you’ll hear talked about normally), is simply the final stage of editing, and normally doesn’t involve anything other than a digital version of the draft document.

If you’re in the market for an editor, you’ve probably heard the term ‘copy editing’ used in a similar context to proofreading.

Copy editing and proofreading aren’t the same thing. They’re actually two quite distinct stages of the editing process.

Manuscript Editing Process

• Manuscript Assessment
• Structural Editing
• Copy Editing
• Typesetting
• Proofreading

Business Editing Process

A simple definition for copy editing is that it works to improve syntax, style and voice. Essentially, a copy editor refines the document at a line level, whereas a proofreader simply locates and corrects errors.

Copy editing is much more difficult than proofreading and, consequently, takes longer and generally costs more.

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It’s not uncommon to view the idea of proofreading as some unnecessary luxury solely employed by magazines and book publishers, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When a business outputs a communication – whether that communication is an in-person sales interaction, a web page, or a press release – people make meaning from it.

In an ideal world, that meaning would be the exact thing that we intended. But we don’t live in an ideal world, so we rely on communicators (hello, Marketing and PR) to deliver our business’s messages in ways that our target audiences can easily understand.

The more talented the communicator, the more of your intended meaning the audience absorbs.

An easy way to sabotage the efforts of your MarComms teams? Get them to distribute a communication riddled with errors. Those grammatical and syntactic inaccuracies mean that the intended meaning is further obscured.

Here’s an example.

You run a SaaS company. You want prospects to know that your product gives them a competitive advantage over other businesses. So you put a big hero banner on your website with the copy:

“Our software gives you an edge over your competitor’s.”

See that misplaced apostrophe at the end of the sentence? It indicates a possessive, which means you’re telling readers that your software gives them an edge over their competitor’s software – huh?

Even if people do manage to work out what you actually meant (“Our software gives you an edge over your competitors.”), you’ve created cognitive dissonance, which can seriously impact whether prospects choose to follow your CTA, or simply hit the ‘Back’ button to check out your competitors’ sites instead.

The example I just gave is fairly mild, but when you’ve got copy riddled with dozens of errors, the accumulation results in a very unpleasant user experience, which inevitably leads to reduced sales.

Another big problem with in-text errors is that they affect your brand image, because prospects will feel that you lack professionalism. This is particularly relevant for B2B and white-collar businesses, because clientele are more likely to notice and less likely to forgive.

Would you employ someone whose CV had a bunch of spelling errors? Probably not. Will prospects call you (after reading through a website with error-riddled copy) or your competitor (whose perfect writing makes them seem thorough and professional)? You know the answer.

This isn’t supposition, either. There have been numerous peer-reviewed studies that explicitly show poor grammar and spelling create negative perceptions of everything from intelligence to work ethic to message coherency. We summarised the findings in a different article, ‘Can Bad Grammar Destroy Your Marketing Efforts?’ .

Proofreading isn’t optional for modern businesses. It should be an essential function within your MarComms department, and every single communication you release should be proofread at least once.

Traditional proofreaders edit typeset proofs using proofreading marks (more on these in a minute). Regular proofreaders mark up electronic documents using word processing software like Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat.

Since MS Word is very much the industry standard, I’ll walk you through how to proofread a document using its various Review functions.

To get started, open up the draft document in MS Word (.doc or .docx). In the navigation menu along the top, select the ‘Review’ tab. Toggle the ‘Track Changes’ button, then, from the drop-down menu beside it, select ‘Simple Markup’.

You can now make changes to the document that are highlighted as changes , allowing your client or colleague to see exactly what you’ve edited. To display the highlighted changes, change ‘Simple Markup’ to ‘All Markup’.

You can also select portions of text and add a comment by hitting ‘New Comment’ under the Review tab. You can use this function to explain to document authors why you’ve made the changes you have – many people will stubbornly resist your attempts to save their work unless you walk them through your exact reasoning.

What Are Proofreading Marks?

Electronic software has made proofreading exceptionally easy, but traditional proofreaders (and anyone editing a hard document) still need to make their amendments by hand.

That’s where proofreading marks become useful. Although they might seem like gibberish to the untrained eye, they’re shorthand symbols denoting certain formatting and typographical changes.

Each weird symbol has its own meaning – although, confusingly, different style guides sometimes use slightly different marks. I personally like the Chicago Manual of Style’s clarity, although I typically use the AP Stylebook for all of my editing work.

You can view the Chicago proofreaders’ marks here . See the AP marks at the bottom of this article.

What About ‘Stet’ and Other Obelisms?

An obelism is an annotation made in the margins of a document. In double-spaced printed documents, you’ll normally have enough room to make changes between the lines, but single-spaced documents are normally easier to read if the annotations are in the margins.

If you have multiple edits to a single line, my recommendation would be to write the obelisms in the order that they appear (left to right) – you can do half in the left margin, and half in the right.

‘Stet’ is Latin for ‘let it stand’, and is the proofreader’s equivalent of a backspace – it means that they want you to disregard a specific change they’ve recommended, and let the text stay as it was.

Can I Proofread My Own Work?

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably feeling pretty confident that you understand proofreading.

Here’s the thing: there’s a world of difference between understanding the concepts and being able to apply them to your own work.

I can say, unequivocally, that no-one should ever rely on editing their own work if they have a choice. The whole point of retaining an editor is to get a second brain and a second pair of eyes to thoroughly scan for any tiny mistakes you might have missed.

Every person in the world (including professional editors like myself) makes mistakes, and it’s always more difficult to edit something you’ve written.

Even if you’ve let the work sit for a couple of days (rarely an option in the business world), you’re an excellent editor and you’re experienced enough that your own biases don’t impact how you edit, your brain’s filters mean you’re likely to miss the sneakier mistakes (missing words and homophones are arguably the most challenging).

When budgetary or time constraints prevent you from hiring a professional, my advice is to let the document sit for as long as possible, then edit it with a clear mind. Once you’ve done that, go through again with your eyes closed by using a screen reader. I personally use NVDA , both for editing and for reviewing the accessibility of web pages, but there are lots of good options out there.

If you want to learn how to become better at proofreading, I recommend checking out our article, 8 Best Proofreading Tips for Error-Free Writing .

Most marketers and PR practitioners proofread someone’s work at some point in their career, so it’s useful to be good at it. Visit our library of proofreading exercises to hone your skills.

If you’re a non-marketer who’s stumbled across this article and you’re wondering how to become a professional proofreader, I can help you – just not in this article. Check out our guide to becoming a proofreader in Australia instead.

AP Stylebook Editing Marks Reference Sheet

Got questions? Drop a comment below, or email me at: [email protected] .

If you need qualified editors to proofread something you’ve written, check out our proofreading services to discover how we can help.

• Tags Proofreading

By Duncan Croker

Duncan is a copywriter with a background in editing and storytelling. He loves collaborating with brands big and small, and thrives on the challenges of hard marketing.

3 comments on “The Ultimate Guide to Proofreading”

Find this very helpful. It’s great to visit your blog. It really gives me some insight into this subject.

Have to giggle – this was Too easy… who proofreads your copy? “If you have multiple edits to a single line, my recommendation would to write the obelisms in the order that they appear (left to right) – you can do half in the left margin, and half in the write.” *obelisms no thesaurus results Did you mean obelisks, or was ‘isms’ on purpose?

*…the write or the right?

By the way Duncan, I thoroughly enjoyed reading you. Thank you so much for the treasure of advice and suggestions. Also, the exercises are excellent practise! I’m looking forward to attacking others.

Regards, Cettina Catlin

Glad you enjoyed the post, Cettina!

I normally just give each post a quick proofread before upload – time and budget are very much considerations for small businesses like ours. ‘Obelisms’ is correct (see the definition in the post), but thanks for picking up on the ‘write’ typo! Examples like this are exactly why I always recommend getting a different editor to review work – it’s difficult to spot errors in your own work, especially when you’re writing and editing in very small timeframes.

I’ll amend that error now – greatly appreciate your sharp eye!

Comments are closed.

Free Proofreading Quiz – Test Your Skills

| Candace Osmond

| Editing , Quizzes

Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

So, you think you’re proficient enough to start a proofreading career. A free proofreading quiz or practice test will be beneficial for anyone who wants to measure their skills and look for areas of improvement. 

Whether you want to be a copy editor or proofreader, the field of proofreading is vast, and you should try these free proofreading quizzes to test your level. But first, here is ours:

Take The Proofreading Test!

The importance of practicing proofreading .

Practicing proofreading will allow you to develop your skills in the activity and improve the quality of your work . Whether you’re submitting your paper to your professor or presenting a business proposal, you want to make sure there are no lingering mistakes.

A professional proofreader of someone from a proofreading business will check a piece of writing for common errors like spelling mistakes, proper components of grammar, and that everything follows English grammar rules. 

Beginner proofreaders might start out as fact-checker or as beta proofers. This is a great way to dip your toe in the waters of being an experienced proofreader.

Being an excellent proofreader is also a fantastic way to start a side hustle. Many online clients look for a proficient proofreader or copy editor to check their works for writing mistakes. 

Take your grammar skills to the next level

Take Our Copyediting Course

What Should I Look for in a Proofreading Test? 

Here are some factors to consider when choosing a proofreading test.

Assessment Method

Many types of proofreading tests will challenge your skills. You’ll find multiple-choice quizzes that ask you about spelling, grammar, and punctuation methods. You’ll also find actual selections you can proofread with answer keys.

But no assessment method is better than the other. In fact, you can’t spot mistakes in an essay provided if you don’t know the basic grammar rules. That means you should start with beginner-level quizzes that address recall, then proceed with application quizzes.

I recommend starting with multiple-choice quizzes, such as GrammarPhile Blog and Freelance Writing’s quizzes. These tests will help you remember the standard of English.

Once you can perfect these easy tests, try practice tests like Michael Sellar’s proofreading exercises.

Type of English and Style Guide

If you’re a proofreader for British clients, it won’t make sense to take an American English proofreading test. Make sure to pick a test that adheres to your style guide and English variant. 

Reputable Website

Ensure you’re testing your knowledge from reputable websites like ProofreadNow and ProofreadAnywhere. Look for a blogger or any English expert who has created a name in the industry.

These websites also offer proofreading courses and workshops you can enroll in before taking the quizzes. Check out their online programs so you can continue developing your skills in proofreading. 

What is a Proofreading Technique? 

A proofreading technique is a specific method a proofreader uses for different types of written documents. For example, business documents usually focus on the paper’s tone, voice, and format. Meanwhile, academic papers concentrate on citation styles.

Whatever your document is, one common technique among all papers is to read the paper aloud. Do it slowly so your brain can fill in the gaps and correct all errors. You also want to ensure each punctuation mark and word is correct. 

Sentence structure is also an essential part of proofreading. Check the subject and verb if they are producing a complete thought. Remove any sentence fragment or run-on sentence in the paragraphs. 

Where Can I Practice Proofreading? 

There are a ton of online grammar and proofreading courses that will give you knowledge about grammar and spelling. But before leaping in with an actual course, test the basics of your English language skills with a few online language quizzes. 

Writing tests, quizzes, and self-assessments are a great way to see your own skills with writing issues and if you’re good at spotting mistakes in writing. Take grammar tests, learn about writing styles, play with proofreading worksheets, and even proofreading games.

These platforms are where you can practice and get on your way to starting a proofreading side hustle.

GrammarPhile Blog

Now known as ProofreadNow, GrammarPhile Blog has a quiz on style guides . A style guide keeps your brand identity consistent, reliable, and ownable even if many writers produce these documents.

A consistent style guide is essential not only among businesses. Even universities and colleges observe specific styles and citation guides. 

Answer GrammarPhobe’s short multiple-choice quiz to know if you can match a text entry to its style guide. It will ask questions like which style guide encourages serial commas and avoiding gender terms when unnecessary. 

Portland Proof

Are you a competitive proofreader? Portland Proof lists its highest scores weekly. Take the ten-item quiz, which will appear one at a time on your screen. Just find the mistake and click on it.

Portland Proof states that the mistakes in their sentences are either misspelled words or incorrectly used punctuation. Some have missing words, while others exhibit capitalization errors. 

You can skip difficult questions but won’t get a second chance at the sentence.

Freelance Writing

This multiple-choice examination on proofreading by Proofread Anywhere tests your American English skills. The company offers in-depth general proofreading and transcript proofreading courses which you can enroll in anytime.

Caitlyn Pile is a proofreader-turned-blogger who developed the short test. Aside from quizzes and courses, the Proofread Anywhere founder also has ebooks and workshops about starting and keeping a freelancing career.

Michael Sellars and Jeff Fullerton

Michael Sellars offers The No-Nonsense Proofreading Course about the basics of proofreading and building a career. While the online program costs a few bucks, they also provide free proofreading exercises to practice your skills.

They developed twenty proofreading exercises to simulate actual proofreading work you might encounter in your career. You will be dealing with several errors on each selection, so keep your vision sharp.

Earn Smart Online Class

Earn Smart Online Class has a convenient quiz that will test your general knowledge of English. Are you competent enough to know the writing conventions and grammar rules of the language?

This proofreading test only includes 20 questions made on a Google Form. Just mark the sentence written correctly. 

Earn Smart Online Class also recommends Proofreading workshops and courses, such as Caitlyn Pile’s Transcript Proofreading: Theory and Practice and Proofread Anywhere Workshop.

Sporcle offers a practice test where you need to find the error in every sentence. It’s an extended test asking you to click on the correct answer in the word bank. This company also offers trivia entertainment on live shows and online. 

Grammar Monster

Grammar Monster provides several pieces of information that will help you be a better English speaker or writer. Learn how to observe proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You can also test your knowledge through the numerous tests available.

The tests on Grammar Monster are divided into parts of speech. You’ll find practice examinations on punctuation, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and more. 

Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)

CIEP aims to help editorial freelancers and in-house staff enhance their proofreading and editing skills. It offers several courses that cater to different experiences, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned proofreader. 

Aside from the professional development curriculum, CIEP offers fourteen helpful quizzes that will challenge your abilities. The first quiz focuses on punctuation, and the next concentrates on language use.

You’ll also find spelling, hyphens, dashes, and phrases tests. Then, there are actual paragraphs where you will look for common writing mistakes. 

Business Writing Blog

Business Writing Blog reposts New York Times’ proofreading quiz entitled “Red Pencils Ready?” by Philip B. Corbett. Corbett wrote a passage that challenges users to spot errors.

According to the quiz developer, he included ten errors in the paragraph that Microsoft Editor and Google Docs spell checker won’t spot. Here’s a spoiler for you: Most errors include contextual misspellings and hyphenation issues.

Test Your Knowledge Now

Now that businesses are investing in online content writing, proofreaders are becoming more in demand. If you want to join the industry, check your accuracy first.

I hope this list of proofreading quizzes and practice tests helps you become a better proofreader. Challenge yourself and take the assessment today!

Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.

2024 © Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. All rights reserved.

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7.5: Proofreading

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• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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Proofreading: The Final Step

When proofreading, you examine the surface features of your text, such as spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation. You also make sure you use the proper format when creating your finished assignment, including in-text citations and the Works Cited (bibliography) page.

Proofreading often takes time. Budgeting time into the writing process allows you to complete additional edits after revising. Editing and proofreading your writing helps you create a finished work that represents your best efforts. Here are a few more tips to remember about your readers:

• Readers do not notice correct spelling, but they do notice misspellings.
• Readers look past your sentences to get to your ideas—unless the sentences are awkward, poorly constructed, and frustrating to read.
• Readers notice when every sentence has the same rhythm as every other sentence, with no variety.
• Readers do not cheer when you use there , their , and they’re correctly, but they notice when you do not.
• Readers will notice the care with which you handled your assignment and your attention to detail in the delivery of an error-free document..

How to Proofread Tutorial: 10 Proofreading Techniques They Didn't Teach You in School. Authored by: David Taylor. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.

The Importance of Spelling

Word-processing programs usually have a spell-checker, but you should still carefully check for misspellings in your words. This is because automatic spell-checkers may not always understand the context of a word, so if a word you used is actually another valid word, a spell-check program won't mark the word as a misspelling.

Misspelling a word might seem like a minor mistake, but it can reflect very poorly on a writer. It suggests one of two things: either the writer does not care enough about his work to proofread it, or he does not know his topic well enough to properly spell words related to it. Either way, spelling errors will make a reader less likely to trust a writer’s authority.

The best way to ensure that a paper has no spelling errors is to look for them during the proofreading stage of the writing process. Being familiar with the most common errors will help you find (and fix) them during the writing and proofreading stage.

Sometimes a writer just doesn’t know how to spell the word she wants to use. This may be because the word is technical jargon or comes from a language other than her own. Other times, it may be a proper name that she has not encountered before. Anytime you want to use a word but are unsure of how to spell it, do not guess. Instead, check a dictionary or other reference work to find its proper spelling.

Common Spelling Errors

Phonetic Errors

Phonetics is a field that studies the sounds of a language. However, English phonetics can be tricky: In English, the pronunciation of a word does not always relate to the way it is spelled. This can make spelling a challenge. Here are some common phonetic irregularities:

• A word can sound like it could be spelled multiple ways. For example: “concede” and “conceed” are the same phonetically, but only “concede” is the proper spelling.
• A word has silent letters that the writer may forget to include. T the “a” in “realize" is barely audible, but you need it to spell the word correctly.
• A word has double letters that the writer may forget to include. “Accommodate,” for example, is frequently misspelled as “acommodate” or “accomodate.”
• The writer may use double letters when they are not needed. The word “amend” has only one “m,” but it is commonly misspelled with two.

Sometimes, words just aren’t spelled the way they sound. “Right,” for example, does not resemble its phonetic spelling whatsoever. Try to become familiar with words that have unusual or non-phonetic spellings so you can be on the lookout for them in your writing. But again, the best way to avoid these misspellings is to consult a dictionary whenever you’re unsure of the correct spelling. Another thing to do is to keep a list for yourself of the words you know you have trouble with. Look for those words in particular when you proofread.

“Bread” and “bred” sound the same but are spelled differently, and they mean completely different things. Two words with different meanings but the same pronunciation are called homophones. If you don’t know which homophone is the right one to use, look both up in the dictionary to see which meaning (and spelling) you want. Common homophones include:

• right, rite, wright, and write
• read (most tenses of the verb) and reed
• read (past, past participle) and red
• rose (flower) and rose (past tense of rise)
• carat, caret, and carrot
• to, two, and too
• there, their, and they’re
• its and it’s

Typographical Errors

Some spelling errors are caused by the writer accidentally typing the wrong thing. Common typos include:

• Omitting letters from a word (typing “brthday” instead of “birthday,” for example)
• Adding extra letters (typing “birthdayy”)
• Transposing two letters in a word (typing “brithday”)
• Spacing words improperly (such as “myb irthday” instead of “my birthday”)

Being aware of these common mistakes when writing will help you avoid spelling errors.The Grammar section of this book offers a useful review of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Use it to help eliminate major errors in your writing and refine your understanding of the conventions of language. Do not hesitate to ask for help, too, from peer tutors in your academic department or in the college’s writing lab. In the meantime, use this checklist to help you edit your writing.

Proofreading Your Writing

• Are some sentences actually sentence fragments?
• Are some sentences run-on sentences? How can I correct them?
• Do some sentences need conjunctions between independent clauses?
• Does every verb agree with its subject?
• Is every verb in the correct tense?
• Are tense forms, especially for irregular verbs, written correctly?
• Have I used subject, object, and possessive personal pronouns correctly?
• Have I used who and whom correctly?
• Is the antecedent of every pronoun clear?
• Do all personal pronouns agree with their antecedents?
• Have I used the correct comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs?
• Is it clear which word a participial phrase modifies, or is it a dangling modifier?

Sentence Structure

• Are all my sentences simple sentences, or do I vary my sentence structure?
• Have I chosen the best coordinating or subordinating conjunctions to join clauses?
• Have I created long, overpacked sentences that should be shortened for clarity?
• Do I see any mistakes in parallel structure?

Punctuation

• Does every sentence end with the correct end punctuation?
• Can I justify the use of every exclamation point?
• Have I used apostrophes correctly to write all singular and plural possessive forms?
• Have I used quotation marks correctly?
• Have I used commas correctly when joining sentence parts together?
• Have I used commas where periods should be?

Mechanics and Usage

• Can I find any spelling errors? How can I correct them?
• Have I used capital letters where they are needed and not capitalized where it's not needed?
• Have I written abbreviations, where allowed, correctly?
• Can I find any errors in the use of commonly confused words, such as to / too / two ?
• Be careful about relying too much on spelling checkers and grammar checkers. A spelling checker cannot recognize that you meant to write principle but wrote principal instead. A grammar checker often queries constructions that are perfectly correct. The program does not understand your meaning; it makes its check against a general set of formulas that might not apply in each instance. If you use a grammar checker, accept the suggestions that make sense, but consider why the suggestions came up.

If you need additional proofreading help, ask a reliable friend, a classmate, or a peer tutor to make a final pass on your paper to look for anything you missed.

How Can Technology Help?

You don’t necessarily need to recruit a friend to read to you. There are a number of text-to-speech software applications and web-based services that will help you get your computer, smartphone, tablet, or e-book reader to read your paper out loud to you. One advantage of this approach is that an automated reader will definitely not cover up any errors for you! You can also control where it starts and stops, speed it up or slow it down, and have it re-read the same paragraph as many times as you want.

If you decide to experiment with this approach, there are many free text readers available. MS Word has a text-to-speech feature built in. Recent Android and iOS phones also have text-to-speech capabilities, which you can find under accessibility settings. You may also find text-to-speech software among your Windows or Mac computer’s accessibility features.

If you decide you want to acquire specialized software, “text to speech,” “TTS,” and “text reader” are search terms that can help you find what is available.

Here are some differences to keep in mind as you choose the best reader for you:

• Voice quality and selection: how many voices can you choose from, and how natural do they sound?
• Controls: can you determine the speed and pitch of the speaker, where the reading starts and stops, etc.? Is there a pause button?
• Applicability: can you convert your text file into an audio file, download it, and listen to it on your phone or music player?
• Text handling: does the software highlight each word as it is read (which may be especially helpful for non-native English speakers and students with with learning differences)? Do you need to copy text and paste it into a new window, or can the program work directly within an application (like Word or Powerpoint), or does it just read the text on your screen?
• Speed: how many pages of text or words can be converted to voice at once? How quickly does the conversion happen?
• Type of program: do you need an active internet connection to use the program, or can you run it without internet access once it has been installed?

While synthetic voices continue to improve, they will likely not sound completely natural to you. But you may find that if you choose a favorite voice, you can get used to its intonation and pacing over time.

Proofreading Advice

The following video features two student tutors from the Writing and Reading Center at Fresno City College. In addition to great guidance about proofreading strategies, they also offer insights about what to expect when working with Writing Center tutors.

Proofreading Tip #5: Read Your Papers Aloud BACKWARDS. Authored by: FCC Tutors. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.

Contributors and Attributions

• Adapted from Writing for Success . Provided by: The Saylor Foundation. License: CC-NC-SA 3.0 .
• Adapted from The Importance of Spelling in Guide to Writing. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC-BY-SA.

This page was most recently updated on June 5, 2020.

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Posted on Jan 08, 2021

The 8 Best Proofreading Courses for Editors and Writers

Knowing how to proofread is a critical skill in today’s media-saturated world. Even if you have no intention to become a proofreader , writing is a major part of our everyday lives. Of course, if you do want to be a proofreader or editor (or even a writer), learning how to perform a professional final check on a piece of text to ensure there are no errors or misspellings could make all the difference to your proofreading career. With that in mind, we’ve curated a list of the best proofreading courses available online. 

From in-depth programs to short overview courses available at various price points, there is bound to be something in this selection that is suited to your needs. 

For beginners and writers 

Maybe you’re a student who’s looking to secure those A*s or a freelance writer who just needs to make sure all your submissions are flawless. Maybe you’re considering proofreading as a career but do not have the time or money to invest in an extensive program. In other words, you’re probably looking for a shorter course that can give you an overview of the proofreading craft and get you running quickly.

If that’s the case, you may wish to consider the two courses below. They don’t go into specific details like collaborating on a digital document or managing the nitty-gritty of formatting a manuscript. Still, they do cover basic grammar mistakes and most major types of editing , and not just proofreading: enough to give you both a good introduction and the confidence to proofread your own texts.

Writing Editing Masterclass (Skillshare)  

🎯 Perfect for: someone looking for a course with low time commitment

💰 Cost: Lesson transcripts available for free. Sign up here . 

This proofreading course goes a little bit beyond just proofreading: the teacher (a professional writer and editor) provides an overview of writing structure, copyediting, and proofreading — all within three hours of lectures. If you’re signing up for a free 14-day trial of a premium Skillshare account, at the end of the program you get an optional test. For those hoping to learn the basics of proofreading but do not have a lot of time, this might be a suitable option for beginners as well as someone with some previous experience. 

How to Find & Correct Writing Errors (Udemy) 

🎯 Perfect for: self-editing writers

💰 Cost: $129.99. Sign up here .

Duncan Koerber — the instructor of this course — has experience working at newspapers and magazines. He’s also taught at university level and created content for several popular online editing courses, including this one on Udemy. It includes 19 lectures that you can watch in your own time, covering editing techniques and technical guidance regarding styles, spelling, and document formatting. So while it doesn’t provide a certificate, this Udemy course will equip you with the skills needed to proofread and spot mistakes in your own work without a hitch. 

Top tip: Udemy run occasional sales, so be sure to check their courses regularly!

For professional proofreaders and editors

Being a professional freelancer (as most proofreaders are) involves more than just the mastery of proofreading skills — it also means understanding the style used by each client, knowing how to market yourself, and managing your finances. Luckily, some courses cover these topics in addition to the hard skills of the trade, taught by experienced proofreaders themselves. Most of the ones we list below also offer completion certificates so you can verify your own expertise once you’ve ‘graduated’ and set yourself up for a successful proofreading career. 

To get more freelance tips and get insights from Reedsy professionals, follow us on LinkedIn .

Becoming a Proofreader (Knowadays) 

🎯 Perfect for: those who want a comprehensive understanding of proofreading

💰 Cost: $399 (you can also get a 7-day free trial). Sign up here . 

Proofreading and Copyediting 101 (Universal Class)

🎯 Perfect for: aspiring proofreaders on a budget 

💰 Cost: $80. Sign up here .  

If you’re looking for something a bit less costly, check out Universal Class. Their assessment-based proofreading classes comes with 14 lessons, each with a test that quizzes your knowledge of the module that you have to pass to move on. Proofreading and copyediting are both covered, giving you a more diverse range of skills, AND you get a certificate upon completion (always a plus when it comes to job hunting). All this for the price of $80, which is quite a good bargain for eager and serious learners.   

Essential Proofreading: Editorial Skills One (The Publishing Training Center) 

🎯 Perfect for: those based in the UK and are willing to invest in detailed training 

💰 Cost: Roughly $550 (£405). Sign up here .

If you’re ready to loosen your purse strings a little, you might want to check out The Publishing Training Center’s intensive proofreading course. Intended as a training program for professionals, it is assumed that students already have a good grasp of the english language, grammar and spelling included. Skipping past these basics, the syllabus instead focuses on the collaborative and technical elements of a proofreading job, explaining standard practices in the publishing business, and offering guidance in the form of a mentor. While the center is based in the UK, its knowledge through this program can be applied almost anywhere where English is the working language. 

Proofreading Camp (Scribendi and Inklyo) 

🎯 Perfect for: getting the expert, corporate take on what the industry looks for in proofreaders

💰 Cost: $199. Sign up here . 

Brought to you by the editors and managers at Scribendi, a service that employs many part-time editors , this boot camp program offers insight into what employers expect from a proofreader. From linguistic knowledge to digital competency, there is a lesson for every aspect of being a proofreader in this course. It’s in-depth, no doubt, and it requires a bit of time investment, but you’ll get a solid start to your career upon completing the program. 

Kickstart Your Freelance Editor & Proofreader Career on Upwork (Skillshare)

🎯 Perfect for: those who want to know about freelance work 

Top tip: Don't stop at creating a strong profile, demonstrate your professionalism with a well-designed freelance proposal . 

Proofreading Power Basics (Udemy) 

🎯 Perfect for: learning about the technicalities of proofreading 

💰 Cost: $99.99. Sign up here . 

Understanding proofreading marks, choosing your approach to a document, noticing the little things like capitalization and numeration — these are some of the things you can expect from Proofreading Power Basics. As with many of these professional courses, make sure you come with a world-class understanding of grammar because there’s no talk of punctuation and homonyms here. As the name suggests, this is all about proofreading power and proficiency, and it’ll be suitable for learners looking to hone their professional skills and put it into practice right away. 

With these eight proofreading courses, you’ll have a good selection of choices regardless of your level of commitment, career goals, and budget. We hope you find the course that will bring you one step closer to being a successful freelancer .

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• Knowledge Hub

How To Proofread a Website in 7 Steps

• 6-minute read
• 17th February 2023

Your website copy speaks directly to your audience and represents your brand, so it has to be flawless. It’s often the first encounter people have with your business, and you only have a few seconds to make a lasting good impression. Glaring punctuation and spelling errors or inconsistencies are distracting and can cause your potential customers to quickly leave your site.  

Even well-written and targeted website content won’t have the desired effect of converting leads into sales if it’s riddled with typos. And it’s time-consuming to constantly have to fix individual errors after publication – it’s much more efficient to thoroughly proofread all new content before you get to this point. But how do you do this? Here are the seven steps to proofreading your website copy that you’ll learn in this guide:  

• Create a master document
• Ensure the copy is free of formatting
• Proofread for errors (twice!)
• Check for appropriate brand voice
• Ensure consistency throughout the entire text
• Get a different perspective
• Return the text to your website

If you’re not at the proofreading stage yet and still need help crafting your website copy, check out this article.  

1. Create a Master Document

Depending on the size of your business, you may be working with a website that has multiple sections and pages . Rather than trying to proofread each part separately, compile a master document containing all areas of your site for you or your proofreader to use. Don’t forget to include the words that search engines use as a preview of your website (i.e., meta descriptions). Even though these aren’t visible on your site, they’re an important part of search engine optimization and should be a well-written representation of your brand.

In addition, be sure to include any image captions in the master copy, leaving out the images themselves. It will be easier to work without the clutter of photos, charts, and tables – but don’t forget to proofread the text that accompanies infographics.

2. Ensure the Copy Is Free of Formatting

If you’ve copied and pasted the content directly from the website to a word processing program (such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs), it will probably be formatted with a variety of font and heading styles, colors, and paragraph spacing. To make it easier to catch errors and focus on the text, clear all the formatting and apply a basic universal font. You may be able to do this in some programs just before you paste by selecting the option to “paste only unformatted text” , but if not, clear it as soon as you’ve pasted it in. 

You should also highlight all the text and apply universal spacing to the entire document to avoid getting distracted by uneven sections. The formatting can always be reapplied once the website has been updated with the proofread copy.

3. Proofread for Errors (Twice!)

Now that you finally have a master document that’s easy to read, it’s time to start proofreading. Before you begin, it’s a good idea to turn on revision tracking so that all the errors that need to be corrected in the actual website copy are clearly visible.

It’s also a good idea to give yourself a refresher on your business’s style guide before you begin. And if you don’t have one, now might be a good time to think about creating one. A style guide ensures that any communication that comes from your business, whether that’s emails, product descriptions, or marketing copy, follows the same guidelines.

When proofreading, it helps to know exactly what you’re looking for. Keep a checklist to hand for the following issues:

• grammatical errors, such as incorrect subject–verb agreement, tense misuse, or missing prepositions
• spelling mistakes or typos
• punctuation issues, such as inconsistent serial commas or missing punctuation
• word repetition and redundancy

4. Check for Appropriate Brand Voice

While the above points are the basic things to look out for when proofreading, they aren’t the only issues you’ll come across. Make sure your website copy (throughout all sections and pages) reflects your brand voice and tone. For example, you may prefer to use the active voice when describing how customers use your business’s product – which means you should eliminate any instances of the passive voice when proofreading.

You should also read the text from the perspective of your target audience . Is the language friendly and approachable, or is it too much of a “hard sell” approach? Depending on the type of product or service you’re selling, you may need to consider adjusting the complexity of the language used and cutting down on technical jargon. However, try to avoid making substantial structural changes or rewrites – this would fall into the category of editing.

5. Ensure Consistency Throughout the Entire Text

Another thing to keep in mind as you’re reading is to check for consistency . If a word is capitalized or hyphenated in one part of the website, make sure that it is throughout as well. And you should also ensure that there are no dialect inconsistencies or errors as that could be confusing to potential customers, no matter where they’re from. For instance, if your “About Us” page is written in US English but product descriptions are written in UK English, your audience might get the impression that your business practices are disorganized and therefore doubt your brand’s reliability.

6. Get a Different Perspective

After you’ve completed the full proofread, it’s a good idea to read it through one final time, possibly out loud to get a fresh perspective. As it can be difficult to proofread content that you’ve written yourself, it’s often helpful to have this step carried out by someone completely unfamiliar with the text, such as a   professional freelance proofreader . Another tip is to read the content on a different screen, such as a   mobile device , to trick your brain into thinking you’re reading the text for the first time.

7. Return the Text to Your Website

Once you’re confident that you’ve caught every error and typo, it’s time to begin transferring the content back to your website. How long this process takes often depends on how many errors you’ve found. Copy and paste sections of the text from your master document directly into the interface you use to edit your website. If a lot of corrections need to be made, start with small sections and compare them to the master text. Be sure to re-format the text back to the original, for example applying the appropriate heading and font styles and checking the layout of any bullet lists or image captions.

It’s vital to thoroughly proofread all website copy before it’s published. Proofreading ensures you’re putting your best foot forward to potential customers and saves you from having to spend time correcting errors one by one after publication.  

If you’d like to learn more about how to increase sales and conversions using your business’s content, check out our essential guide to creating effective and memorable web copy .

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