Proofreading a pdf document Thread poster: Maureen Millington-Brodie
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Help! I've agreed to proofread a book but now it has duly arrived I find it to be a pdf document and can't find anything like the "track changes" in Word. The client has gone off on holiday for 2 weeks and will be expecting to find the job finished upon return but I can't even start ...
| | | | Klaus Urban 
Local time: 04:47
Member (2005)
English to German
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| Copying into a Word document | Jul 28, 2009 |
Hi,
sometimes - not always - you can copy the pdf file into a Word document. Have you tried?
Best bregards
Klaus
| | | | | Adobe Acrobat Professional | Jul 28, 2009 |
Hi,
You need Adobe Pro in order to proofread. It has a tool similar to track changes in Word. Afterwards, your client will be able to accept of reject your corrections.
Anne
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:47
Russian to English
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In memoriam | Usa an OCR to convert it into Word | Jul 28, 2009 |
Abbyy Fine Reader will do this. It will lose some formatting, but if it's a straight text book, it should come out reasonably well.
If you don't have AFR, contact me through Proz.com, send it to me & I'll put it through mine.
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Damian Harrison (X)
Germany
Local time: 04:47
German to English
| What is the brief for this job? | Jul 28, 2009 |
Just a thought... Does your client actually want your corrections implemented or would they merely like to have them appended to the document as notes?
Otherwise, like Jack, I would be glad to help out with converting the file for you.
| | | | | Free viewer with commenting capabilities | Jul 28, 2009 |
Try this: http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/PDF-XChange_Tools/pdfx_viewer
It is the same as Adobe Reader, but with a few other functions added, among which the commenting tool in Adobe Professional. Your file will be fully compatible with Adobe software.
All the best!
[Edited at 2009-07-28 15:20 GMT]
| | | | Maya Gorgoshidze
Georgia
Local time: 07:47
Member (2004)
English to Georgian
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MODERATOR | Track changes in .pdf? | Jul 28, 2009 |
Anne Kjaer Iversen wrote:
Hi,
You need Adobe Pro in order to proofread. It has a tool similar to track changes in Word. Afterwards, your client will be able to accept of reject your corrections.
Anne
Hi Anne,
I usually use ‘Commenting' and ‘TouchUp Text Tool’. Could you kindly show the way how to use the ‘track changes’ function (similar to word) in a .pdf file?
Kind regards,
Maya
| | | | | Two solutions | Jul 28, 2009 |
Solution 1:
You print the document, annotate with the usual proofreading marks, then scan it or take photos of it with a digital camera, and send it back to the client for reproduction.
Solution 2:
You use Foxit to annotate the PDF directly, then send the document back to the client for reproduction.
If you don't have Foxit, you should ask the client to buy it for you. If they don't want to buy it for you, they'll have to send you the original documen... See more Solution 1:
You print the document, annotate with the usual proofreading marks, then scan it or take photos of it with a digital camera, and send it back to the client for reproduction.
Solution 2:
You use Foxit to annotate the PDF directly, then send the document back to the client for reproduction.
If you don't have Foxit, you should ask the client to buy it for you. If they don't want to buy it for you, they'll have to send you the original document in an editable format.
There's nothing wrong in the two approaches above. PDF is a presentation format, as if you receive a hard copy document. That's how they used to do it in the pre-computer era: annotate the draft with proofreading marks, then send it back to the author for him to incorporate the changes suggested and re-submit the, now final, version of the document.
Solutions such as FineReader or other tools that promise to make PDFs editable are simply not good enough, and thus unprofessional. But then again, that's only my opinion—you can either take it or leave it. ▲ Collapse
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Stuart Dowell
Poland
Local time: 04:47
Member (2007)
Polish to English
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| A tool is a just a tool | Jul 28, 2009 |
Solutions such as FineReader or other tools that promise to make PDFs editable are simply not good enough, and thus unprofessional. But then again, that's only my opinion—you can either take it or leave it.
Finereader and other tools are simply that - tools. The results from using those tools depends on the user's skill and experience with such tools.
Therefore, the tool is not unprofessional, only the way someone uses it.
| | | | | PDF is a print document | Jul 28, 2009 |
Stuart Dowell wrote:
Solutions such as FineReader or other tools that promise to make PDFs editable are simply not good enough, and thus unprofessional. But then again, that's only my opinion—you can either take it or leave it.
Finereader and other tools are simply that - tools. The results from using those tools depends on the user's skill and experience with such tools.
Therefore, the tool is not unprofessional, only the way someone uses it.
No, the tools are not unprofessional, but to use then "to save" (botch) a job is not professional. You can not use a PDF for this kind of jobs, it is not professional. The best way is, as Epameinondas said, to print it and then make some notations with a real pen. If the client need a real correction should send the real document, not a print version.
Regards
Fernando ( 
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| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:47
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Yep. It's free and you can annotate with it.
| | | | | Notes plus highlighting tool | Jul 28, 2009 |
Hi,
Unlike most of the others here, I would never even think of printing out the document or converting it into a Word file if it is delivered to me as a PDF file and the client didn't mention any printouts.
I would first try to contact the client or his substitute via phone or e-mail and ask HOW they would like to have the corrections delivered. If you cannot reach anyone or you don't have a mobile phone number where the client cannot be reached, you should send them ... See more Hi,
Unlike most of the others here, I would never even think of printing out the document or converting it into a Word file if it is delivered to me as a PDF file and the client didn't mention any printouts.
I would first try to contact the client or his substitute via phone or e-mail and ask HOW they would like to have the corrections delivered. If you cannot reach anyone or you don't have a mobile phone number where the client cannot be reached, you should send them an e-mail and inform them that you are going to put the corrections with notes and/or highlightings directly in the PDF file since they sent the book to you in this format.
There is certainly a reason why they sent you the book in this format. I think it is one of the most important things for a proofreader/editor to know BEFORE ACCEPTING A PROJECT which way and in which file format the changes have to be done - and you should always be aware that there are not only Word files in this world.
My guess is that they have already done the final book layout in Indesign or another layout program and then saved it as PDF, so they later can easily re-import the whole book into Indesign and implement the changes based on your suggestions in the PDF.
If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Professional, you should first check if the client has enabled the commenting function for you - if yes, a separate window will be opened with instructions on how the commenting tools work and you will see a menu with all commenting tools. As the creator of Adobe PDF files, you can allow other users who don't own a license of Acrobat Professional and only have Adobe Acrobat Reader to leave sticky notes/comments in the file and to mark up (highlight) text.
I would also recommend downloading a trial version of Adobe Acrobat Professional for this project. You can find it at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/tryout.html
If you can finish the proofreading within 30 days, then this should be the best solution. Otherwise I would say to download the software recommended by Victoria and Samuel (I haven't tried it, but certainly will!).
If you have any further queries on how to do corrections in Acrobat Professional, you can find lots of hints in the proofreading and other forums or just send me a message and I will be glad to help.
Best regards,
Michaela ▲ Collapse
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| 'Annotate' mode in Acrobat (not Reader!) | Jul 28, 2009 |
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| | | | | Thanks so much | Jul 28, 2009 |
I have been overwhelmed with how helpful you have been, particularly Michaela. There's certainly a choice of avenues to pursue here and I feel I am no longer totally adrift!
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