Thinking with Type_ A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students - PDF Room

Since the onslaught of desktop publishing back in

the dark days of the mid-1980s, graphic designers

have taken on roles formerly occupied by distinct

trades, such as typesetting and mechanical

pasteup. Designers are often expected to be

editors as well. Every project should have a true

editor, a person with the training and disposition

to judge the correctness, accuracy, and consistency

of written content. Neither a project’s author nor

its designer should be its editor, who is rightly a

neutral party between them. If a project team

includes no properly trained editor, try to find one.

If that fails, make sure that someone is responsible

for this crucial role, for the failure to edit carefully

is the source of costly and embarrassing errors.

Editing a text for publication has three basic

phases. Developmental editing addresses broad

issues of the content and the structure of a work;

indeed, it can include judging a work’s fitness for

publication in the first place. Copy editing (also

called line editing or manuscript editing) seeks to

root out redundancies, inconsistencies,

grammatical errors, and other flaws appearing

across the body of the work. The copy editor—who

must study every word and sentence—is not

expected to question the overall meaning or

structure of a work, nor to alter an author’s style,

but rather to refine and correct. Proofreading,

which checks the correctness, consistency, and

flow of designed, typset pages, is the final stage.

Depending on the nature of the project and its

team, each of these phases may go through

several rounds.

anatomy of an error After a document has

been written, edited, designed, and proofread, a

printer’s proof is created by the printer from the

digital files supplied by the designer. Many

clients (or authors) fail to recognize errors (or

make decisions) until the printer’s proofs are

issued. This luxury has its costs, and someone

will have to pay.

pe’s (printer’s errors) These are errors that can be

assigned to the printer, and they must be corrected at no

expense to the designer or client. A printer’s error is an

obvious and blatant divergence from the digital files and

other instructions provided by the designer and agreed to

by the printer. Printer’s errors are surprisingly rare in the

digital age.

aa’s (author’s alterations) These are not so rare.

Author’s alterations are changes to the approved text or

layout of the work. If the change originates with the

designer, the designer is responsible. If it originates with

the client or author, she or he is responsible. Keeping

records of each phase of a project’s develop ment is helpful

in assigning blame later. Designers can charge the client a

fee for the aa on top of the printer’s fee, as the designer

must correct the file, print out new hard copy, get the

client’s approval (again), communicate with the printer

(again), and so on. If agreed to in advance, designers can

charge aa fees for any change to an approved document,

even before the printer’s proof is issued.

ea’s (editor’s alterations) Errors made by the editor

are the responsibility of the editor’s employer, typically the

client or publisher of the work. Good editors help prevent

everyone’s errors from occurring in the first place.

For more detailed information about the editorial

process, see The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).

Manuscript editing, also called copyediting or line editing, requires attention to every word in

a manuscript, a thorough knowledge of the style to be followed, and the ability to make quick,

logical, and defensible decisions. —the chicago manual of style, 2003

editing

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