What is professional proofreading?

Protect your brand with Proof Communications’ professional proofreading services. 

When you have a document that’s going to be scrutinised by the media, the public, investors, the board, employees and other stakeholders, you want to be confident that it’s error free.

No one wants red faces as a result of an overlooked typo or a comma in the wrong place.

Think of our proofreading skills as extra insurance for your business; it’s your investment in ensuring your documents are the best they can be – free of typos, inconsistencies and other errors.

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What we look for as professional proofreaders

As professional proofreaders with 20 plus years’ experience, we know what to look for. We know the typical mistakes and oversights in stakeholder documents. 

We check every word, punctuation mark and sentence for accuracy and legibility on long, complex B2B and stakeholder documents. We’ll mark up missing and doubled words; inconsistencies in headings and titles, terms and phrases; we’ll identify typos and grammatical errors; and we’ll query content that doesn’t seem to make sense. We’ll make sure that the table of contents matches the content, that the bullet points are consistent and that captions are correct.

You might be surprised at what we find when proofreading your documents!

Our clients are often surprised at how many mark-ups our proofreaders return with their documents. 

Typically, we make 10 mark-ups a page. If your document has 50 pages, that’s around 500 mark-ups! Most documents have few typos. The most common mark-ups relate to inconsistencies.

We can also do a light edit or a substantive edit of your document, if you feel it needs polishing. Proof Communications is adept at copywriting and copy editing as well as proofreading. 

As we are professional copywriters and professional copy editors too, we turn often challenging information into easy to understand sales and marketing material, no matter what its application – blogs, proposals, tenders, capability statements, slide decks, brochures, case studies, thought leadership and award entries.

We have the skills to move from copywriting a complex article on technology for an IT business one day, to the next writing a tender for a law firm, drafting plans and procedures for a start-up, to proofreading content for listed company’s annual report.

Who do our professional proofreaders work with?

Truly great proofreaders are thin on the ground. That’s why our skills are sought by government and large listed companies in Australia and overseas, especially for stakeholder documents and annual report proofreading.

If you’ve been looking for a reliable, trusted Australian-based proofreading company, we’re here to help. Our friendly, professional proofreaders have English as their first language and are trusted by leading companies and government in Australia and in the Middle East. We’ve been providing proofreading services to major companies, government and leading private businesses for more than 20 years.

Clients appreciate our professional proofreaders’ expertise because they know the value of ensuring that their documents are spot-on. 

After all their time and effort writing and designing a document, our clients want to make sure that everything is just right before it is released to the public. Hence, they seek proofreading of the highest standards.

Our professional proofreaders strive for perfection every time, producing a finalised document that is error-free, grammatically correct and easy to read.

WHAT DO WE PROOFREAD?

Proofreading is a specialist skill that comes from years of experience; in our case, since 2000. From 10 pages through to more than 800 pages, often with complex and sophisticated content, the business documents we proofread have one thing in common: they are significant to our clients’ businesses and so they want to be sure that they are the best they can be.

Proofreading  for annual reports, financial statements, sustainability reports, reconciliation action plans, industry research reports, product disclosure statements and IPO documents, website copy, tenders and proposals, modern slavery statements: we can help – we’ve done them all.

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WHY DO YOU NEED A PROFESSIONAL PROOFREADER?

Professional proofreading is vital for professional, well presented documents. When you’re in the public eye, you want to be confident that your public facing materials are accurate.

How many times have you re-read an important business document only to see a blatant error, then held your head in your hands in despair because it was too late to fix it?

Spelling and grammar mistakes are easy to make and difficult to spot. 

A single mistake can cost a company thousands of dollars and damage its reputation. It’s also well documented that customers don’t trust organisations that have errors in their written communications.

Avoid potential embarrassment

While our eye for detail may drive some people mad, we know what to look for. Our editors and proofreaders can spot a typo at 20 paces. We have seen every mistake there is, often finding what others before us have missed, saving money for our clients in reprint costs in the process. And potential embarrassment!

Our skilled, experienced proofreaders will give your documents an exacting, precise proofread that meets the highest standards. 

Check out our guide to the best bloopers, clangers, typos and embarrassing errors.

WHAT IS COPY EDITING?

Maintain high-quality writing with Proof Communications’ professional copy edit services. Whether your written tenders, proposals or award submissions are inspected by the general public, media, employees, board members or investors, they must remain error-free — meaning no typos or inconsistencies. Copy edits require checking the written material’s grammar, spelling, written style, and punctuation before proofreading. 

Copy edits also include fact-checking and verifying the content does not pose any legal liability. The copywriter will complete a rewrite if required to ensure the written piece is in line with the publications’ expectations and editorial standards. The writing style should remain consistent throughout, with the text flowing seamlessly from one page to the next. 

At Proof Communications, you can regard our meticulous copy edit skills as an overall investment to improve the overall quality of your work. 

The difference between professional proofreading and copy editing 

If you’re wondering what copy editing is and how it differs from proofreading, look no further. Proofreading is the stage where the written material is nearly a finished product. While the copy editor ensures the content has been accurately edited, laid out and designed up to standard, the proofreader doesn’t focus on major changes, but zeros in on minor ones. A proofreader searches for typographical and formatting errors before confirming the text is ready for publication.

While the terms proofreading and copy editing are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a clear difference. The distinction between these two tasks is fundamental since a second set of eyes in the proofreading phase is necessary to notice anything missed in the copy-editing stage.

How copy editing and proofreading combined produce high-quality content

Our content undergoes rigorous quality control processes before being returned to the client for extra insurance. We copy-edit and proofread documents for major companies, governments and leading private businesses, so they can rest assured their texts have been closely and carefully peer-reviewed. Our annual report proofreading averages at about 10 markups per page. In a 100-page report, that comes to about 1000 markups! With such a keen eye for detail, it’s no wonder our clients keep returning. No matter the length or complexity of the content, our expert team have over 20 years of experience, making them highly proficient in recognising even the smallest of errors. 

Proof Communications — the copy editing experts you can count on

Proof Communications will save you time and stress by writing, copy editing and proofreading your business-winning sales, marketing and stakeholder communications. We’ve got you covered whether you need our assistance with tenders, proposals, reports, annual reports, thought leadership, articles, capability statements or brochures. Since 2000, our tender and proposal writing services have provided clients with an amassed $500 million in new business and awards. 

Our clear, concise copywriting for companies and government bodies across Australia and the Middle East has allowed us to write millions of words over the past two decades. We remain the only ISO 9001 Quality Management System certified business in Australia. If that’s not enough, we write interesting thought leadership, blogs and case studies and proofread annual reports, sustainability reports, RAPs, PDSs and IPO documents for companies worldwide. With our myriad of services available, it’s never been easier to book your copy editing and proofreading essentials with a trustworthy company. 

To discuss our work and the desired outcome you have in mind for your business, don’t hesitate to contact us today by visiting our online query form or calling us on 02 8036 5532. We will assess your situation and provide you with the best possible service to address your business needs.

TRUSTED BY BIG BRANDS

Well-known names from the world of business in Australia and overseas, including listed companies, plus government departments and agencies, call on our professional proofreading expertise

  • Qantas
  • Lendlease
  • Brambles / CHEP
  • ALDI Stores
  • Blackmores
  • Mirvac
  • Stockland
  • Credit Corp
  • CLP
  • Virgin Australia
  • Capricorn Mutual
  • Commercial Radio Australia
  • Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs
  • Office of Parliamentary Counsel
  • NSW Department of Communities and Justice 
  • Aurecon
  • Fortius
  • Just Better Care
  • Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
  • PCYC
  • Toowoomba Grammar School
  • oOh!Media
  • Ampol
  • Investa
  • Canon
  • Dana Gas, Dubai
  • Amanat, Dubai
  • Arabtec, Dubai
  • ADNOC Drilling, Abu Dhabi

QUALITY GUARANTEE FOR PROFESSIONAL PROOFREADING SERVICES

As well as bringing you more than 20 years’ experience of proofreading stakeholder documents, we are an ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems certified business – the only one of our kind in Australia.

Contact us about our proofreading services

Get in touch with us today and find out how we can help your business achieve its goals through the written word.

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PROOFREADING FAQs

  • What is the difference between proofreading and copy editing?

    “Proofreading” and “copy editing” are often used interchangeably in an informal sense, but there are important distinctions between the two at a professional level.

    Both are important steps in the copywriting and editing process and key for making your work more legible. Copy editing is used to help transform a draft document into something closer to its final version. You may have all of the core ideas in place, but your work requires additional polish or reworking to get it into a more coherent and readable shape.

    There are two types of copy editing: light editing and substantive editing. In both, a copy editor works to enhance the existing content. Light editing is a blend of suggestions and tweaks to the copy. Substantive editing often requires structural changes such as moving sentences and paragraphs around and sometimes outright rewriting.

    By contrast, proofreading is done at the very end of the editing process, before the document is sent off for publication or distribution. It is primarily focused on accuracy, legibility and internal consistency — in practical terms, this would include punctuation, spelling errors, grammar and fact-checking as relevant. However, the content is generally considered complete, meaning any edits would be quite minor.

    People often choose to invest in proofreading services as a way to ensure that their documents are professional-looking and free of any potentially embarrassing typos or grammar issues. Even if it’s been reviewed internally multiple times and run through the relevant spell-checking programs, it’s still a worthwhile investment — having professional, dedicated proofreading companies checking over your document again can assist in catching last-minute mistakes.

  • What is the process of undertaking professional proofreading services by Proof Communications?

    It’s simple — just get in touch with us today. We can discuss the scope of work with you, and then start carrying out the professional proofreading services you require.

    We offer proofreading services for business, so we can assist with anything from annual reports to simple internal comms. Reach out to us to discover more about how we can assist with your proofreading needs.

  • Aside from professional editing and proofreading, what other services do you offer?

    In addition to our professional editing and proofreading services, we also offer a range of other services, including tender & proposal writing, government tender writing, copywriting, award writing and blog writing.