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• • September 16, 2015 at 4:11 am #78128
    Bernard Voges

    Member

    Quick question if I may …

    Marking up hard copies is fast becoming a thing of the past, and the process of selecting proofreading symbols and pasting them into a PDF is a slow process. Which has me wondering if using a simple pen tablet is not perhaps a viable option.

    Any thoughts or experience in this regard?

  • September 16, 2015 at 6:04 am #78132
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    It’s a fascinating question.
    I’m not a copyeditor, but I think Acrobat’s annotations features cover most of the options already.
    I see we had an article here:

    10 Essential Tips for PDF Comments

    
    and

    Acrobat How-to: Traditional Proofreading in PDF

    
    and

    Acrobat Tips: Commenting on PDF Comments

  • September 16, 2015 at 11:46 pm #78149
    Bernard Voges

    Member

    Thanks David. I am aware of this workflow. My query really revolves around what is discussed in the second link you provided: working with custom stamps to insert proofreader marks. The process of finding the appropriate stamp and inserting it is far, far slower than it would be to simply write the symbol by means of pen on tablet (click, click, click, click vs swish if you like!).

  • September 17, 2015 at 10:23 am #78167
    Kelly Vaughn

    Participant

    Hi Bernard,

    It looks like that article references a really old version of Acrobat. The newer versions have a menu option called “Show Stamps Palette.” Here is an article that describes how to use it as well as has a pre-made stamp library of editorial marks that you can install. https://www.nikkimgroup.com.au/features/pdf-proofreading-marks/

    Give it a whirl. I think you may like it.

    –Kelly

  • September 25, 2015 at 10:29 am #78363
    Bernard Voges

    Member

    Thanks Kelly. I am aware of the editorial marks as stamps and how to use them, but my quest is to discover if anyone uses a pen tablet to physically draw those editorial marks (since using stamps is, by comparison, a slow process).

  • October 4, 2015 at 5:50 pm #78504
    Colin Flashman

    Member

    I use a wacom tablet, but do not use traditional proofreading marks. Instead, my clients use the commenting within Adobe Acrobat to mark up the PDF. From there, I use a third party program from DTP tools that allows InDesign to take in many of the strikethrough, addition and alterations features directly, and shows highlights and speech bubble alts. https://dtptools.com/product.asp?id=anid if you’re interested.

    Bernard, are you the proofreader? What happens to the proofs once they have been marked up in Acrobat – are they printed out and then handed over for editing, or does the operator open the PDF with the markups and make the alts with indesign open in another window? If the latter is the case, then the software from DTP tools will definitely be in your interest.

    Just to declare interests, I am NOT affiliated with DTP tools nor is this a paid endorsement. I DO use it in my workplace but pay a full yearly subscription.

  • October 12, 2015 at 5:10 am #78692
    Bernard Voges

    Member

    Hi Colin,

    I am not (I do design, typesetting and so forth), but my wife is an editor. Digital markup is slowly replacing working off hard copies, but the process is somewhat slower. The marked-up PDF goes back to the typesetter to implement corrections; so yes, the setter will work with both versions open on screen.

    Thank you kindly for your input: off to to explore that right now.

    Bernard

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