When you need to make sure you didn’t miss any typos or layout issues in page proofs.
Proofreading is the indispensable final stage of the editorial process. Once your manuscript has been drafted, revised, and copyedited—and after it has been laid out into page proofs—our proofreading team makes sure no errors or inconsistencies remain before publication. At this point, the writing itself is complete; what you need is a sharp, detail-oriented professional to catch typos, formatting issues, layout glitches, and subtle mistakes that could undermine your credibility.
At Flatpage, our proofreading servicesgo far beyond spotting the occasional misspelled word. We check punctuation, spacing, and stylistic consistency across the entire document. We also review page numbering, cross-references, tables of contents, headers, captions, and illustration placement to confirm everything aligns with the publisher’s design. Our proofreaders are trained to spot common typesetting errors—line breaks, widows and orphans, misplaced hyphens or dashes—that can distract readers and compromise the professional polish of your work.
Our professional proofreading services also extend beyond books and academic publishing. Businesses, nonprofits, and marketing teams rely on us to review advertisements, brochures, websites, and digital campaigns. Even a small typo or formatting error can damage a brand’s credibility and cost opportunities. By ensuring accuracy and consistency in your marketing materials, we help you present a polished, trustworthy image across print and online platforms.
It’s important to note that proofreading is not the same as copyediting (read about the difference here). If your manuscript hasn’t yet been formatted into page proofs, it probably still requires a copyedit. But once you have proofs—whether for a dissertation, book manuscript, journal article, catalogue, or marketing design asset—proofreading is the service you need. At this stage, the focus shifts from rewriting or restructuring to presentation, readability, and accuracy in the designed version.
Flatpage’s professional proofreaders provide a single editorial pass using Adobe’s commenting tools, ensuring clear, efficient communication with your designer. The result is a polished, error-free document you can confidently submit or publish. With our team’s expertise, you’ll feel secure knowing your project reflects the highest professional standards.
Proofreaders can help you with:
Minor typos
Minor typos that may have been missed by a copyeditor, such as homonyms or common misspellings
Incorrect punctuation
Incorrect punctuation (like a hyphen where an en dash should appear)
Spacing
Stray or missing spaces between words and lines between paragraphs
Layout
Layout issues like blank pages, chapter ordering, and recto/verso placement
Typesetting issues
Typesetting issues like line and word breaks, widows and orphans
Illustrations and captions
Illustration placement and caption consistency
Consistency between parts
Checking the chapter titles against the table of contents, running headers, and page numbering
Proofreading Services
What are the typical projects for proofreading?
Proofreading is essential for academic, professional, and business documents that have already been designed into page proofs. This includes dissertations, journal articles, books, catalogs, reports, and marketing materials. If your work is ready for publication but still needs a final check for accuracy and consistency, proofreading ensures it is error-free and polished. Many clients also request proofreading for websites, where typos or formatting mistakes can quickly undermine credibility.
Authors often confuse proofreading with copyediting (read about the difference here). While you may feel that your book or article only needs a proofread, unless a designer has laid out the text into a publisher’s proof (usually a PDF), it likely is not yet ready for proofreading; instead, it may still need a copyedit to address issues like grammar and punctuation. At the proofreading stage, the proofreader should only find the occasional typo that the copyeditor did not catch; they should not be suggesting grammatical revisions throughout.
What does proofreading cost?
Per word
$0.03
Our proofreading services are billed at a straightforward per-word rate, based on the length and complexity of your project. Each page of page proofs is carefully reviewed for spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting, and design consistency. Because every project is unique, we provide a customized quote before work begins so you’ll know exactly what to expect. For urgent requests, we also offer fast-turnaround proofreading services, with rush options available depending on length and schedule.
What does proofreading include?
When you hire Flatpage for professional proofreading services, you receive:
A single, thorough pass on your page proofs
Checks for punctuation, spelling, grammar, spacing, and consistency
Verification of tables of contents, cross-references, headers, page numbering, captions, and illustration placement
Attention to design-related errors such as widows and orphans, line breaks, and misused hyphens or dashes
Clear, professional markup using Adobe commenting tools (including striking, inserting, and commenting) for smooth communication with your designer
One shorter response to any queries, within reason, which must be sent to the proofreader within 14 days of final delivery.
This approach ensures your work is not only error-free but also visually consistent and publication-ready.
When should I get proofreading?
Proofreading should take place at the very end of the editorial process, after your manuscript has been copyedited and typeset into page proofs. At this stage, the writing is final—what you need is a fresh set of expert eyes to make sure nothing slips through before printing or release. Scheduling proofreading too early (before layout) means design and typesetting errors may go undetected.
What’s the expected turnaround for a proofread?
Most projects are completed in 1–4 weeks, depending on length, complexity, and whether a rush option is requested. A short journal article or brochure may take just a few days, while a full book manuscript may require several weeks. We’ll provide a clear turnaround estimate before work begins so you can plan your publication schedule with confidence.
Sample
Sample Proofread
Proofreading is only completed on designed page proofs and typically is marked using Adobe’s commenting features, which are easily legible to a book designer.
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law needed assistance preparing an interdisciplinary publication derived from conference proceedings on the topic of “more-than-human” rights. Flatpage provided line and copy edits on the contributions, in addition to proofreading the final page proofs.
