Editing
This service is offered in full consultation with the client: at the most basic level, it would entail reading the material to ensure that it is meaningful and complete; beyond this, we can check all facts, figures and reference material, such as website or mail addresses. Errors, imprecision or ambiguity can be changed by us - or referred back to the author or client, as required. Copyright clearances can be obtained, and advice given as to any potential breach of another’s copyright.

More comprehensively, we can help ensure that your material is fit for purpose – that it actually communicates effectively. Our core specialism revolves around creating open and distance learning materials (mainly for management training), but we apply the same concepts to virtually all forms of instruction or guidance material.

We can advise or assist with page design, ensuring that the correct amount of copy is visible on a page, and that it works with the number of colours in which you wish to print; we can also help to ensure that the final publication matches your requirements in terms of finished size, number of pages, paper weight, etc.

If appropriate, we can ensure that material is independently reviewed by experts in the field, to give you absolute peace of mind that the content supplied by your authors (whether in-house or out-house) is both up to date and fully authoritative.

Copy editing
We ensure that any material matches your own house styles – or we can create a house style sheet for your use, for all your internal and external publications. In addition, we check that grammar is correct, that vocabulary is clear and unambiguous, and that terms are applied consistently throughout your publications. We’ll also ensure that your material is written appropriately for its audience, wherever and whoever they may be.

Proof reading
The checking of the material before it is actually published may be limited to a simple comparison against the original – but may also include ensuring that all layout styles have been correctly and consistently applied. It would normally also check that any table of contents, indices or cross-referencing to other items are all correct, including figure names/numbers, and the matching of any questions and answers. If errors are noted they will, of course, be flagged up to you. Spell checkers are great but limited: ‘pubic’ and ‘manger’ may not have been the words you wanted! We’ll check PowerPoint presentations for you – and can even arrange to turn a presentation around overnight, when that last-minute requirement Lands on your desk… We also run proofreading seminars for you or your staff.

Indexing
Not applicable for most projects, but when an index is required, your specific needs must be addressed. We’ll help you consider your typical readers, what their prior level of knowledge may be, and what depth of indexing may be appropriate for you.

Keying, Converting or Scanning text and artwork
Using either OCR scanning, file conversion utilities or keying material directly from supplied copy, we can provide an electronic version of your material, formatted to your specifications. Artwork can be created, either from scratch or from roughs provided.

Layup
Text can be laid up against a marked-up copy, to agreed styles - or to our own layout design, which would be discussed and agreed with you in advance. We can work with a range of software and would advise on the most appropriate by considering your specific needs. For most publications, we work with Adobe InDesign or PageMaker, but can provide final material in QuarkXpress or in Word – although we would generally counsel against this latter approach. Creation of PowerPoint presentations can be handled, and we run brief awareness sessions to help you or your staff appreciate the principles of good presentation design.

Printer files
Depending on your specific needs, we can provide you – or your printer – with postscript, pdf or source files (that is, files in PageMaker/InDesign, Quark or Word format). We can hold archive or master copies, to ensure that you always have access to the most recent version of updated files.

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