Proofreader’s Marks

Move your mouse over the proofreader’s mark to see it used in context.

		Insert period				Brackets
		Insert comma				Indent 1 em
		Insert colon				Indent 2 ems
		Insert semicolon				Paragraph
		Insert question mark				No paragraph
		Insert exclamation mark				Transpose—used in margin
		Insert hyphen				Transpose—used in text
		Insert apostrophe				Spell out
		Insert quotation marks				Italic—used in margin
		Insert 1-en dash				Italic—used in text
		Insert 1-em dash				Boldface—used in margin
		Insert space				Boldface—used in text
		Insert ( ) points of space				Small caps—used in margin
		Insert slash				Small caps—used in text
		Superior				Roman type
		Inferior				Caps—used in margin
		Parentheses				Caps—used in text
		Caps & small caps—used in margin				Align horizontally
		Caps & small caps—used in text				Center horizontally
		Lowercase—used in margin				Center vertically
		Used in text to show deletion or substitution				Equalize space—used in margin
		Delete				Equalize space—used in text
		Delete and close up				Let it stand—used in text
		Wrong font				Let it stand—used in margin
		Close up				Letter(s) not clear
		Move right				Carry over to the next line
		Move left				Carry back to preceding line
		Move up				Something omitted—see copy
		Move down				Question to author to delete
		Align vertically				Caret—general indicator used to mark position of error

Sample text taken from Mark My Words and The Copyeditor’s Guide to Substance & Style.