UK-based Intelligent Editing Ltd has developed PerfectIt, a Microsoft Word add-in that helps professionals writers edit and refine their documents.
You can access PerfectIt in the same way you run PDF conversion tools or Snagit’s screen capture in Microsoft Word.
PerfectIt is targeted at technical writers, editors, and other business users who:
- Write collaborative documents
- Edit complex technical, legal or medical documents
How it works
It works by highlighted each location in the document that could be an error and allows you to inspect them before making changes.
There are 6 main areas it focuses on:
1. Abbreviations
PerfectIt checks that abbreviations are:
- Presented consistently
- Defined in their first usage
- Defined only once
- Used after they are defined
It then generates a table of abbreviations automatically from your document.
2. Capitalization
It searches text for irregular capitalization and flags:
- Inconsistently capitalized words and phrases
- Capitalization of bullets and lists
- Heading capitalization
- Capitals used in tables
Tip: you can also set it to check your house style.
3. Hyphens and dashes
Ok, we all know that while style guides differ on the correct use of hyphens, hyphenation within a document must be consistent.
PerfectIt checks hyphenation by searching for:
- Words used with and without a hyphen
- Phrases used with and without hyphenation
- Consistent hyphenation of compounds, numbers, fractions and directions
As there are instances when it is correct for words to appear both with and without hyphenation, PerfectIt lets you review each location and decide on a case-by-case basis.
4. Punctuation
PerfectIt runs checks for:
- Punctuation in lists
- Punctuation in bullets
- Punctuation in tables
5. Spelling and typing mistakes
This add-in for Microsoft Word looks for typos, such as:
- Common typing mistakes
- Individual words spelled in more than one way
- Numbers in text
6. Table / figure numbering
PerfectIt automatically detects table and figure numbering in order to look for:
- Tables and figures in the wrong order
- Missing table / figure headings
- Consistent labelling of tables and figures
It highlights possible errors and lets you decide whether these should be corrected or ignored.
What happened when we tested PerfectIt
As mentioned above, PerfectIt runs tests to check the accuracy of your document. While Microsoft Word has similar features, PerfectIt goes one better and checks the integrity of your material at a deeper level.
You get the feeling that this was designed by people who read and write for a living and know what professionals writers want when testing their documents.
To run the application, install it as an Add-Ins in Word. The Add-Ins option in Word 2007 is towards the right of the main menu.
Save the document you’re working on before you start. This makes things simpler to undo if you want to roll-back you changes.
If you want to experiment, give it a test name, eg userguide-perfectit1.0, and then start with the testing.
In the Settings pane, click the options to save the document before starting and for Balloon Help tips as you correct. These are best to get you going but once you have the hang of how it works, you won’t need these and you can plough ahead.
1. Click Start.
PerfectIt starts to check the document and work its way through the text. As it finds an error, it will make a recommendation and suggest the types of changes you can make.
2. PerfectIt displays a progress bar which shows you what it’s found in your documents.
Each time it finds an error, you can click Fix (to fix it, or course) or Next to move to the next error is has encountered.
What I liked was that you can click Fix to fix errors as it works its way through the document or, if you’re satisfied with the test, click Fix All and it will update the entire document.
Proofreading software for technical writers
3. At first, I used Fix but once I understood how it worked, it started to use Fix All.
4. Be careful, though! No application is fool-proof.
Check each mistake it finds, especially when checking someone else’s documents or material you are not familiar with.
5. Once the test is complete, PerfectIt runs several tasks, such as:
- Generate Table of Abbreviations
- Accept all tracked changes
- Remove all comment boxes
- Update the table of contents
- Update cross-references
How to customize PerfectIt
So far it’s just like Word? Well, to a degree Yes, but it goes one better by letting you configure the settings so you can focus on specific areas.
What do you mean, Ivan?
Give me an example!
Ok. Say you are doing a test on hyphens and dashes in the document. You know words like ‘y’know’, ‘you’re’, ‘x-box’. Maybe you want the dashes – maybe you don’t. The point is that they are not errors.
And this is where PerfectIt adds some real value.
6. In this example, I have told it to ignore the phrase ‘can’t’.
You can configure PerfectIt so that it finds other such examples and them adds them to its dictionary.
Once you’re finished, click Save and Exit and you can check your revised document. At first, you might want to test the app by using dummy text or sample documents for experimentation purposes.
Once you understand the nuances of how it works, then go ahead and start to use it on your business reports or technical documentation.
Strengths
It’s a light-weight tool so there are no performance issues – something to consider if you run multiple apps at the same time.
My favorite feature?
The option to update cross-references makes it worth the entrance fee alone. Instead of having to check these, it does it dynamically and it does it correctly. I’ve had some negative experiences with other grammar-checking software, so my expectations were fairly low. As it turns out, it did a great job.
This one small feature saved me hours at the weekend.
Weaknesses
The weak link in the chain is probably me.
Because this is an add-in, it doesn’t appear on the menu by default (at least for me in Word 2007). This means make the effort to find it and then check the text. Sometimes I forgot it was there. Mea cupla!
I do the same thing with SnagIt. I forget it’s already in Word and ‘go out’ to the Programs menu to find it. So, there is no real criticism to make.
Use it and your documents will improve. Simple, really!
Verdict
This is the first release of the product, so it’s a bit light on features. But what it does, it does very well. My hope is that it will grow into a more substantial product.
One thought would be a web version of the app, which would stop me before I mistype words into my blogs. Native grammar checkers on most blogs are fairly limited.
Many of the features, or flavors of such features, are in Word. But, it’s a more intelligent application and understands what you, as a writer, are trying to do.
You can wrestle with Word if you want and it will do a fine job – but, this gives that little bit more.
For such a competitively-priced product, this is a real lifesaver if you write words for a living.
Download it now and take the 30 day trial version for a run.
Need help with your web writing? Click here for a Free Quote
Comments on this entry are closed.