How to mark up your PDF proof
RENANA TYPESETTING · CLIENT GUIDE
When you receive your typeset book, use PDF comments to show me the corrections you want. This guide takes you through the process in Adobe Acrobat Reader, from saving your copy to returning the finished corrections.
You can use the free desktop version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. You do not need a paid editing subscription for this workflow. If you prefer a demonstration, the PDF-markup videos are still available.
Five essentials
Use comments to mark corrections. Leave the underlying PDF text and layout intact so I can make the changes in the original typesetting file.
Use the correct tool. Replace text, insert text and delete text are different instructions. A general comment does not become a replacement just because it contains a new word.
Select precisely. Include only the characters, punctuation and spaces that belong to the correction.
Post each comment. In the newer Acrobat interface, click Post, or press Ctrl+Enter on Windows or Command+Enter on a Mac. Enter on its own adds a line break inside your correction.
Return final instructions. Resolve discussions between author and editor, then mark the agreed correction clearly on the text.
Get Acrobat ready
1. Open and save your working copy
Download the PDF to your computer and open it in the desktop Acrobat application. These instructions and keyboard shortcuts are for that application; the preview in your browser or email may have different tools.
Choose Save As and add your initials to the end of the existing filename. For example, Book r003.pdf could become Book r003 RF.pdf.
Keep the existing draft number. You are commenting on draft r003; you have not created draft r004. Preserving the number helps us match your corrections to the right typesetting file.
Open the Comments panel and keep it visible while you work. In the newer interface, look for Comments on the right. In the older interface, look under Tools → Comment. Your PDF will still look much as it did before: the corrections appear as marks on the page and entries in the Comments panel.
2. Set up Acrobat for commenting
Acrobat’s menus and tool positions change between versions. The tool’s name and the kind of comment it creates are more useful than its colour or location.
Open Preferences from the Acrobat menu on a Mac, or the Menu/Edit menu on Windows, depending on your version.
Commenting preferences
In Commenting, tick these boxes to turn the following options ON, where available:
Enable text selection for Highlight, Strikethrough and Underline.
Enable creation of notes in Comments List.
Show checkbox in comment note.
On Windows, turn the text-correction keyboard shortcuts option ON if your version shows it in Commenting. It lets you use the keyboard to mark text corrections. The wording and availability can vary by version.
General: turn OFF single-key tool shortcuts
In Preferences, choose General.
Find Use single-key accelerators to access tools.
Turn it OFF: remove the tick so the checkbox is empty.
Click OK to save the change.
When this option is on, typing a letter can select an Acrobat tool. Turning it OFF lets you use the select-and-type correction workflow shown in the video.
These are two different settings: single-key tool shortcuts in General should be OFF; the separate text-correction keyboard option in Commenting, if your Windows version offers it, should be ON.
Optional: turn Make Hand tool select text & images ON if you want to select text with the Hand tool. If selecting text or placing an insertion point still proves awkward, choose the appropriate text-selection or commenting tool explicitly.
Click OK to save the preferences. On a small laptop screen, you may need to move or scroll the dialog to reach that button. Try one correction and check that it appears in the Comments panel before continuing through the book.
Make text corrections
3. Delete a word, a letter or a space
Select exactly the text to remove.
Press Delete/Backspace, or choose the commenting tool called Strikethrough text.
Check that a deletion mark appears across the selected text and that the Comments panel identifies it as a strikethrough/deletion.
The word remains visible under the mark. That is expected: you are asking for a change in the typesetting file.
Watch the spaces. To change “a very useful guide” to “a useful guide”, select “very” and the following space. Deleting only the letters would leave two spaces between “a” and “useful”. Do not include a space automatically when deleting a single letter or punctuation mark; select only what needs to go.
To join two words, select just the unwanted space between them and mark it for deletion. Zoom in when necessary.
4. Replace existing text
Select the word, phrase or passage that needs to change.
Start typing the replacement. If typing does not open a replacement comment, right-click and choose Add comment to replace text, Add note to replace text or Replace selected text, according to your version.
Type only the exact wording that should appear in the book.
Click Post, or press Ctrl+Enter / Command+Enter.
Check both the selected range and the replacement text in the Comments panel.
For example, to change “colourful” to “bright”, select “colourful” and enter bright in the replacement comment. Do not enter Replace with bright, bright please or bright [lowercase]: those extra words could become part of the book.
Use a replacement for changes of capitalisation too. To change “Book” to “book”, select the word and replace it with the correctly typed version.
To transpose two words, select both and type them in their final order. This gives a precise text correction; a drawn transposition mark leaves the change to be interpreted and retyped.
Do not finish with Enter alone
A return at the end of a replacement can become a new paragraph when the correction is applied. A long comment wrapping naturally onto several lines is fine; a return you type is a real character.
Use a return only when you actually intend a paragraph break. When pasting a passage, check that it has not acquired a return at the end of every line copied from a PDF.
Older videos show Escape closing comment boxes. In the newer interface, use Post and check that the correction has been recorded; Escape can cancel an unfinished entry.
5. Insert something without removing existing text
Choose Insert text or Insert text at cursor from the commenting tools.
Click exactly where the new text belongs, between the existing characters or words.
Type the text, including any necessary spaces or punctuation.
Post the comment and check its insertion marker.
Some versions also let you place the text cursor and start typing directly. If that does not work, use the explicit Insert text tool.
Example: to change “a useful guide” to “a very useful guide”, place the insertion point immediately before the “u” of “useful”, then type very followed by one space. The existing space before that position stays in place.
To insert a space between two joined words, enter an actual space in an insertion comment. Do not type the word space, which would ask me to insert those five letters. The space may be difficult to see in the comment; check the insertion position carefully.
For a hyphen, dash, quotation mark or accented letter, enter the actual character you want in the book. Follow the punctuation style already agreed for your project. If you are unsure how to type a character, ask me for help.
Give special instructions
6. Request italics, roman, bold or small caps
A formatting change needs an instruction attached to the exact text.
Italics and roman
In the Renana workflow, Underline text is the established markup for requesting italics. Select the exact text and apply the commenting underline tool. For text already in italics, the same mark can request roman, or upright, type. Add “Make italic” or “Make roman” to the annotation whenever the intention could be ambiguous, particularly with punctuation.
My newer video also shows an equally acceptable alternative: select the text, choose Add note to text, and write Make italic or Make roman. Use whichever method is easier in your Acrobat version.
This is a convention for communicating with your typesetter. The underline mark itself does not change the PDF font. If you actually want a printed underline, say so explicitly.
Bold, small caps and other formatting
Select the exact text.
Right-click and choose Add note to text, or the equivalent text-anchored comment command.
Write a short instruction, such as Make bold, Make small caps or Remove bold.
Post the comment.
Do not select a word and simply type “bold” or “italics”. That creates a replacement instruction and could replace the word with your formatting instruction.
Formatting inside replacement text
If your replacement includes italic or bold words, select those words inside the comment box and use its Text Style controls. The familiar Ctrl/Command+I and Ctrl/Command+B shortcuts can be used there where supported.
This formats your proposed replacement. It is different from selecting the original PDF text and using Acrobat’s editing commands to change its font. Check the posted comment, especially for superscript or subscript, which has behaved inconsistently in some versions.
7. Leave a clear instruction about a heading or paragraph
Select the relevant heading, paragraph or an unambiguous part of it, then choose Add note to text. Say exactly what should change and what the instruction applies to.
Useful examples include:
“Set this whole paragraph as a displayed quotation.”
“Make this heading match ‘Early Years’ on printed page 24.”
“The following three paragraphs should form one bulleted list.”
Refer to an existing heading when possible. Terms such as “A head” or “B head” can mean different things to different people; a named example makes the intended appearance clear.
If you insert a new heading, enter its actual wording with an insertion comment. Give any additional styling instruction in a separate text-anchored note, identifying the new heading explicitly. Do not mix the styling instruction into the text to be inserted.
For a shortened running head, attach a note to the chapter heading in the body and give the requested running-head wording. This identifies which chapter the instruction belongs to. Special formatting in running heads may need a final check after the book has been balanced.
8. Take particular care with footnotes
The superscript reference in the main text is connected to its footnote in the typesetting file. Treat it as more than an ordinary number.
Correcting text near a footnote reference
Keep the reference outside a replacement or deletion unless the footnote itself is meant to be removed. If you rewrite a passage containing several references, make separate corrections around them.
Do not replace a whole passage containing footnote references and then type ordinary superscript digits in the replacement. Those typed numbers do not recreate the links to the original notes.
Deleting a footnote
Mark the reference number in the main text for deletion. To make the intention unmistakable, also mark the corresponding footnote text for deletion, or add a clear instruction such as “Delete this footnote”. The notes will be renumbered in the typesetting file.
Adding a new footnote
At the exact location where the reference belongs, create an insertion comment beginning New footnote:, followed by the complete note text. In this particular case, the label identifies a manual footnote instruction rather than literal body text.
For example:
New footnote: Full text of the new note, including its citation.
I will create the linked footnote in the typesetting file. Do not try to assign its final number yourself.
If a rewrite would move a reference or substantially reorganise several notes, add a clear text-anchored explanation rather than leaving me to infer the connections.
9. Pictures are the exception: use a sticky note
For ordinary text corrections, use marks attached to the text. For an image, a sticky note placed on the image is appropriate. Identify the figure or caption as well, especially if several images are close together.
Make image instructions measurable and specific. For example:
“Figure 12: make this image one column wide.”
“Figure 8: set the image width to 110 mm.”
“Place figures 12 and 13 side by side, with a shared caption.”
“Keep this picture and the next picture on the same page.”
In my picture-markup video, “merge two” means putting the current image and the next one alongside each other horizontally. State the figure numbers and intended arrangement if there is any possibility of doubt.
For a crop, use a drawing markup to show the proposed boundary and add a note explaining which side should be removed. Make it clear that this is a cropping instruction. Do not crop or edit the PDF image itself.
When a project has a separate picture-sizing stage, follow the instructions for that stage. Early drafts can contain deliberately generous image sizes and unfinished page spacing. Agree image size, grouping and content first; final page composition comes later. Request larger sizes rather than assuming every image has enough resolution to support them.
10. Avoid loose sticky notes for text corrections
A sticky note marks a position on the page. It does not identify a precise run of text in the way a replacement, deletion or text-anchored note does. Its icon can also appear to move relative to nearby words as the view changes.
For a text query or formatting instruction, select the relevant text and use Add note to text. For a replacement, use Replace selected text. Reserve sticky notes and drawing marks for pictures or genuinely page-level instructions where they are appropriate.
Review and return your proof
11. Turn discussions into final corrections
Comments and replies can be useful while author and editor decide what to do. Before returning the file, convert the decision into a clear, actionable correction.
If a comment asks “Is this the right word?” and the reply says “No, use ‘precise’”, mark the actual word with a replacement containing precise. Do not leave the final correction only in the reply thread.
Remove superseded instructions from the copy you return, once the decision is agreed. If a question is still unresolved, label it clearly as a query rather than presenting it as an approved change.
12. Check and correct your own markup
Click each correction in the Comments panel to check where it is attached and what it says. Pay particular attention to:
The first and last selected character.
Spaces and punctuation at the ends of the selection.
Footnote references within or next to the selection.
Unwanted returns or extra spaces inside replacement text.
The annotation type: a highlight note, replacement and deletion mean different things.
If you marked the wrong passage, delete the annotation and make it again accurately. Select the comment itself in the Comments panel or select its mark on the page, then use its Delete command. Check that the entire unwanted correction has disappeared, including any insertion marker belonging to a replacement.
13. Save and return your corrections
Save regularly using Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on a Mac. When you finish, save the PDF and reopen the saved copy to confirm that the comments are present.
Return that marked-up PDF using the agreed delivery method. Keep the original draft number and your identifying initials in the filename.
Optional: send a small comments file
For a large PDF, Acrobat versions that offer Export All to Data File in the Comments panel’s options menu can export the corrections as an FDF file. This is usually much smaller than the full PDF.
Choose all comments, save the FDF, and return it with the original draft identity intact. An FDF contains annotation data; it is not a standalone copy of the book and must be used with the matching PDF. Keep your saved, marked-up PDF as well. If you cannot find this option, simply return the PDF.
Troubleshooting
Acrobat asks me to buy a subscription
Check which tool you selected. Edit PDF/Edit text changes the document itself and is outside this commenting workflow. Return to the commenting tools, such as Replace selected text or Insert text. A paid editing subscription is not required to mark the corrections described here.
Typing does nothing, or chooses a tool
Check the Commenting keyboard preference, where present, and the separate General preference for single-key tool accelerators. Use the explicit Replace selected text or Insert text tool if direct typing does not work. After changing preferences, click OK and test a correction.
Hebrew typing does not open a replacement comment
In my recent Hebrew demonstration, English typing opened a replacement comment but Hebrew typing did not. The straightforward workaround is to select the text and explicitly choose Add comment to replace text, then type Hebrew in the comment.
The video also demonstrates typing a space to open the comment, deleting that temporary space, and then entering the Hebrew replacement. If you use that method, check that no unwanted space remains. Check punctuation and text direction in the posted comment too.
I cannot place the insertion point accurately
Zoom in and choose the Insert text commenting tool explicitly. Do not use a nearby sticky note as a substitute for a precise insertion. For a tricky selection, adjust it carefully with the mouse and check its ends before posting.
The PDF still shows the old wording
That is normal. Markup records what should change; it does not rewrite the proof. The correction is applied to the original typesetting file, and you will see the changed text in the next proof.
The controls look different from the video
Look for the tool names rather than matching the screen colours or icon positions. The most recent videos are the best starting point for setup. Old advice about interface layout, particular bugs and closing comment boxes may no longer apply to your version.
Acrobat is slow or I still cannot comment
Save your work and check for Acrobat updates. If the problem continues, contact me with your Acrobat version, operating system and a description of what happens. Do not spend hours struggling with the interface; I can help you establish a workable commenting method.
Before you send: a final checklist
I have marked the correct draft and kept its draft number.
My text changes use replacement, insertion or deletion markup as appropriate.
Replacement and insertion comments contain the exact required text, with no accidental instructions or returns.
Formatting instructions are attached to the intended text.
Footnote references have been preserved unless the notes are deliberately being removed.
Author/editor discussions have been turned into final corrections or clearly labelled queries.
Image instructions identify the image and the requested size, crop or arrangement.
I have saved the file and checked that its comments are still present.
Careful markup lets me work through your corrections more efficiently and reduces the chance of introducing a new error. If anything is unclear, get in touch before working through the whole book.
Watch the demonstrations
PDF markup in under 9 minutes: the core workflow.
Making Acrobat 2025 easier to use: setup and interface troubleshooting.
Adobe Acrobat 2024 PDF Markup: the longer explanation, including footnotes and headings.
Marking up pictures: image size, grouping and crop instructions.
PDF corrections in Hebrew: the recent Hebrew demonstration, including setup and Hebrew typing.
For a separate guide to what to check at each production stage, see the proofreading checklist.
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