Proofreading marks

A proofread comes back covered in symbols that were designed to be unambiguous to a typesetter and are opaque to everybody else. Here is what each one is asking you to do.

Taking things out and putting them in

Mark	Name	What it asks for
`δ` or a looped d	Delete, or dele	Take out the struck-through text.
`⌒`	Close up	Remove the space. `book shelf` becomes `bookshelf`.
`δ⌒`	Delete and close up	Remove a letter and pull the rest together.
`#`	Insert space	There is no space here and there should be.
`∧` caret	Insert	Add what is written in the margin at this point.
`...` under the words	Stet	Ignore the correction. The original stands.

Moving things

Mark	Name	What it asks for
`⁀` around two elements	Transpose	Swap them. Used on letters, words or whole lines.
`⊐`	Move left	Reduce the indent, or align to the left.
`⊏`	Move right	Indent further.
`][`	Centre	Centre the line between the margins.
`¶`	New paragraph	Break here.
`run on`	Run on	The opposite. Join this paragraph to the one before it.

Changing how it is set

Mark	Name	What it asks for
Single underline	Set in italic	Italicise.
Wavy underline	Set in bold	Embolden. Rare in fiction outside headings.
Circle round the underline	Set in roman	Take the italics off.
Three lines under a letter	Capitalise	Make it upper case.
Slash through a capital	Lower case, or l.c.	Make it lower case.
Two lines under a word	Small capitals	Set in small caps.
`wf`	Wrong font	This character came from the wrong typeface. Usually a stray glyph.
`sp`	Spell out	Write the numeral or abbreviation in full.

Punctuation, in the margin

Comma	A caret in the text, a comma in the margin.
Full stop	A caret in the text, a circled full stop in the margin, so it is not lost.
Apostrophe or quote	Written above the line in the margin, the way it will sit on the page.
Hyphen	Two short strokes, so it is not mistaken for a dash.
En or em dash	Marked by name, because the three marks are indistinguishable by hand.

Queries and layout faults

`?` circled	A query to the author. Answer it, do not delete it.
`au:`	Author query. The proofreader is asking, not instructing.
`eq #`	Equalise the spacing across this line.
`ld`	Loose line. The word spaces have opened up too far.
Two horizontal strokes	Align. These items should line up.

When the proof arrives as a PDF instead

Most of these become a comment box. Two habits make the digital version work as well as the paper one. Answer every query rather than silently accepting it, because a query is usually the proofreader saying they cannot tell what you meant. And do not rewrite at proof stage: every change reflows the page, and a reflow can push a new widow onto a page nobody is going to look at again.

Galley exports a proofreading PDF with wide margins and numbered lines, which is the version to send to someone marking it up by hand, and takes comments inline for the version that comes back. See preview and export and revision.

For reference, not instruction. Publishers, agencies and competitions each keep their own house style, and their guidelines win over anything on this page. Written in August 2026. Whichever you pick, apply it to the whole book.

Questions

What do proofreading marks mean?

Each one is an instruction to whoever is setting the type. A mark in the margin says what to do, and a matching mark in the text says where to do it. The margin mark is the one that carries the meaning, because a mark buried in a line of text is easy to miss.

What does stet mean?

Latin for let it stand. It cancels a correction: the change was suggested, you disagree, and the original stays. It is written in the margin with a row of dots under the words being kept.

Are proofreading marks still used?

On paper proofs, yes, and typesetters still read them. Most fiction corrections now arrive as PDF comments or tracked changes in Word instead, which is faster and unambiguous. Learn the marks anyway, because the vocabulary survives even where the symbols do not.

What is the difference between copyediting and proofreading?

A copyedit happens to the manuscript and changes wording, consistency and grammar. A proofread happens to the typeset pages and catches what typesetting introduced: bad breaks, widows, a dropped line, a wrong running head. If you are still rewriting sentences at the proof stage, something went wrong earlier.

Anatomy of a book pageThe names these marks point at. Standard manuscript formatWhat gets marked up in the first place. UK vs US styleHalf of what a copyedit is arguing about.

More at the resources index.

Knowing the rule is one thing. Galley applies it across the whole book.

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