Editing & Formatting

Editing is the process used to prepare a document for publication or presentation by correcting, revising or adapting text. After a document is edited, it is customary for it to be formatted.

Formatting means changing the presentation and appearance of a document.

Proofreading is the process of reviewing any text, either hard copy on paper or electronic copy on a computer, and checking for typos and formatting errors.

A typo is a typographical error – an unintentional error made during typing or typesetting.

Editing

Using insert and overtype

Microsoft Word has two typing modes: insert mode is the default; in overtype mode, anything you type will write over – wipe out – text to the right of the insertion point. Overtype allows you to delete unwanted characters just by typing over them.

Highlighting

Selecting text Text to be edited must first be selected. The highlighting of selected text is temporary (it is removed as soon as the editing operation is complete), during the highlighting formatting process it is permanent and remains over the text until removed by the user. 

Using the Clipboard

During editing, existing text may be: 

• copied to an additional location; 

• deleted (or cut) from its existing location; 

• moved to a new location. 

When text is cut or copied, it is placed on the clipboard. The clipboard is a temporary holding place for information placed there.

Using drag-and-drop 

When we want to move some text, an alternative to cut and paste is drag-and-drop text editing. 

Using find and replace 

By using find and replace you can automatically replace text – for example, you can replace ‘CXC’ with ‘CSEC’.