Proofreading Definitions Of Print & Edgar Terms

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What is Blacklining

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Blacklining is used to show where text or data in a document has been added, deleted or replaced. It helps to compare different versions of the same document.

Blacklining is used extensively in legal proofreading and financial proofreading. When blacklining is incorporated into EDGAR documents it is referred to as redlining.

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what is EDGAR

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EDGAR is an acronym for Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval. EDGAR is a searchable database of compliance documents.

Publicly-owned companies, for example, must file quarterly (10-Q) and annual (10-K) reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). These documents are maintained in electronic format for viewing by the public.

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point

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A point is a unit of measurement. There are 72 points in an inch.

Points are used to measure typeface size (the size of letters), the thickness of rules, and leading (the space between lines of text, measured from baseline to baseline.

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pica

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A pica is a unit of measurement used to measure rules, gutters, column width and copy area. There are 12 points in a pica. Six picas equal one inch.

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copy area

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Copy area refers to that part of the page (sheet of paper) that contains the text (including the folio, or page number). The most common copy area is 36 picas wide (margin to margin) and 56 picas deep.

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gutter

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The gutter is the space between columns. Gutters are measured in picas.

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hanging text

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Hanging text refers to characters, such as parenthesis, footnote references (numbers, asterisks, daggers, etc.) that "hang" in the column. Hanging characters in the gutters between tabular data allows the numbers in the columns to align properly.

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folio

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A folio is the page number that is printed on the page.

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en dash

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An en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen and measures (approximately) the width of a capital N of the typeface and size being used. An en dash is generally used to separate ranges of numbers: 35 – 36

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em dash

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An em dash is slightly longer than an en dash and measures (approximately) the width of a capital M of the typeface and size being used. Em dashes are used in numerical columns, where no data is present, in headers to indicate subsections, and in text. Em dashes are also a unit of measure— in financial printing indents are measured using "em spaces" and not "tabs."

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break rule

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A breakrule is short, horizontal rule used mostly to separate elements of text on front covers of financial documents and to separate footnotes from text or table data.

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Stub field

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Generally the first column in a table. It contains the information which describes the tabbed columns to follow.

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Tab fields

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All columns which are not the stub field.

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Headings (heads or column heads)

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These are the descriptors that go above columns. They describe what is in the columns.

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Spanner head and spanner rule

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A heading and rule that extends over two or more other headings which relate to the spanner head.

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Leaders

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A row of dots leading from the item in the stub field to the first column. They are meant to guide (or "lead") your eye to the corresponding entry.

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Single (subtotal) rules

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Single rules under a column of numbers indicating that the numbers above it are to be sub totaled, either by addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.

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Double rules

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Used to indicate the "grand total" of a column of numbers.

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Hanging characters

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These are characters, such as percent signs, footnote references and end parens, that typically hang in the gutter on typeset work.

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Footnotes

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Explanations of items in the table. Footnotes generally follow the table itself.

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Footnote (reference)

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Usually a number enclosed in parentheses next to an item in the table. Footnote references refer you to the particular footnote which will follow the table. Footnote references can also be asterisks, daggers, letters, superscripts or other symbols.

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Footnote breakrule

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A short rule extending from the left margin, usually 10 picas long in financial documents, which separates the table from the footnotes.

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How many characters per line for files sent to the SEC?

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80 characters per line, or 132 characters per line for tables (must have <Table> tags)

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How should type be set for files sent to the SEC?

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Courier, or small 16.67 lineprinter typeface

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How are underlines handled in files sent to the SEC?

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Underline is replaced with a hyphen on the line below the underscored text. Double underlines use an equal signs on the line below the underscored text.

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How should paragraphs wrap in files sent to the SEC?

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They don't need to wrap as in the original document. Indented paragraphs may wrap flush left as long as the original line indent is beyond the higher level of the paragraph.

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What about styling in files sent to the SEC?

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There should be no italics, small caps, superscript, subscript.

There should be no boxes around text

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What are redline tags?

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<R> </R>

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What is a stub tag?

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<S>

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What is a column tag?

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<C>

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How is a column heading marked?

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<CAPTION> is placed flush left on the line right above the column headings.

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What if a table is too big?

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Due to the 132 character limit, occasionally a table will have to be split. In this case, the first column will be repeated at the stub and the remaining columns will be divided between them.