You've worked through the design process with your designer. Your project is almost ready to go, and now you have been sent a printout of the job or a PDF file, and you are asked to "proof" it and "sign off" on it before it goes to its next step.

You take a quick look - yes, it looks great, perfect! You sign your initials in the corner and send it back minutes later. A few days or weeks go by, the printed job is delivered and you notice your phone number is incorrect. You call the designer and ask, "What happened? What do you mean I'm going to have to pay to re-print the job with the correction!"

This frustrating and often expensive situation is frequently due to a misunderstanding about the client's responsibility in the proofing process. Proofing before signing off is your last chance to review and approve work done for you, before the job is completed. When you sign, you have agreed that everything is perfect, and you're authorizing the job to proceed.

The proofing process is designed to protect you from responsibility for errors made after you've approved a job, and to protect the designer from liability for errors, which may have gone unnoticed by you. When you sign off on a document proof, you are giving your legally binding approval that this document is exactly as you want it to be and you agree to take full responsibility if it isn't.

Because of the legal and financial implications of signing off on a proof, it is critical that you sit down and check every detail of your project.

Are there any tips for the proofing process I should keep in mind?

• Don't necessarily rely on someone in the office or someone who has worked on the document for final proofreading. Often, the more familiar readers are with the document, the more likely they are to miss something.
• Read through and verify the contact information - all phone numbers, addresses, postal codes, e-mail addresses, spelling of names, and company names. A good practice is to actually test all the phone numbers in the document to confirm they are correct.
• Check the visuals. Look at the placement of the logo. Are the images all there and printing correctly or is there an edge that isn't showing up on the proof? Are the correct images in the right places and fully visible. If they have captions, are the captions with the correct image?
• Read through the entire document word for word. Even if you've recently read through the document, changes can occur. Read thoroughly, check spelling and grammar throughout. This is your last chance to correct content without a press penalty. Double check all content with your original documents and copies of any revisions you have made. Watch for unusual line breaks, italic and bold formatting or font substitution.

If you feel you don't have the time or expertise to proof your final document, you may decide to hire a professional proofreader. Proofreading is a skill that requires training and experience, and is different from designing and writing. This service is billed separately from design costs. Ask your designer for a reference if required.

If at this point you decide you need to change anything about your document, you must advise your designer right away, so that he/she can postpone the final production process. Note that in general, when changes are requested at the sign off stage, there will be additional charges incurred. If you have requested changes, you should receive a new proof. Double check all the changes you have asked for. Then, once again, proof the whole document again, as if it was being seen for the first time. Sometimes, a requested change can cause a problem elsewhere in a document, and a full re-proofing can catch this.

Remember that as you go through this process, and you are unsure of anything, ask your designer. If there is a word or a dot or a blob that wasn't there before, ask. Circle it, highlight it, phone about it, check it out.

What do I write on the proof when I want to make a change?

If your changes are extensive, you should highlight and number the location of each change, then provide the new text in a separate document. Speak to your designer to determine the preferred method of accepting changes.

How do I proof an Acrobat PDF document?

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, it is time to download this very useful free application from the www.adobe.com website. Many designers will provide final proofs digitally.

You can print out PDF files and make your proofing notes on the print itself, or, if you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat, you can make notes directly on the pdf file. You'll find editing/commenting tools within the program, which will assist you in proofing your document.

• Use the magnifying glass Zoom in Tool to zoom in or out to check details
• Use the Highlight Tool to colour an area of text in question
• Use the Pencil Tool to circle an object or area
• Use the Note Tool to write a note or a correction

Be sure to save the document and send it back to your designer.

Take the necessary time now, and your efforts will be rewarded in the end.