Mac OS Windows Vista Windows 7. This is a great tool for teachers, as these analyses can provide insights into specific areas or concepts where a student is struggling. Writer’s Workbench provided the best help and support. It offers an in-depth user manual to explain all the software’s features, which is helpful since it is a somewhat. Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation. It’s an important part of the writing process and you shouldn’t skip it.

• Instant Proofreading For Free
• Proofreading App For Mac

by C.K. MacLeod

PerfectIt Pro, a popular copyediting and proofreading tool, has been updated to include new and improved features. Many excellent features—such as the style sheet builder—remain, but new features add even more value to this proofreading favourite.

StyleWriter is another editing and proofreading tool that helps to improve your writing. Designed by professional proofreaders, this tool focuses on bringing clarity to your writing and making it more reader-friendly.

WordRake for Mac Now Available Announcing the newest arrival in WordRake’s stable of professional editing and proofreading software. Or, you can download the native app for both Windows and Mac and take your writing skills to the next level. I tested and use the tool and best of all it has thousands of reviews and a great. AppleScript is one of the most powerful tools to control a Mac. It is a scripting language built in to OS X and it’s been a part of the operating system since the early 90s. It is a scripting language built in to OS X and it’s been a part of the operating system since the early 90s.

In this post, I describe a few features that I think will be helpful for editors and proofreaders — and authors interested in learning how to at least partially automate some editing tasks.

A New Look

PerfectIt Pro 3 (P3) is designed to work with Microsoft Word — the tool of choice for professional editors and proofreaders. When you install P3, you’ll notice it has its own tab in Microsoft Word:

That’s nice because many of P3’s features are no longer buried — they’re laid out in Word’s ribbon for the user to see. P3 is wide and deep, and the new tab goes a long way toward encouraging the exploration of features you might otherwise not notice.

Consistency Tests

P3 has added new “tests” that you can run on a document in order to check for inconsistencies. Below is a screen capture of P3’s tests. The new tests are circled in pink.

Of the new tests available in P3, the following tests can be especially useful to writers, editors, and proofreaders who want to take some of the grunt work out of self-editing and proofreading:

Brackets and Quotations Left Open Test

It’s not uncommon for writers to forget to close quotations or brackets. P3 will find open quotes and brackets and create a list of them so you can systematically close them up. I don’t really need to say how much time that can save, do I?

Italics Test

There are rules about how italics are used. For example, some style guides state that you italicize less common foreign words and phrases. In the Italics test, P3 will identify certain foreign words and phrases and allow you to decide how and when a word will be italicized:

Serial Comma Test

Do you use the serial comma, or Oxford comma? If you do, an editor will check that you’re using it consistently throughout your book. Tedious? Unbelievably. Time consuming? You bet. Nearly impossible to catch them all manually? I think so. P3 will systematically identify places in your writing where you may need to insert the serial comma.

Note: The serial comma feature in P3 is not activated out of the box. You need to turn it on. Here’s how:

1. In the PerfectIt 3 tab on the ribbon, click on the Manage Styles icon.
2. Click on the Edit Style Sheet button to bring up the Style Sheet Editor.
3. Click on the Settings tab.
4. In the pull-down menu, select Serial (Oxford Comma). In the PerfectIt should check field, select Serial (Oxford) Comma. Then, in the It should make sure documents use field, select the Use Oxford comma option and click Apply. You can now check your document for missing serial commas.

Greater Customization

P3 has a new feature that allows users to decide what combination of tests they want to run on a document. You may not always want to run all the tests available in P3, so you now have the option of unchecking the boxes next to the tests you don’t want to run.

There’s much more to say about P3’s newest features, and I hope to be writing about them as I continue to investigate this tool. For now, exploring the features described in this post is a great way to acquaint yourself with the newest version of PerfectIt.

For more information about the latest version of PerfectIt, visit Intelligent Editing.

Are you a PerfectIt 3 user? What are your favourite features?

Disclaimer: I have been a paid user of PerfectIt since version 1. Intelligent Editing has kindly supplied me with a review copy of PerfectIt 3. I continue to be a fan.

Image by Teddy Kwok

Markdown is a lightweight markup language that makes it easy to format and present content for the web. It uses plain text and simple syntax to keep everything straightforward—we have a handy Markdown cheat sheet you can print for reference.

While any plain text editor will work for Markdown, there are also dedicated Markdown editors for displaying and converting your writing into beautiful HTML, PDF, and beyond. Some of these are free, others are cheap, and some work with other tools to make Markdown more appealing.

Here are six of the best Markdown editors and tools for Mac users.

1. MacDown

MacDown is a free and open source15 Free Open-Source Mac Apps You Must Install15 Free Open-Source Mac Apps You Must InstallWant to use some open source software on your Mac? These macOS apps are open-source, awesome, and best of all... free!Read More Markdown editor based on Mou. It surfaced when Mou’s developer ceased work on the project, sparking the idea to create a free editor that mimicked much of Mou’s features and functionality. The two projects are separate ventures, with MacDown steaming ahead in terms of development.

This is a Markdown editor that isn’t so much focused on code as it is writing. It uses a simple two-pane code view and rendered Markdown view to display changes in real-time. There’s the usual syntax highlighting you’d expect from an editor of its kind, and the editor offers a surprisingly good amount of customization.

This includes changes to the core functionality, allowing you to toggle non-standard Markdown extensions like tables, strikethroughs, and fenced code blocks. There are a ton of light and dark themes to choose from. Plus it has the ability to tweak editor appearance including line spacing and base font.

You can also change rendering style by picking from the included CSS or installing your own stylesheets. Rendering options are limited to HTML and PDF, with a handy Copy HTML feature for pasting directly into your projects.

Download:MacDown (Free)

2. Typora

If you’re not keen on the two-pane approach of most Markdown editors, check out Typora. It’s an editor that makes working with Markdown more visually appealing, using a seamless live preview rather than a separate window. Syntax converts into formatted text as you type, so what you see is what you get.

Typora supports basic Markdown, GitHub Flavored Markdown, and some interesting additional elements like sequence, flowchart, and mermaid diagrams. You can configure your choice of syntax via the preferences menu, which provides plenty of opportunity to tweak the editor to your liking.

There’s very little on-screen while you’re composing your masterpiece. That makes this ideal for those who enjoy distraction-free writing experiences. Building on this there’s also a typewriter mode (which always keeps the cursor in the middle of the screen) and focus mode (which dims paragraphs you’re currently not working on).

Choose from six included styles, or add your own by copying the relevant stylesheets into the themes folder. In addition to the usual HTML and PDF export, Typora can also convert to Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, RTF, ePub, LaTeX, and image formats (among others).

There’s no online sync, so if you use multiple platforms you’ll need to provide your own cloud solution. Typora is currently free while in beta, and it’s available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Download:Typora (Free)

Read more about why we think Typora is one of the best markdown editors8 Reasons Why Typora Might Be Your Favorite Markdown Editor8 Reasons Why Typora Might Be Your Favorite Markdown EditorMarkdown editors are popular as alternatives to powerful text editors. Here's why Typora can claim to be among the best.Read More:

3. Atom

Atom is GitHub’s own plain text editor for scripting, coding, and writing GitHub Flavored Markdown. It’s a fairly simple app with Markdown support out of the box, albeit a little barebones for writers. It takes the standard two-pane preview window approach, with a Markdown Preview option found under the Packages menu.

Out of the box you’d be forgiven for discounting Atom, but there’s a lot more potential when you pair it with the right add-ons. A quick search of the package repository yields a healthy number of extensions that make Atom a force to be reckoned with when working with Markdown.

These include conversion tools to HTML, PDF, and image formats. You’ll also find support for other flavors beyond GitHub Flavored Markdown, toolbar plugins, table of contents generators, better image support, and tools for improved tables.

It’s a great solution if you already use Atom, or are looking for a plaintext editor you can also use for scripting or other programming purposes. Atom also enjoys great theme support, so you can get your editor looking just the way you like it. Just search for and install themes within the editor.

Atom is completely free as part of GitHub’s efforts to provide a tool that makes coding accessible to all. It might not be the most user-friendly approach, but it’s a robust and powerful tool in the right hands. Visual Studio Code is another great free alternative to Atom that’s also worth checking out.

Download:Atom (Free)

4. Caret

Caret is another minimal Markdown editor, with a clean interface and emphasis on productivity. It uses tabs to keep all relevant documents close at hand, with a main editor that displays both the syntax and the resulting formatted text. It’s a great way to learn MarkdownLearning Markdown: Write For The Web, FasterLearning Markdown: Write For The Web, FasterMarkdown is the best way to write in plain text but still create complex documents. Unlike HTML or LaTex, for example, Markdown is simple to learn.Read More, since your syntax is always visible, but you can also enable a preview pane if you want.

Caret officially supports GitHub Flavored Markdown, including tables, math blocks, and indented code blocks. It also packs a few unique features, like the thematic break accessible with three spaces and three identical dashes or asterisks.

The sidebar displays a folder’s contents, with your active documents appearing along the top edge of the editor. There’s a macOS Spotlight-like Go To tool for quickly jumping to a file or section of your document, a dark mode, and typewriter mode too.

Caret’s developers built it with speed in mind. It features assistance for building tables, auto-completion of file paths, emoji, and HTML. You also get spelling correction and multiple cursors—a feature normally reserved for powerful text editors.

Caret exports to HTML and PDF, and the beta version is free (though it’s not clear what the limitations to this version are). You can buy a license for $29 to continue to use Caret and support development efforts.

Download:Caret (Free trial, $29)

5. Ulysses

Ulysses is a full-fat writing appIs It Time to Ditch Pages and Word for Ulysses?Is It Time to Ditch Pages and Word for Ulysses?In 2016, not everyone needs a full-service word processing program, which is why software like Ulysses exists.Read More, with some seriously powerful features. It’s the sort of app you’ll want to use if writing is your livelihood, with its distraction-free and minimal approach to producing prose. It uses Markdown in a bid to make writers more productive, removing the need to take your eyes off the text to apply formatting or create headers.

Like Caret, Ulysses takes a hybrid approach to markup. Your syntax is still visible while writing, but so too is the formatting that this markup applies to your text. Links appear in-line, and bold and italics are both emphasized. You have the ability to customize how these elements appear in the app’s preferences.

For working with Markdown, you can choose from regular Markdown and what Ulysses calls Markdown XL. This adds additional syntax for elements like videos, annotations, comments, block quotes, and more. Some themes let you change how the editor displays your elements, plus you have the opportunity to create your own themes.

Ulysses really comes into its own when it comes to exporting your writing. There are themes available for exporting beautiful HTML and PDF documents, but also support for ePub and Microsoft Word. Cloud support via iCloud or Dropbox means you can work on the same documents using different devices (including iOS devices). Versioning support ensures you can revert to a backup if needed.

As a pure writing and publishing tool, Ulysses has the most to offer of all apps featured here. However, you might not need everything Ulysses offers, so a free option might suit you just as well. Ulysses uses a subscription model with a 14-day free trial, then $5 per month. You can also get Ulysses as part of the Mac app subscription service Setapp.

Download:Ulysses (Free trial, $5 monthly/$40 yearly)

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6. Marked 2

Marked 2 isn’t actually an editor, but a Markdown preview tool. That means you won’t use Marked to create documents, but it can turn just about any other text editor into a Markdown editor. The preview the app generates updates every time you save your file, or you can use it as a proofreading tool for files you’ve already created.

The app includes a wide array of processing and rendering options for getting the look you want. You can customize Marked with your own CSS to match your blog, so you know how your articles will look as you write them. You can also use the built-in readability, spellcheck, and link validation tools to make sure your work is up to scratch.

Marked also includes a table of contents panel for working with especially long documents, generated using your headings. The app is compliant with Markdown, GitHub Flavored Markdown, and even includes support for custom processors so coders can use the app with their own syntax.

Export options are extensive, with support for nine built-in themes (with the option of adding your own). Formats include PDF, RTF, Microsoft Word, and OpenOffice. You can try Marked for free before you buy, then pay $14 for the full version. It’s also available on Setapp.

Download:Marked 2 (Free trial, $14)

Don’t Forget Your Favorite Mac Text Editors

You don’t need a fancy Markdown editor to work with Markdown. A plain text editor works too. Your favorite editor will do, whether it’s Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, or Vim. Check out our favorite plaintext editors for MacThe Best Mac Text Editors to Use in 2018The Best Mac Text Editors to Use in 2018Need a new text editor for your Mac? Here are the best free and paid macOS text editors for plain text, coding, and everything in between.Read More if you’re looking for inspiration.

Proofreading App For Mac

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