PerfectIt Reviews

PerfectIt adds polish to my legal writing as it catches even the smallest of errors. It gives me the opportunity to present my best the very first time. When first impressions count, I rely on PerfectIt to make sure my writing looks it's best and communicates exactly what I mean.

The AI could be better. It's always improving but I still have to make sure it's getting it right.

I am a solo attorney. I don't have the luxury of someone else reviewing my work. I use PerfectIt as one software to check my work.

PerfectIt surprised me. Deeply skeptical of editing software that purported to assist my already thorough hunt for inconsistencies, I resisted it for a while. When I finally decided to try it, I began to be regularly astonished at the tiny errors it found that I had missed. I now happily rely on it with every project to “perfect” my edited documents, and I also have fun using it in the process. In fact, my favorite part of editing a document is polishing it with a run through PerfectIt. It’s incredibly fast, and I appreciate that it doesn’t critique the writing – it only finds instances where rules are not followed consistently. I am thrilled with the Chicago Manual of Style check and how it helps quickly pinpoint the specific style points behind suggested changes.

PerfectIt seems to overzealously “find” instances of a missing serial comma. I dislike how it corrects hyphenated words, so I make those changes manually. And as of yet, there is no APA Style check. There is an option to create a custom style sheet based on APA Style, but I never seem to have the time to figure out how to do it.

When I have spent hours and days working on a project, I get to a point where I cannot "see" any more errors. PerfectIt does the hard work for me by reviewing it one last time and giving me confidence that the project is complete.

I'm someone that spends far too many hours creating techical documentation and product reviews. PerfectIt is now an invaluable part of my documentation toolkit and workflow. It helps ensure consistency across my documents and catches errors that are often very easy to otherwise miss. I've found it also helps reduce the amount of time set aside to proof reading when I send my work out for review.

Nothing to dislike really. It's priced well, easy to install and regular updates are made. What's not to like?! Has helped save a lot of time and effort on my side.,

Find any inconsistencies in the document that I may have missed, and helps avoid having to re-read and correct multiple times which is a real time saver, helping to reduce frustration!

By handling essential housekeeping tasks related to copyediting, PerfectIt helps me focus on language-related matters. Its style sheet feature is a sheer delight.

Wish it could help more with subtle issues of grammar and syntax. However, it does its core job well, regardless of the size of the document. So, there's nothing much to dislike.

It weeds out inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, and capitalization. It also checks and fixes inconsistencies relating to abbreviations, which could otherwise be challenging to keep track of.

PerfectIt automates certain checks/changes that copyeditors have to carry out (such as ensuring consistency in capitalization and hyphenation). This frees up the copyeditor's mind to focus on the more complex tasks that cannot be automated (such as ensuring concise language) and ensures that no instances are missed.

Because I am using a Mac I cannot benefit from the full functionality of PerfectIt, as I'm limited to the Cloud version. However, it still is an essential, indispensable tool that I couldn't live without!

PerfectIt saves time and catches errors that I missed, thus leading to a higher hourly rate and fewer missed errors. I work more efficiently and effectively because of it.

PerfectIt helps you eradicate consistency errors in long documents that are not easy to find. The customizable style sheets are also very helpful.

I wish the fully functional version (with style sheets) were available for Mac.

Helps me improve my productivity and helps me help my clients.

PerfectIt allows editors to focus on the content and meaning of a given text and is especially useful when dealing with longer texts.

It runs automated checks on all the inconsistencies that would require hours to eliminate: abbreviations/acronyms and their expansions, (standardised) spelling, table and heading numbering, spacing and much much more.

It simplifies navigation and viewing of these elements across long documents.

It can be customised to each text's requirements: either by using the existing preloaded styles (EU, UK, etc.) or by modifying these at many levels to accomodate variations.

A thesaurus fuction that can be customised would be great.

The ability to have words highlighted in a colour other than grey would be useful, to distinguish this from Word’s highlighting colour.

PerfectIt eliminates more errors than I would be able to, improving the quality of the edit. Its styles can be updated to reflect current standards and preferences.

Allow me answer that question by sharing my first experience with PerfectIt.

SETTING: A (pre-COVID) session of the Bay Area Editors’ Forum

EVENT: “Introduction to [the marvels of] PerfectIt”

SCREENSHOT: A bullet list of text

CONTEXT: Daniel Heuman demonstrating how PerfectIt will identify if there are errors or inconsistencies anywhere within a document, including details like inconsistent capitalization and closing punctuation in bullet lists

SOUND BITE: The audible gasp as the crowd realizes how much time this would save (and the discomfiture it would prevent)

Someone who isn’t an editor or proofreader might not immediately see the benefit of PerfectIt, but let me tell you … just WOW. It catches stuff we should have caught ourselves, and are chagrined to learn we missed. It catches stuff we’re not even embarrassed to have missed, like a stray or absent hyphen in a VERY long proper name that appears multiple times. It catches stuff we’re humbled to realize we never would have caught, like lesser-known tidbits in the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)—which are offered with the CMOS* item number and the precise text of the rule for further reference (and memorization). (*Note that the abbreviation was defined before being used alone.)

That’s all just what’s in PerfectIt already. But you can also implement into the program the house style of your employer, your main contract client, etc. That feature is a huge bonus if you work with a number of different clients who have different preferences for small details—and so each time you turn to a different gig you need to reacquaint yourself with that client’s preferences (ten vs. 10 | em-dash [—] vs. spaced en-dash [ – ] | ellipsis character […] vs. three unspaced periods […] vs. three periods w/ nonbreaking spaces [.°.°.] | E.°B. White vs. E.B. White vs. Egad White). You can create a style in PerfectIt for each client, and then let PerfectIt remind you what that client prefers.

And it should be emphasized: the PerfectIt process isn’t about running the software, grabbing a snack, having it change stuff unbeknownst to us, and then blindly submitting the document. The process involves having inconsistencies identified for us—at which point we make a conscious decision about which option to choose. And of all the things it’s programmed to catch, my favorite is common typos (General Manger | general pubic | Turdish vs. Kurdish vs. Turkish).

BTW: I ran PerfectIt on this review before submitting it just to see what it would find; apparently “screenshot” is one word, not two. So, yeah—I love PerfectIt.

Admittedly it takes some time to tweak the style sheet for each different client.

PerfectIt helps me to submit excellent work.

Allow me answer that question by sharing my first experience with PerfectIt.

SETTING: A (pre-COVID) session of the Bay Area Editors’ Forum

EVENT: “Introduction to [the marvels of] PerfectIt”

SCREENSHOT: A bullet list of text

CONTEXT: Daniel Heuman demonstrating how PerfectIt will identify if there are errors or inconsistencies anywhere within a document, including details like inconsistent capitalization and closing punctuation in bullet lists

SOUND BITE: The audible gasp as the crowd realizes how much time this would save (and the discomfiture it would prevent)

Someone who isn’t an editor or proofreader might not immediately see the benefit of PerfectIt, but let me tell you … just WOW. It catches stuff we should have caught ourselves, and are chagrined to learn we missed. It catches stuff we’re not even embarrassed to have missed, like a stray or absent hyphen in a VERY long proper name that appears multiple times. It catches stuff we’re humbled to realize we never would have caught, like lesser-known tidbits in the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)—which are offered with the CMOS* item number and the precise text of the rule for further reference (and memorization). (*Note that the abbreviation was defined before being used alone.)

That’s all just what’s in PerfectIt already. But you can also implement into the program the house style of your employer, your main contract client, etc. That feature is a huge bonus if you work with a number of different clients who have different preferences for small details—and so each time you turn to a different gig you need to reacquaint yourself with that client’s preferences (ten vs. 10 | em-dash [—] vs. spaced en-dash [ – ] | ellipsis character […] vs. three unspaced periods […] vs. three periods w/ nonbreaking spaces [.°.°.] | E.°B. White vs. E.B. White vs. Egad White). You can create a style in PerfectIt for each client, and then let PerfectIt remind you what that client prefers.

And it should be emphasized: the PerfectIt process isn’t about running the software, grabbing a snack, having it change stuff unbeknownst to us, and then blindly submitting the document. The process involves having inconsistencies identified for us—at which point we make a conscious decision about which option to choose. And of all the things it’s programmed to catch, my favorite is common typos (General Manger | general pubic | Turdish vs. Kurdish vs. Turkish).

BTW: I ran PerfectIt on this review before submitting it just to see what it would find; apparently “screenshot” is one word, not two. So, yeah—I love PerfectIt.

Admittedly it takes some time to tweak the style sheet for each different client.

PerfectIt helps me to submit excellent work.

I am a big fan of PerfectIt and use it for most of my editing work. The longer the document, the more it comes into its own. It catches inconsistencies and is quick and straightforward to use. I also like the option of setting up personalised style sheets.

There's nothing not to like! It's a no-brainer for editors like me.

I view it as a third pair of eyes to catch anything I might have missed.