Enforce the legal writing and style rules you know, from the sources you trust

Abbreviations

Abbreviations

Abbreviations help to save space. But they can also be confusing or distracting; and when readers don’t understand them, they can get in the way of your message. PerfectIt brings clarity by linking every abbreviation to its definition. It can automatically generate a Table of Abbreviations and it can check every abbreviation in your text to make sure it’s defined on first use.

  • Consistent Presentation: Check for consistent presentation of abbreviations (e.g. Nasa/NASA/N.A.S.A.).
  • A Definition for Every Abbreviation: Ensure that every abbreviation is defined the first time it appears.
  • Defined When Presented: Make sure each abbreviation is defined only once, defined only in one way, and only used if it appears more than once.

Capitalization

Capitalization

Inconsistent capitalization can leave readers guessing whether terms were used in a specific or general sense. It can have important legal implications (defined terms) or significant medical meaning (trademark or generic drugs). In any context, it’s confusing and sloppy—and it’s also the hallmark of drafting by committee. PerfectIt brings a unified author’s voice to documents.

  • Consistent Capitalization of Words & Phrases: Check proper names, processes and business terms for capitalization consistency.
  • Heading Capitalization: Enforce consistent capitalization across headings, such as sentence case or title case.
  • House Capitalization Rules: You can set PerfectIt to check your house style to ensure that capitalization in all documents reflects your brand guidelines.

House Style

House Style

A polished public image depends on consistent branding. Style manuals help; however, they’re often forgotten or ignored by busy professionals. With PerfectIt’s options to enforce your custom preferences, every document will reflect your brand.

  • Phrases to Avoid: Make sure every document produced by your organization does not include insensitive, inappropriate or dated terminology and language.
  • Uniform Branding: Create style sheets to reflect your presentation rules and your brand image.
  • Unified Voice: Enforce style preferences so that all writers in your organization speak with one voice.

 

Hyphens/Dashes

Hyphens/Dashes

Hyphenation within a document must be consistent. PerfectIt can simplify the tedious task of finding hyphenated words and enforcing consistency. With PerfectIt, users can review each potential inconsistency and make changes on a case-by-case basis.

  • Consistent Hyphenation: Enforce consistent use of hyphens and dashes in common words and phrases, as well as complex terms of art or proper names.
  • Compounds, Numbers & Directions: Apply consistent hyphenation for prefixes, numbers, fractions and directions.

Bullets and Lists

Bullets and Lists

Lists, bullets and tables contain some of your most important information. As a result, inconsistencies are immediately noticeable and off-putting. PerfectIt makes checking punctuation and capitalization in lists and tables easy. It can check internal consistency or it can be set to check house style preferences.

  • List Punctuation: Enforce consistent punctuation, such as periods or semi-colons, in lists and bullets.
  • Capitals in Bullets, Lists & Tables: Enforce consistent capitalization, such as sentence case or initial case in tables or initial capitals for lists and bullets.
  • Table Punctuation: Check for consistent punctuation in each cell.

Spelling, Typos and Numbers

Spelling, Typos and Numbers

Using the wrong word can be more embarrassing than a typo—and spellcheck won’t help you. PerfectIt approaches spelling differently, looking at a combination of context and common errors. It even spots numbers that should be spelled out in sentences.

  • Spelling Errors & Typos: Check for errors that spellcheck won’t catch, including common typing mistakes (e.g. 'manger' instead of 'manager') and embarrassing errors.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: Check for individual words spelled in more than one way (e.g. 'adviser' and 'advisor').
  • Consistent Use of Numbers in Sentences: Correct numbers in sentences that were written as numerals but should be spelled out (and vice versa).

Table/Figure Numbering

Table/Figure Numbering

Tables and figures provide the support for your assertions. They are often that first thing that readers look for. PerfectIt automatically detects table and figure numbering, so you can be confident that tables and figures in your document meet your standards.

  • Table & Figure Order: Find if tables appear in the correct order (e.g. Table 4 should not be before Table 3, which is an easy mistake to make when copy/pasting in multiple author documents).
  • Table & Figure Headers: Check for missing table/figure headings as well as inconsistent naming.

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