PerfectIt Reviews & Product Details

PerfectIt is a spectacular tool for editors that saves incalculable hours and helps ensure consistency... but lately it seems to miss a lot of things (quotation marks that don't get closed come to mind). Even so, I use the proram faithfully, and the CMOS integration is a marvelous bonus. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sadly, the full value of PerfectIt isn't available to Mac users, as its robust customization features don't work on Macs. The tool also tends to hang up/spin/crash, meaning standard scans can take far longer than they should. And there are some weird glitches, like it stopping on things like "Mr." (with the period) to inform you that "Mr." takes a period in American English. Despite the frustration that accompanies those drawbacks, I wouldn't think of canceling my subscription. I just wish the developers would focus on giving Mac users an experience that comes close to that enjoyed on PCs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Perfeclt is really helpful when it comes to proofread our articles on medical technology which our editors publish every week on linkedin. The tool maintains consistency throughout the write up and also the support team is very much co-operative. Now, we do not spend much time on re-checking the sentence framing or if there is any grammatical error. Also, the pricing structure is very budget friendly for small sized companies. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is nothing much, I don't like about perfectlt. Sometimes the large sized documents take much time to rectify the errors. Also, few of the times it's intutive technology has predicted the sentences in a different direction which can be fixed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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., Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Admittedly it takes some time to tweak the style sheet for each different client. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I've used PerfectIt ever since it was recommended to me by a fellow editor when I started my business around four years ago. Now I wouldn't be without it! It's a great tool that helps me get through the more mechanical side of editing and proofreading efficiently. I use it at the beginning and end of each project - for longer manuscripts, in particular, it's brilliant at flagging all sorts of inconsistencies that would likely be missed by the human eye alone, such as inconsistent hyphenation, list formatting, spelling, and many more. It can also be tweaked to the specifics of your document requirements, so you can choose your style and even which checks you want to run. A fabulous time-saver! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I can't think of anything I dislike. The software is easy to use, and I've never experienced any major issues using it on my PC. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I am an editor and PerfectIt is in my MS Word menu. I just have to click on it to start its consistency-checking programme. With one click, I can change the style or language I want, without having to go online (as I do with Grammarly). I can save changes or variations under a new style name. It tells me what is happening while it is running the checks I set up - and it runs an amazing variety of checks. It allows me to approve or reject everything and see where each item is in the document. It can handle interruptions and changes in the middle of its checking.

I run PerfectIt to check every document before I start editing and again before I submit the document to my clients. The final checks have saved me from embarrassing errors several times. The useful reports on abbreviations and comments make me look very efficient when I include them with the edited document for my clients. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have not found anything to dislike about PerfectIt. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As someone who spends most of my working days knee-deep in contracts, PerfectIt has been an invaluable part of my workflow since the first day I installed it. It helps me to ensure consistency in my documents and catch errors that are often very easy to miss when being proof-read by people. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish that PerfectIt had a grammar-checking feature similar to Grammarly Pro built-in. I use both products to ensure the cleanest possible proofreading and highest quality. I also would love to see the Chicago Style Guide as a standard feature rather than an add-on. I'd also love to see the software use a machine-learning algorithm to learn my personal style based on my choices over time (but now I'm asking a whole lot). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

When I'm copyediting a book, I always start by running PerfectIt: it shows me where issues are and lets me start building a style sheet quickly. It can be running in the background while I'm doing other tasks. I use it again at the end of the job to clean up loose ends, easily eliminate extra characters and spaces, etc. The recent integration with Chicago Manual of style is a huge plus: I'm generally using Chicago style but can easily make exceptions via the program. There's so much about an editor's work that can never be automated, and that's the part we should be able to focus on. PerfectIt makes that possible. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I'm a Mac user, and so far only a Cloud version of the program is available for Mac, which lacks a few features and crashes now and then. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.