What is redlining?

Redlining serves the same purpose as blacklining—to show the difference(s) between two (or more) versions of the same document. Blacklining reveals the exact location where text or data in a document has been deleted, replaced, or added as all-new text.

Historically, the process was performed manually by legal proofreaders. It is now almost entirely done by software designed specifically for that purpose. Nonetheless, as a legal proofreader you must understand redlining/blacklining and be able to do it. Most legal proofreading agencies in New York will test your knowledge of redlining/blacklining in some way.

What is the difference between redlining and blacklining?

Easy. In EDGAR (both EDGAR ASCII and EDGAR HTML) we call it redlining. In wordprocessing and typesetting, we refer to it as blacklining.

In EDGAR ASCII, <R> and </R> tags are used to indicate deleted, replaced, or added text within a paragraph. (You can probably guess what the "R" stands for!) If you are working with EDGAR HTML, you will find that magenta-colored text (if you view the document on a computer screen) indicates changes to text. The printed version, however, of a redlined EDGAR HTML document will show up with the redlined section in a light greyish text if it is printed on a black and white laser printer (this may vary from firm to firm, depending on the software they use). So, to reiterate: In EDGAR documents, the method for showing where text has been added, deleted, or replaced is referred to as redlining.

If you are working on non-EDGAR documents, the process of showing changes to a document will be referred to as blacklining—so here "blacklining" is...blacklining.

The good news is that if you can blackline, you can redline. The important point to keep in mind is not so much what you call it, but rather how you do it—there are a few easy to learn differences to keep in mind depending on whether you are working with wordprocessed documents and typeset documents, or EDGAR documents.

Those who have taken our legal proofreading class finish the class with a firm grasp of redlining and blacklining. We deal with the subject thoroughly and make sure that you have plenty of practice before you leave the class and before you test at any of the legal proofreading agencies in New York. You will complete blacklining and redlining exercises, homework, and blacklining practice tests by the time you have finished our legal proofreading class!