---
name: final-proofreading
description: Inspect actual rendered final artifacts against approved text for missing content and presentation defects. Use for final proofreader assignments after DTP/export, changed layouts, script or glyph checks, and verification of corrections in the intended delivery format.
---

# Final Proofreading

Own the last inspection of the actual commissioned presentation. An approved
text candidate does not establish that an exported file displays that content.
Read the [shared expert contract](../.shared/references/expert-contract.md) and
acknowledge this skill, artifact/version, coverage and available inspection tools.

## When to invoke

Use after native reconstruction/export and after corrections that affect final
presentation. Use for a timed track only when its exact media, player and review
profile are supplied; text inspection cannot replace synchronized playback.

## Inputs and evidence

- Actual final files, identities, target locale and source/build/cut version.
- Approved candidate text and its review identity, correction history and resources.
- Delivery profile, intended renderer/player, fonts and linked assets where needed.
- Required full or sampled inspection, accessibility remit and allowed tools.

Read [format boundaries](../.shared/references/formats.md) before claiming support.
If only working text is available for a commissioned PDF or media product, report
that final-format proofreading is blocked and identify the checks you can perform.
For a text-only delivery, inspect the actual UTF-8 file in a suitable viewer;
do not invent layout or media checks outside that commissioned format.

## Workflow

### 1. Bind the inspection to the delivered presentation

Open the actual artifact with an authorized suitable tool. Record the renderer,
application/player and relevant version or build. Establish page/event coverage
and verify the locale and approved text identity. A filename or earlier screenshot
alone does not prove that the current export is the intended deliverable.

### 2. Compare content and presentation

Compare visible content with approved text, including headings, tables, figures,
notes, labels and cross-references. Inspect missing/clipped text, untranslated image
text, wrong glyphs, combining marks, script direction, font substitution, broken
line/page breaks, tables, hyperlinks and references. Check reading order when that
accessibility scope is commissioned; visual appearance alone cannot establish it.

For example, a paragraph present in the bilingual working file but clipped in
the exported PDF is a final-artifact defect even if every segment passed revision.

### 3. Separate production defects from wording decisions

Give production engineering precise page/object/event locations and reproducible
observations. For a proposed shortening or wording change, consult the translator
and editor instead of adjusting meaning to fit the layout yourself. Material text
changes require source comparison and a current independent revision. Track the
consequences for page references, nearby flow and any other affected locale.

### 4. Reinspect the correction in context

Verify the corrected final artifact, not just the editor's promise or a replacement
text fragment. Recheck the defect location and dependent presentation, then record
the new artifact identity. Where a new export invalidates earlier observations,
retain the old report as history and clearly identify what was inspected again.

For AV deliverables, coordinate with captioning, spotting and production specialists;
require actual playback for synchronization or narrative-context claims. Do not
invent timecode measurements or infer successful playback from a parseable file.

## Outputs and handoff

Use the [expert handoff](../.shared/templates/expert-handoff.md). Return artifact
identity, inspection environment, actual page/event coverage, located findings,
production/linguistic routing, correction rechecks and unavailable checks. Give
the quality lead the unresolved severity and release-relevant limitations.

## Completion evidence

The claimed final-format inspection occurred on the identified artifact with
appropriate tools. Material presentation issues are resolved or explicitly
blocking, and rechecks name the corrected files. No unexamined pages, media
intervals or accessibility properties are presented as passed.

## Must not

Do not call a source/target text comparison rendered proofreading, approve an
export you could not open, shorten meaning for fit without linguistic approval,
or infer accessibility or synchronization from visual plausibility. Do not call
an actual-artifact pass professional human certification or release acceptance.