Proofed | Editors | Editing in Overleaf
What is Overleaf?
Overleaf is an easy-to-use, browser-based, LaTeX editor that allows collaborative editing. It provides the PDF output directly alongside the LaTeX content, meaning you can read the text without having to look at the code. Additionally, when editing in Overleaf, the PDF can be recompiled (i.e. updated) after you make changes, allowing you to see exactly how your changes will look. Overleaf also features a commenting tool and track changes functionality.
How do we administrate Overleaf work?
The customer shares their Overleaf project with Proofed's Overleaf account.
We then provide you with the login credentials to our account so that you can access the customer's work.
You edit the text in Overleaf using track changes and comments as you would for a Word document. We do not provide a clean copy.
Before getting to work
Since Overleaf doesn't allow us to see older versions of an order, we recommend downloading Overleaf orders before you make any changes to them. If the customer later complains, we have a copy to fall back on.
Turning on Track Changes and Adding Comments
To turn on track changes and add comments, first activate Review mode by clicking [Review] at the top of the window. It will turn green once activated.
In review mode, you will see the track changes option. You should turn track changes on for either "You" or "Guests", depending on what's there. Track changes should be turned on for the entirety your work.
To add a comment, first use your cursor to select the text you wish to comment on. You'll then see the option to add a comment.
Navigating the Content
Overleaf offers two handy tools for navigating through the content.
You can click the above arrow to automatically bring up the tex content matching what you can currently see in the PDF.
You can also work the other way round and have the PDF automatically update to the section matching where you are in the tex content.
Additionally, you can open up the Contents folder to navigate through the various chapters/sections in their respective tex files.
Compile Settings
Overleaf offers a few compile settings.
You can choose to set the PDF to autocompile or not, but you won't need to change the other settings. If you have decided to stick with manually compiling the PDF, you can either just click the Recompile button or type [Command] + [Enter] to do so.
Source vs. Rich Text Mode
Overleaf offers two modes to view the tex content: "Source" and "Rich Text". Source features the content exactly as it appears in the tex files, while Rich Text mode hides some of the code and begins to add formatting elements to the text. Unfortunately, Rich Text mode is not currently stable while using track changes, so you will have to stick to Source mode.
We know Overleaf may seem daunting at first (aren't most novelty software systems?!), but if you are interested in learning more about it to use it to work on a document now or in the future, we recommend this video, which will give you a quick tutorial about how to work with Overleaf.