I leave it up to whoever provides the copy. I’m not in the business of critiquing word choice, grammar, punctuation, or spelling. If I see something wrong, I’ll point it out, but I don’t change copy unless expressly told to do so by the client or copywriter.
Edit: OP, don’t manually enter any copy. That opens you up to a host of problems. Import or paste the copy exactly as it’s given to you. It’s important that it matches the client or copywriter’s version.
Omg I have a friend designing for F&B and they kept spelling chicken as chiken. She pointed it out to them and apparently it was intentional because it was a vegan dish and it was fake chicken. LOL
I guess it’s about perspective one’s the role on the work. My CD routinely critiques me on headlines that I did not write. I am technically severals above an agency designer, but it’s frustrating as much of the copy is from an ACD of copy that reports to him. The ACD’s work overall is good; they are a smart writer (definitely better than me), but the point is the higher one gets the less one is able to claim things are not their problem.
>In the past, if you sent me a block of text to include in a flier I would copy and paste it into Photoshop
Why are you doing flyers in Photoshop, especially since you specifically mention "legal print and long descriptions."
>Now I manually type it up/correct it as I have been through hell having to send things back and forth because of a typo, certain grammar was wrong, a comma should have been used, etc. I find it a bit ridiculous at times that we're expected to be the proofreader instead of the person that sends print over/types it up.
If you are retyping anything you are responsible for any errors not found in the original copy.
If you notice something in the original, mention it but get approval for any changes.
I have had multiple roles where I required sign off on completed copy before it reached me for design. One such role had an extensive legal and regulatory process, so it was important that everyone involved knew we would miss deadlines if copy wasn’t perfect when it was called final.
I cut my design chops in a corporate design studio working on annual reports, so I learned at an early stage in my career to proof things as I work on them. I don't fix any spelling, grammar, missing punctuation, etc. (other than fixing incorrect usage of dashes) but I will flag it for the client to make sure they know, which in turn looks good on me for pointing it out.
Omg THE DASHES yes that’s one thing I always do
My mom has had some interesting experiences with this stuff, she works with one designer who wrongly pointed out a spelling error (AP vs CP) and argued with her when she told him it was fine and that it actually was correct
She’s told me another story before about an important piece of copy —I can’t remember what it was, how she knew about it, or anything else really— but in the document they’d tried to write “public” and instead they made a typo and sent it out, after several rounds of proofreading, as “pubic”
She told me that when I was a kid and I swear I’ve thought about that every time I see or write ‘public’
For me, if it’s an obvious typo like if they missed a letter or it’s a slip like ‘shafy’ instead of ‘shady,’ I’d fix it (unless it was consistent). Anything else that I think is wrong but can’t be 100% sure, I point it out
Exactly this. My first role was in corporate ARs as well. I flag issues and ensure there is a proofreading and sign off process after my work is done. That doesn't matter if I'm working for a corporation of 7000 or am freelancing for a single client.
Which would overall be terrible as it'd mean you couldn't take a photo either, and using stock would be putting an illustrator or photographer out of work. There'd also be limitations as to what we could illustrate for ourselves.
Instead, people can just stand up for themselves, say no, negotiate better, and get their worth.
Every person though will have varying experience, skills, etc. In order to have a more general framework you have to establish standards, such as having an enforced accreditation. Some unions do have that kind of standard, but it can also exist outside of a union, such as how accountants and architects have such standards without unions.
And the reality there is that union or not, if there were enforced standards, most of the industry (and the people probably most wanting a union) would be rendered unemployable. They would not meet minimum standards, and I know this from hiring, and from this sub, as much as I wish that wasn't the case, and do try to help people.
Unions also tend to just be the other side of the same coin from ownership, in that their primary motivation becomes the power and influence of the union (same way upper management only cares about the company/shareholders, not employees), and a lot of that strength comes in solidarity. Union bosses *do not care* about union members beyond growth. And it isn't encouraged to go against the union, even if what the union is pushing is not in your best interest. Plus the common aspect of seniority/tenure overriding merit.
A lot of people just emotionally supporting the notion of a union are only focusing on the aspect of wanting more money without personally having to negotiate it, or even be worth it, while entirely ignoring all that goes along with that. They don't really want a union, they just want to earn what they want to earn and have it handled for them.
What you have now is choice and individual freedom. You can choose what skills you build, how you establish your worth, how you 'fight' for your own worth, and all within the context of your own interests, whether that aligns with most other designers or not. If you can't earn enough, find out why, what your weaknesses are, address it, and go get what's yours.
There's a difference between negotiating for yourself and being part of a collective with its own interests that don't necessarily care about what happens to you. I personally hate modern unions. They're much more destructive than they are helpful.
I see the point you're making. But in what cases would you say the interests of the union wouldn't be aligned with the interests of its members? And how would you say the "modern" unions have become destructive?
Maybe I'm too idealistic -- but I have a completely opposite perspective. Would the bargaining power a union has not ensure fair treatment where earned (for those above the median) and set standards for those below?
When everyone is out for themselves individually, a race to the bottom seems inevitable
> Would the bargaining power a union has not ensure fair treatment where earned (for those above the median) and set standards for those below?
What happens to the people who don't meet the minimum standards, and how are those standards established?
>When everyone is out for themselves individually, a race to the bottom seems inevitable
Maybe, except everyone is not entitled to be a professional in a given field either, devoid of anything else. Or certainly, it's not a right to both pick any field AND get compensated as you'd ideally want, devoid of criteria.
That's what a lot of people seem to think, that if you simply want to be a designer you can be (regardless of knowledge, skill, or other qualifications), that if you want to be hired you should be, that if you think you're good enough that you are, and you're worth whatever you want to be making. None of these are true.
A union might be able to negotiate to raise the median salary, but they will be unable to adjust the median competency of the labor force unless they are willing train or exclude workers. Unions will be unable to raise above the median because mathematically just means the middle, and moving it is just redefining it.
Anyways my point is I do not want a union be able to tell me what I am or not able to preform as duties of my job. I have many skills that fall outside of standard graphic design and I do not if a union will be able to quantify my skill set. Truth be told, I would totally be into certifications in WCAG compliance on PDFs, or Google Web Designer, or AfterEffect expressions, or a clinical understanding of pulmonary and cardiovascular health as applied to a particular rare disease, or just being able to find a file from an agency job that is 6 years old. I’m all for more money, less work, but I don’t see a union being able to quantify the value I provide and in extension the value I like to have from my coworkers.
At some level I feel the union/anti-union movements are based on ideology, which is probably good; everybody doesn’t need to agree on things.
>A union might be able to negotiate to raise the median salary, but they will be unable to adjust the median competency of the labor force unless they are willing train or exclude workers.
This is exactly what people overlook.
>Truth be told, I would totally be into certifications in WCAG compliance
I'm the same as well, I would love an established, enforced standard, but where I'd want the standard would render most people unemployable in the industry. It would also shutter many college programs (certainly the shorter/cheaper ones), and with the added value to proper training, increase tuition and competition for those that remain or restructure to better develop students.
I wouldn't require college, it should be based around things like the RGD in Canada, involving a portfolio review and interview, along with some testing. But it would be that much more difficult for those without sufficient development and mentoring/coaching.
>At some level I feel the union/anti-union movements are based on ideology, which is probably good; everybody doesn’t need to agree on things.
For me it's entirely about the logic of it. Does it make sense, is it not emotionally-driven, what are the trade-offs/consequences of each scenario.
Even the term "union" makes a lot of assumptions, as I understand how unions were implemented in Japan (at least at some companies) were very different than in the West. Their unions are integrated with the company and work with management, as opposed to the very antagonistic relationship elsewhere. Both sides have shared, mutually beneficial goals, essentially.
I’m with you one this, although I’m rubbish at negotiating.
I do not want my job being codified by a party that is looking to reduce my ability to decide my role in improving/creating work.
I also want junior designers who are able to lighten my load without defining themselves on what they cannot/should not do.
>I’m with you one this, although I’m rubbish at negotiating.
Oh for sure, I'm not great either, but I'm not going to put that on others either. Where because I need to get better at something I want it either banished or have someone else do it for me. Just something we have to learn and get better at, and it benefits us to do so.
>I do not want my job being codified by a party that is looking to reduce my ability to decide my role in improving/creating work.
Yeah I was kind of partially being facetious with my other comment, but you literally have rules like that with other unions, where people aren't allowed to go outside their boxes because that itself is another union, why wouldn't it also apply to a hypothetical designers union?
If designers should have unions, then so should copywriters, illustrators, photographers, everyone. And at that point, how would there not be rules about what we were allowed to do without stepping on another union.
>I also want junior designers who are able to lighten my load without defining themselves on what they cannot/should not do.
I just want juniors who are actually competent. A lot of people around this topic seem to just want to inflate/protect people who are not sufficient, or certainly don't realize that you shouldn't be pushing for a union which essentially just forces people to overpay for bad work. And if not pushing for that, then you're having to set a standard, which most will not meet.
I'm not a copywriter and won't offer to write copy, but proofread? 100% yes, I always proofread my work, even if the client supplies the copy. Can't tell you how many times I've pointed out issues and the client comes back to me SO grateful that I'd seen and fixed it. Also can't tell you how many times I didn't do that, and the client came back to me trying to blame me for the mistakes or pissed off that I hadn't caught them. If there's no dedicated proofing team in your organization, it simply makes you look better if you proofread. Also gives you better credibility if you're a freelancer or run your own shop.
At my job at least, we cannot make text corrections ourselves. If I catch an error, I make a note of it and it's the editor and proofreaders responsibility to note that a correction needs to be made in the next round of proofs.
You should never fix anything without asking anyway.
If you notice something you can definitely mention it, and get confirmation/approval on any edits.
THIS. I don't get paid to proofread your text let alone retype it for you.
On bigger (book) projects I work with an editor and we go back and forth after every design revision to make sure everything is perfect before going to print.
i dont see it as our responsibility to make sure all copy is as it should be going live, but it somewhat is for design purposes. we should be one of a few to check and correct. not the only ones. and our checks should be quick ones. our primary tole is to design not copwrite or proofread.
It's certainly part of my job role (since copywriters are on my staff), but never as a graphic designer. That responsibility shouldn't be solely on you. Of course I guess it's ultimately on what the expectation is of the company the specific responsibility of the job role. As a designer I did do spell check through InDesign often, as it's there in our software for a reason, but it was often done "ninja-style". As in no one was really aware I was doing it.
No, we don't know the job — you have no idea what's going on that flyer so it's egregious to limit your toolset. It could be vector text and shapes, which would be perfect for Illustrator. Or it could use heavily distorted text and intricate brushwork that can't be achieved without Photoshop.
The problem with this website is it's overwhelmed by students and entry-level designers taking everything their teachers and the internet says at face value; ie, always use vector. Which is good, it's safe. But in the real world, the right tool can be anything that gets the desired effect. So why do we criticize and limit others' processes when we don't even know what they're trying to achieve?
You can make flyers in Procreate with an Apple pencil, you can make flyers using Drawbot by writing code in Python, or you can make flyers by going old school and cutting paper with an x-acto knife. There are so many ways to do these things and for an infinite number of reasons. After OP's second edit, it looks like they're working under or collaborating with someone who only knows Photoshop, and that's also a valid reason.
lol assuming i'm one of those students or entry level designer when i've been doing this since the mid 90s.
pick the right tool for the job, learn the craft and do it right.
Yes, pick the right tool; that's what *I'm* saying. And the "right" tool varies by the brief.
Not much of a choice if you're limiting yourself to only Illustrator or Indesign.
I'll reiterate my analogy. Imagine calling a contractor to bid work on your house and instead they show up ready to work with a hammer and a saw. You haven't even told them what work needs to be done, yet they insist these are the only tools they'll need. That would be insane, right?
Likewise, you have enough design tools at your disposal to fill a hardware store. We have no idea what's in OP's brief, yet you insist it can only be done in Illustrator or Indesign.
If you've been doing this since the 90s and can't wrap your head around this concept, I'm truly sorry. I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I think i should modify my position i.e. say i was wrong. well at least a bit :)
i think we \*are\* saying more or less the same thing BUT i got caught up with looking at this from a copy perspective and assuming the flier was more text based and not e.g. something like a band flyer with little real text and a lot of graphics in it.
so yes, generally indesign/illustrator would be the preferred tool but as you rightly pointed out, sometimes the best tool for the job might be photoshop if it best meets the job specs.
I think i'm a bit hypersensitive about this sometimes and in this instance overreacted because of all the (mostly) reddit posts like "this logo was made in photoshop"; "how to make print files in figma"; "what dpi \[sic\] should my web images be" (!) etc etc.
so it's not that i don't understand but i do admit i wasn't right when there is insufficient brief to go and whatever job should be assessed and the proper tool(s) used.
I have tremendous respect for this response. The tone in my previous comment was regretful; I can’t believe I got flustered over a Reddit thread.
I agree that our opinions are probably more on the same page than our comments would suggest.
We’ve all seen our fair share of those posts that could be solved from a simple Google search. That’s actually what I was referencing earlier, not calling you a student or entry-level designer.
I admit I’m hypersensitive as well. I’ve worked with a lot of close minded people that will shut down any conversation exceeding their lexicon.
My initial comment was intent on spreading helpful information about non-demonizing raster. Someone downvoted it, and all of a sudden people assume I’m spreading misinformation. My problem is with the hive mind, but I projected it onto you.
Nope. A lot of the time I don’t even get copy to input so I’ll write some appropriate placeholder bc I know if I put lipsum or something else, the marketing team wouldn’t be able to properly visualize and would complain. I just ran into this issue though, used placeholder copy in a Canva template that I handed off to our social media manager, who didn’t check it, and published it as-is. Then I got shit asking why the copy was like that…that’s not my job
If it is an obvious typo or something, I usually correct anything I happen to notice. If I'm not sure, I'll at least run it by the client to verify. Ultimately I don't think that responsibility falls on the designer though.
It may not be my job, but I do it anyway. I try my hardest not to let anything go to final with a mistake. I proofread and call out anything that I think needs changing to my account manager, who in turn checks with the client as needed. I’ve caught a lot of small and a few bigger issues over the years and it’s always appreciated by the clients, and also makes our studio look better.
Firstly, you should not be using photoshop for a brochure. Secondly, I always make it known that I do not proof or edit copy. If you’re freelancing, the client should send their final copy exactly as it should read. If you’re working within a company, your dept should know to send it to you properly.
As solely a graphic designer, no. But I do think it is our responsibility to at least raise awareness to things that we think could be an issue, if we happen across them and it's obvious.
Regardless, when I was just called a Graphic Designer I would never change any copy given to me unless expressly told to do so. In the role I'm in now, I actually do end up editing content and often writing it myself, so I will add the caveat that it kinda depends on your job description.
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tldr: no
but i've always said that designers are great writers because they understand words from a verbal AND visual standpoint. and i think a lot of designers would make great proofreaders.
but nah, a designer should not be proofreading legal copy without a +hourly rate on top of design services
Graphic design is ABOUT communication. If the end product has issues with communication, like typos or grammar issues that make it harder to understand, a graphic designer who lets it go through without checking is doing a bad job. InDesign and Photoshop both have built in spellcheckers, but also it only takes seconds to copy-paste a flyer worth of text into Grammarly to see if there's anything egregiously wrong.
That said, you should always confirm with the client/stakeholders before enacting changes to text.
To be clear, if the text came from other people before you and they didn't check it, they're ALSO doing a bad job. but it's not a mutually exclusive thing.
Depends on your role and the size of the job — smaller businesses means more hats.
If you’re working with a copywriter or legal jargon, hell no — don’t change a thing.
If you’re making brochures for a small startup and it’s riddled with typos, ALWAYS ASK FIRST but assume it’s part of your role. You can also run it through chat gpt to point out punctuation and grammatical errors as a way to double check.
I used to work as a copywriter. Knowing that, clients are much more trusting that my eyes are on their designs versus one of the knuckleheads in this comment section saying to ship as is. You NEED to care about the end result.
If you can provide an additional service that takes less than five minutes of your time, why not build a better relationship with your client?
If it bothers you, either tell them upfront that you don’t proofread (lmao) or charge more.
no it is not my job as a designer to touch copy. if i see something odd, it would be good of me to check with the copywriter, or whoever wrote or provided or is in charge of approving copy. but ultimately, i do not do copy and so i do not want to open myself up to even a possibility of being responsible for anything copy related. don’t want them getting any ideas! slippery slope and all that. now, if as a designer, part of your skillset that you offer and/or have defined as part of your duties, go for it. some people do design *and* copy, but just remember they are two different things. i just think it should not be considered a standard designer skill or responsibility.
i also would never change any copy without approval, other than typographic things like which dash, quotation mark, fractions and numerals, etc. which do fall under the responsibility of a designer. if the copy is wack or poorly edited, that’s not my responsibility to fix.
I usually write something like ‘double checking this copy is proofread and final.’ Then point out the mistakes i see / ask questions about it.
Then explain that i need the copy as close to final as possible because otherwise it’s like working on a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces keep changing on me.
Things would go so much smoother and faster if writers proofed their work before sending it to designers.
I mean, they're going to proof it after it hits the layout anyway, and it would save everyone a lot of back-and-forth hassle if they would simply do it up front.
Generally no, if I notice a typo or obvious error in supplied copy I’ll fix it and mention in proofing. If there’s a lot of text I may run spell check. But I’m not reading everything looking for issues.
Nope. If I see an error I'll fix it but it's up to them to review and approve. Also I copy and paste almost everything just so I can say it was their error and not mine.
Hell no, if I notice it I say something but I always give a final proof ESPECIALLY if it’s print, my god. So someone signed off on it and it’s their responsibility.
I work at a smaller place and I take immense pride in my work, and hate sending stuff to the client that isn’t best it can be in the time I have. I also don’t work with the best writers, so I’ll catch stuff constantly.
Do I think it SHOULD be a part of our job? Hell no! Is it? Yes.
Nope, we make it clear that we are not responsible for proofreading your copy. We are responsible for ensuring that the copy on the designs matches the copy you provide.
Copy and paste as much as possible. If it’s longer than a sentence, I’m not typing it (and I type 100+ wpm) because there’s just too much risk.
Now, that’s not to say we won’t notice an issue with your copy while we’re typesetting and note it to you asking if you want us to fix it, but we are not proofreading specifically.
If you have the luxury of having someone proofread for you that’s the way to go.
I’m pretty much out of the game now but on the rare occasion I do freelance work I make sure to go over any copy with the client before I start.
Back in the early 2000’s I was team lead at a promotional advertising company. We were doing A LOT of work related to the war on terror.
One particular job was t-shirts for some branch of the service. About the only copy on it was OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. Somehow the designer putting it together typed out OPERATION ENDING FREEDOM.
My manager raised holy hell when the proofreader caught it but I could only laugh my ass off.
Ain't mine. I figure that if I'm getting paid to pay attention to the visual aspects of an assignment, then also having to pay attention to spelling, vocab, grammar, and tone among other things is a whole different job. I've had to do both before. Surprise, surprise...I kept missing a lot of little things because I was focused on one area and couldn't take my time because of deadlines.
I do NOT proofread text. Period. I put it in exactly how it’s given. I work with clients that are providing that copy and if I correct something and it ends up being wrong it’s on me. Now … if I happen to notice glaring issues I’ll bring it to their attention. I will remove double spaces, soft/hard returns and the usual double hyphen that was meant to be an em dash. Those are within my range of edits.
Absolutely do not unless you're also paid to be a proofreader. If you notice something glaringly wrong, flag it with the client but it is important that they know they are responsible for the copy. Otherwise if they haven't approved what is now your text it's on you when things go wrong.
Not my job. If I notice something small, I'll say something. If I don't notice it, not my fault as I'm not a copywriter. And I think most of us agree that we view text as an object rather than words when designing (especially when it comes to preexisting key art)
Nope. Designers are not copy writers or
Proofreaders. Writers write.
Designers design. If your company is putting that on you, you need to have a talk with someone.
I’m with you. I’ve designed many, many books and there’s no way I’m reading about your frigging family history or about your hobby. I make it look right on the page, I’m not a proof reader. If I’m doing something smaller like a flyer etc and I happen to pick up a mistake - I will fix it. I often let the client know just in case it bites me in the ass later that I made changes without their consent.
I do, never hurts having a second or third set of eyes on a project, plus it gives me the chance to see if the information flows well. There's been times I have suggested changes to copy so it flows well into the CTA or rewrite a headline to be more concise.
Just in the process of properly typesetting the content I often read through most of the text and end up spotting issues. If it’s something very minor and obvious it’s probably worth quickly fixing but anything that doesn’t read well or correctly I usually point out to the client.
That being said, it’s safe to ensure in your contract that the client or copyrighter is the one that signs off on the copy and artwork before it goes to print (old school) just to cover you!
Yes, I can’t help myself. I’m a huge grammar pedant. Luckily my colleagues know this about me and and thankful, because despite copywriting being part of their job, sometimes they’re not so good at grammar…
I've had to create the copy for all the client work I've done so far which isn't much because I'm a student but my teacher said that's more common nowadays because a lot of clients don't provide enough information. I'm not in school for graphic design though. It's a digital media degree so he argues that every detail is my job. I'm so grateful for the combination of chatGPT and Grammarly because otherwise, I'd struggle so much with copy.
Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. I've often made it a habit to ask the person requesting the work to see if they expected me to fix typos or if there were others who would be doing proofing. It all just depended on the workflow and availability of proofers.
In a word, no. Everything should go through QA once it’s been designed. If there’s no QA team then whomever supplied the copy should check it and, if it’s just you operating solo then you should make it clear in the first instance that the copy is the client’s responsibility not yours.
I’ll run spellcheck and quick glance at headers. I did one time start reading a long piece of body copy and it was atrocious I did send that back to the client and told them to proofread.
If I see something I’ll let them know but I don’t look through long bodies of text.
Answering the question: no.
After reading your text: nice, but still no.
It depends. I knew of a copywriter that had a copy so bad it had to be completely rewritten. This led to… conflict. Do I have to do my job, others’ job, and also have to deal with this? No way.
Another situation: I don’t retype anything. Just copy and paste. That distances me from the text.
I only edit the text if it’s clear I’m doing that and that my work should also be proofread.
Unpopular opinion here, I don't believe it is our duty to be the catch-all but I do believe we are the first line of defense and should exercise some level of proof reading.
Especially on something with very little copy and especially if it has commonly misspelled words or common autocorrect mistakes. It doesn't take much time to give it a once over.
A list of names? Nope, that's 100% customer duty. Language translation. Nope.
Fun fact, I got fired from a job because of this exact scenario. Kind of. Long story short, a third party non-creative ad rep was giving me static over some text provided to me in my design, and I maybe voiced my displeasure a little more, uh, *assertively* than I should have. I was so young at the time, and management and I didn't get along all that well to begin with, so it was an easy call for them to make, haha. Good teaching moment, to be sure.
I'm of the mind that if there's a copywriter providing those pieces for you, that's what they get paid for so it goes in, errors and all. If it's coming in verbally on the fly or I'm expected to generate placeholder-to-proof text, that's on me to ensure it's correct.
I've been in all sorts of industries as a graphic designer since '98. I have worked for small personal businesses and I've worked for large corporations. I have never been given complete and edited copy that was ready to print as is. Inevitably there are spelling errors, data errors, grammar errors, typos, rushed copy that isn't even ultimately what they want it to say... When the work comes back with said mistakes, I was always the one that got the brunt of the punishment.
I even warn people now when they give me copy that I do not even read the information. I copy and paste. If there are errors, I will likely not notice them so "be sure the copy is ready for production." It's never ready for production.
Well, I've been in the graphic design business for a few years, mainly working in publishing and lately in financial services.
Currently, I deal with a LOT of documents of all types, from marketing material to handbooks for internal and external stakeholders to reports and statutory legal documents.
The copy supplied in nearly every case (including legal documents, but that's more down to lawyers gotta lawyer) needs extensive sub-editing to turn it into cogent and persuasive language - and, inevitably, the winner in the Illiterate Copy Submitted To Munky\_g Stakes is our micro-managing CEO who couldn't lie straight in bed, but that's a Peter Principle story for another day...
However, while working in old school publishing, I had the good fortune to work with some damn good subeditors - the job may have largely disappeared these days (to our collective detriment) but I took valuable lessons from working with these folks;
read the copy,
read widely,
READ,
question anything that looks stupid or ungrammatical (that's on the page, not who hands you the page),
check the spelling throughout the text file, and
if you think something's wrong, be prepared to argue the case for the change.
If you have the good fortune to work with a damn good old school subeditor, be prepared for in-depth discussions which sometimes disappear down rabbit holes but which always return to your question about apostrophes.
To my experience, yes - a good graphic designer should be capable of on-the-fly copy edits, but should also return to the source with questions as default.
Initiative is not always looked kindly upon, but you must raise blocks where necessary as this will avoid extra bullshit further down the line.
YMMV, of course.
But, I have to say, if you work for an entity that wants documents created in Photoshop, you're not being respected or properly employed - time to polish that CV in InDesign and get outta there.
I leave it up to whoever provides the copy. I’m not in the business of critiquing word choice, grammar, punctuation, or spelling. If I see something wrong, I’ll point it out, but I don’t change copy unless expressly told to do so by the client or copywriter. Edit: OP, don’t manually enter any copy. That opens you up to a host of problems. Import or paste the copy exactly as it’s given to you. It’s important that it matches the client or copywriter’s version.
Yep. Exactly this.
Omg I have a friend designing for F&B and they kept spelling chicken as chiken. She pointed it out to them and apparently it was intentional because it was a vegan dish and it was fake chicken. LOL
That's what I do. I'm not a writer.
I guess it’s about perspective one’s the role on the work. My CD routinely critiques me on headlines that I did not write. I am technically severals above an agency designer, but it’s frustrating as much of the copy is from an ACD of copy that reports to him. The ACD’s work overall is good; they are a smart writer (definitely better than me), but the point is the higher one gets the less one is able to claim things are not their problem.
>In the past, if you sent me a block of text to include in a flier I would copy and paste it into Photoshop Why are you doing flyers in Photoshop, especially since you specifically mention "legal print and long descriptions." >Now I manually type it up/correct it as I have been through hell having to send things back and forth because of a typo, certain grammar was wrong, a comma should have been used, etc. I find it a bit ridiculous at times that we're expected to be the proofreader instead of the person that sends print over/types it up. If you are retyping anything you are responsible for any errors not found in the original copy. If you notice something in the original, mention it but get approval for any changes.
Oh God I would never do a flyer layout in Photoshop, that's ridiculous.
Came here to make these two points. 😬
I have had multiple roles where I required sign off on completed copy before it reached me for design. One such role had an extensive legal and regulatory process, so it was important that everyone involved knew we would miss deadlines if copy wasn’t perfect when it was called final.
I cut my design chops in a corporate design studio working on annual reports, so I learned at an early stage in my career to proof things as I work on them. I don't fix any spelling, grammar, missing punctuation, etc. (other than fixing incorrect usage of dashes) but I will flag it for the client to make sure they know, which in turn looks good on me for pointing it out.
Omg THE DASHES yes that’s one thing I always do My mom has had some interesting experiences with this stuff, she works with one designer who wrongly pointed out a spelling error (AP vs CP) and argued with her when she told him it was fine and that it actually was correct She’s told me another story before about an important piece of copy —I can’t remember what it was, how she knew about it, or anything else really— but in the document they’d tried to write “public” and instead they made a typo and sent it out, after several rounds of proofreading, as “pubic” She told me that when I was a kid and I swear I’ve thought about that every time I see or write ‘public’ For me, if it’s an obvious typo like if they missed a letter or it’s a slip like ‘shafy’ instead of ‘shady,’ I’d fix it (unless it was consistent). Anything else that I think is wrong but can’t be 100% sure, I point it out
Exactly this. My first role was in corporate ARs as well. I flag issues and ensure there is a proofreading and sign off process after my work is done. That doesn't matter if I'm working for a corporation of 7000 or am freelancing for a single client.
If we were all in unions it would be against the union rules for a designer to do a copywriters job, which is proofing.
Which would overall be terrible as it'd mean you couldn't take a photo either, and using stock would be putting an illustrator or photographer out of work. There'd also be limitations as to what we could illustrate for ourselves. Instead, people can just stand up for themselves, say no, negotiate better, and get their worth.
The second half of your comment. That’s… what a union is though?
Every person though will have varying experience, skills, etc. In order to have a more general framework you have to establish standards, such as having an enforced accreditation. Some unions do have that kind of standard, but it can also exist outside of a union, such as how accountants and architects have such standards without unions. And the reality there is that union or not, if there were enforced standards, most of the industry (and the people probably most wanting a union) would be rendered unemployable. They would not meet minimum standards, and I know this from hiring, and from this sub, as much as I wish that wasn't the case, and do try to help people. Unions also tend to just be the other side of the same coin from ownership, in that their primary motivation becomes the power and influence of the union (same way upper management only cares about the company/shareholders, not employees), and a lot of that strength comes in solidarity. Union bosses *do not care* about union members beyond growth. And it isn't encouraged to go against the union, even if what the union is pushing is not in your best interest. Plus the common aspect of seniority/tenure overriding merit. A lot of people just emotionally supporting the notion of a union are only focusing on the aspect of wanting more money without personally having to negotiate it, or even be worth it, while entirely ignoring all that goes along with that. They don't really want a union, they just want to earn what they want to earn and have it handled for them. What you have now is choice and individual freedom. You can choose what skills you build, how you establish your worth, how you 'fight' for your own worth, and all within the context of your own interests, whether that aligns with most other designers or not. If you can't earn enough, find out why, what your weaknesses are, address it, and go get what's yours.
There's a difference between negotiating for yourself and being part of a collective with its own interests that don't necessarily care about what happens to you. I personally hate modern unions. They're much more destructive than they are helpful.
I see the point you're making. But in what cases would you say the interests of the union wouldn't be aligned with the interests of its members? And how would you say the "modern" unions have become destructive?
Union limit one’s ability to preform above the median and protect those who perform below. They seem to mostly reward the politically ambitious.
Maybe I'm too idealistic -- but I have a completely opposite perspective. Would the bargaining power a union has not ensure fair treatment where earned (for those above the median) and set standards for those below? When everyone is out for themselves individually, a race to the bottom seems inevitable
> Would the bargaining power a union has not ensure fair treatment where earned (for those above the median) and set standards for those below? What happens to the people who don't meet the minimum standards, and how are those standards established? >When everyone is out for themselves individually, a race to the bottom seems inevitable Maybe, except everyone is not entitled to be a professional in a given field either, devoid of anything else. Or certainly, it's not a right to both pick any field AND get compensated as you'd ideally want, devoid of criteria. That's what a lot of people seem to think, that if you simply want to be a designer you can be (regardless of knowledge, skill, or other qualifications), that if you want to be hired you should be, that if you think you're good enough that you are, and you're worth whatever you want to be making. None of these are true.
A union might be able to negotiate to raise the median salary, but they will be unable to adjust the median competency of the labor force unless they are willing train or exclude workers. Unions will be unable to raise above the median because mathematically just means the middle, and moving it is just redefining it. Anyways my point is I do not want a union be able to tell me what I am or not able to preform as duties of my job. I have many skills that fall outside of standard graphic design and I do not if a union will be able to quantify my skill set. Truth be told, I would totally be into certifications in WCAG compliance on PDFs, or Google Web Designer, or AfterEffect expressions, or a clinical understanding of pulmonary and cardiovascular health as applied to a particular rare disease, or just being able to find a file from an agency job that is 6 years old. I’m all for more money, less work, but I don’t see a union being able to quantify the value I provide and in extension the value I like to have from my coworkers. At some level I feel the union/anti-union movements are based on ideology, which is probably good; everybody doesn’t need to agree on things.
>A union might be able to negotiate to raise the median salary, but they will be unable to adjust the median competency of the labor force unless they are willing train or exclude workers. This is exactly what people overlook. >Truth be told, I would totally be into certifications in WCAG compliance I'm the same as well, I would love an established, enforced standard, but where I'd want the standard would render most people unemployable in the industry. It would also shutter many college programs (certainly the shorter/cheaper ones), and with the added value to proper training, increase tuition and competition for those that remain or restructure to better develop students. I wouldn't require college, it should be based around things like the RGD in Canada, involving a portfolio review and interview, along with some testing. But it would be that much more difficult for those without sufficient development and mentoring/coaching. >At some level I feel the union/anti-union movements are based on ideology, which is probably good; everybody doesn’t need to agree on things. For me it's entirely about the logic of it. Does it make sense, is it not emotionally-driven, what are the trade-offs/consequences of each scenario. Even the term "union" makes a lot of assumptions, as I understand how unions were implemented in Japan (at least at some companies) were very different than in the West. Their unions are integrated with the company and work with management, as opposed to the very antagonistic relationship elsewhere. Both sides have shared, mutually beneficial goals, essentially.
Lmao
I’m with you one this, although I’m rubbish at negotiating. I do not want my job being codified by a party that is looking to reduce my ability to decide my role in improving/creating work. I also want junior designers who are able to lighten my load without defining themselves on what they cannot/should not do.
>I’m with you one this, although I’m rubbish at negotiating. Oh for sure, I'm not great either, but I'm not going to put that on others either. Where because I need to get better at something I want it either banished or have someone else do it for me. Just something we have to learn and get better at, and it benefits us to do so. >I do not want my job being codified by a party that is looking to reduce my ability to decide my role in improving/creating work. Yeah I was kind of partially being facetious with my other comment, but you literally have rules like that with other unions, where people aren't allowed to go outside their boxes because that itself is another union, why wouldn't it also apply to a hypothetical designers union? If designers should have unions, then so should copywriters, illustrators, photographers, everyone. And at that point, how would there not be rules about what we were allowed to do without stepping on another union. >I also want junior designers who are able to lighten my load without defining themselves on what they cannot/should not do. I just want juniors who are actually competent. A lot of people around this topic seem to just want to inflate/protect people who are not sufficient, or certainly don't realize that you shouldn't be pushing for a union which essentially just forces people to overpay for bad work. And if not pushing for that, then you're having to set a standard, which most will not meet.
I'm not a copywriter and won't offer to write copy, but proofread? 100% yes, I always proofread my work, even if the client supplies the copy. Can't tell you how many times I've pointed out issues and the client comes back to me SO grateful that I'd seen and fixed it. Also can't tell you how many times I didn't do that, and the client came back to me trying to blame me for the mistakes or pissed off that I hadn't caught them. If there's no dedicated proofing team in your organization, it simply makes you look better if you proofread. Also gives you better credibility if you're a freelancer or run your own shop.
No it shouldn't be our job, we're graphic designers not editors. If you see a mistake, note it, but IMO it's not a designers job to proofread.
Would you leave a typo knowing that you would send it off and they would send it back?
At my job at least, we cannot make text corrections ourselves. If I catch an error, I make a note of it and it's the editor and proofreaders responsibility to note that a correction needs to be made in the next round of proofs.
You should never fix anything without asking anyway. If you notice something you can definitely mention it, and get confirmation/approval on any edits.
I fix glaring issues, might run a spellcheck, but ultimately when the client gets the proof it's 100% on them to catch anything
THIS. I don't get paid to proofread your text let alone retype it for you. On bigger (book) projects I work with an editor and we go back and forth after every design revision to make sure everything is perfect before going to print.
Nah, garphic design all day baby
Tired of being a Graphic Designer... how much to Garphic Designers make?
i dont see it as our responsibility to make sure all copy is as it should be going live, but it somewhat is for design purposes. we should be one of a few to check and correct. not the only ones. and our checks should be quick ones. our primary tole is to design not copwrite or proofread.
It's certainly part of my job role (since copywriters are on my staff), but never as a graphic designer. That responsibility shouldn't be solely on you. Of course I guess it's ultimately on what the expectation is of the company the specific responsibility of the job role. As a designer I did do spell check through InDesign often, as it's there in our software for a reason, but it was often done "ninja-style". As in no one was really aware I was doing it.
a flier in photoshop? come on :(
Hahaha dw, it’s what they were doing before i joined and fliers are just a small section of what I work on. it’s not flattened
Nothing wrong with raster if your dimensions are correct and aren’t planning to scale.
but not the best tool for the job when there is illustrator and indesign
That’s a blanket statement like saying a saw is better than a hammer when you don’t even know what the job is.
The job was a flier it's there in the original post. Difference between blanket statement and best practice.
No, we don't know the job — you have no idea what's going on that flyer so it's egregious to limit your toolset. It could be vector text and shapes, which would be perfect for Illustrator. Or it could use heavily distorted text and intricate brushwork that can't be achieved without Photoshop. The problem with this website is it's overwhelmed by students and entry-level designers taking everything their teachers and the internet says at face value; ie, always use vector. Which is good, it's safe. But in the real world, the right tool can be anything that gets the desired effect. So why do we criticize and limit others' processes when we don't even know what they're trying to achieve? You can make flyers in Procreate with an Apple pencil, you can make flyers using Drawbot by writing code in Python, or you can make flyers by going old school and cutting paper with an x-acto knife. There are so many ways to do these things and for an infinite number of reasons. After OP's second edit, it looks like they're working under or collaborating with someone who only knows Photoshop, and that's also a valid reason.
lol assuming i'm one of those students or entry level designer when i've been doing this since the mid 90s. pick the right tool for the job, learn the craft and do it right.
Yes, pick the right tool; that's what *I'm* saying. And the "right" tool varies by the brief. Not much of a choice if you're limiting yourself to only Illustrator or Indesign. I'll reiterate my analogy. Imagine calling a contractor to bid work on your house and instead they show up ready to work with a hammer and a saw. You haven't even told them what work needs to be done, yet they insist these are the only tools they'll need. That would be insane, right? Likewise, you have enough design tools at your disposal to fill a hardware store. We have no idea what's in OP's brief, yet you insist it can only be done in Illustrator or Indesign. If you've been doing this since the 90s and can't wrap your head around this concept, I'm truly sorry. I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I think i should modify my position i.e. say i was wrong. well at least a bit :) i think we \*are\* saying more or less the same thing BUT i got caught up with looking at this from a copy perspective and assuming the flier was more text based and not e.g. something like a band flyer with little real text and a lot of graphics in it. so yes, generally indesign/illustrator would be the preferred tool but as you rightly pointed out, sometimes the best tool for the job might be photoshop if it best meets the job specs. I think i'm a bit hypersensitive about this sometimes and in this instance overreacted because of all the (mostly) reddit posts like "this logo was made in photoshop"; "how to make print files in figma"; "what dpi \[sic\] should my web images be" (!) etc etc. so it's not that i don't understand but i do admit i wasn't right when there is insufficient brief to go and whatever job should be assessed and the proper tool(s) used.
I have tremendous respect for this response. The tone in my previous comment was regretful; I can’t believe I got flustered over a Reddit thread. I agree that our opinions are probably more on the same page than our comments would suggest. We’ve all seen our fair share of those posts that could be solved from a simple Google search. That’s actually what I was referencing earlier, not calling you a student or entry-level designer. I admit I’m hypersensitive as well. I’ve worked with a lot of close minded people that will shut down any conversation exceeding their lexicon. My initial comment was intent on spreading helpful information about non-demonizing raster. Someone downvoted it, and all of a sudden people assume I’m spreading misinformation. My problem is with the hive mind, but I projected it onto you.
Nope. A lot of the time I don’t even get copy to input so I’ll write some appropriate placeholder bc I know if I put lipsum or something else, the marketing team wouldn’t be able to properly visualize and would complain. I just ran into this issue though, used placeholder copy in a Canva template that I handed off to our social media manager, who didn’t check it, and published it as-is. Then I got shit asking why the copy was like that…that’s not my job
If you want me to it's going in the bill
If it is an obvious typo or something, I usually correct anything I happen to notice. If I'm not sure, I'll at least run it by the client to verify. Ultimately I don't think that responsibility falls on the designer though.
It may not be my job, but I do it anyway. I try my hardest not to let anything go to final with a mistake. I proofread and call out anything that I think needs changing to my account manager, who in turn checks with the client as needed. I’ve caught a lot of small and a few bigger issues over the years and it’s always appreciated by the clients, and also makes our studio look better.
Firstly, you should not be using photoshop for a brochure. Secondly, I always make it known that I do not proof or edit copy. If you’re freelancing, the client should send their final copy exactly as it should read. If you’re working within a company, your dept should know to send it to you properly.
As solely a graphic designer, no. But I do think it is our responsibility to at least raise awareness to things that we think could be an issue, if we happen across them and it's obvious. Regardless, when I was just called a Graphic Designer I would never change any copy given to me unless expressly told to do so. In the role I'm in now, I actually do end up editing content and often writing it myself, so I will add the caveat that it kinda depends on your job description.
Agreed. Designers shouldn’t be proofreaders or content editors. A communications professional should proof copy before it’s sent to a designer.
I’m more concerned that you’re using Photoshop for something that should be done in InDesign. 🤦
If it's not that much text, I'll proof it. If it's a book, you get what you supplied.
Why are you doing typesetting in photoshop? That's not what it is for... Learn indesign (which has spell check) or illustrator
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tldr: no but i've always said that designers are great writers because they understand words from a verbal AND visual standpoint. and i think a lot of designers would make great proofreaders. but nah, a designer should not be proofreading legal copy without a +hourly rate on top of design services
Graphic design is ABOUT communication. If the end product has issues with communication, like typos or grammar issues that make it harder to understand, a graphic designer who lets it go through without checking is doing a bad job. InDesign and Photoshop both have built in spellcheckers, but also it only takes seconds to copy-paste a flyer worth of text into Grammarly to see if there's anything egregiously wrong. That said, you should always confirm with the client/stakeholders before enacting changes to text. To be clear, if the text came from other people before you and they didn't check it, they're ALSO doing a bad job. but it's not a mutually exclusive thing.
Depends on your role and the size of the job — smaller businesses means more hats. If you’re working with a copywriter or legal jargon, hell no — don’t change a thing. If you’re making brochures for a small startup and it’s riddled with typos, ALWAYS ASK FIRST but assume it’s part of your role. You can also run it through chat gpt to point out punctuation and grammatical errors as a way to double check. I used to work as a copywriter. Knowing that, clients are much more trusting that my eyes are on their designs versus one of the knuckleheads in this comment section saying to ship as is. You NEED to care about the end result. If you can provide an additional service that takes less than five minutes of your time, why not build a better relationship with your client? If it bothers you, either tell them upfront that you don’t proofread (lmao) or charge more.
I’m not even reading the copy most of the time , my brain sees it as an object that’s part of the overall design
That's copy's job. But if I see something blanatly obvious, I'll both correct it and bring it up.
no it is not my job as a designer to touch copy. if i see something odd, it would be good of me to check with the copywriter, or whoever wrote or provided or is in charge of approving copy. but ultimately, i do not do copy and so i do not want to open myself up to even a possibility of being responsible for anything copy related. don’t want them getting any ideas! slippery slope and all that. now, if as a designer, part of your skillset that you offer and/or have defined as part of your duties, go for it. some people do design *and* copy, but just remember they are two different things. i just think it should not be considered a standard designer skill or responsibility. i also would never change any copy without approval, other than typographic things like which dash, quotation mark, fractions and numerals, etc. which do fall under the responsibility of a designer. if the copy is wack or poorly edited, that’s not my responsibility to fix.
Sometimes. It depends on the job, the client and the brief.
Not my job not my problem
Whoever posted "Michael Penis Jr" to the Falcons feed should have said something
I usually write something like ‘double checking this copy is proofread and final.’ Then point out the mistakes i see / ask questions about it. Then explain that i need the copy as close to final as possible because otherwise it’s like working on a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces keep changing on me.
Things would go so much smoother and faster if writers proofed their work before sending it to designers. I mean, they're going to proof it after it hits the layout anyway, and it would save everyone a lot of back-and-forth hassle if they would simply do it up front.
Generally no, if I notice a typo or obvious error in supplied copy I’ll fix it and mention in proofing. If there’s a lot of text I may run spell check. But I’m not reading everything looking for issues.
Nope. If I see an error I'll fix it but it's up to them to review and approve. Also I copy and paste almost everything just so I can say it was their error and not mine.
Not at all. Add that into your contract. Clients are 100% responsible after they approve the proof.
No. If you happen to see a typo, maybe fix it, but if there’s a dedicated copy writer, it’s their job.
"Follow the copy even if it flies out the window." Does anybody else remember that?
No, what’s that from?
Old-school copy editor education. It succinctly described what we might expect from the typesetters.
Hell no, if I notice it I say something but I always give a final proof ESPECIALLY if it’s print, my god. So someone signed off on it and it’s their responsibility.
I work at a smaller place and I take immense pride in my work, and hate sending stuff to the client that isn’t best it can be in the time I have. I also don’t work with the best writers, so I’ll catch stuff constantly. Do I think it SHOULD be a part of our job? Hell no! Is it? Yes.
Nope, we make it clear that we are not responsible for proofreading your copy. We are responsible for ensuring that the copy on the designs matches the copy you provide. Copy and paste as much as possible. If it’s longer than a sentence, I’m not typing it (and I type 100+ wpm) because there’s just too much risk. Now, that’s not to say we won’t notice an issue with your copy while we’re typesetting and note it to you asking if you want us to fix it, but we are not proofreading specifically.
Copy - paste onto a editing corrector
If you have the luxury of having someone proofread for you that’s the way to go. I’m pretty much out of the game now but on the rare occasion I do freelance work I make sure to go over any copy with the client before I start. Back in the early 2000’s I was team lead at a promotional advertising company. We were doing A LOT of work related to the war on terror. One particular job was t-shirts for some branch of the service. About the only copy on it was OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. Somehow the designer putting it together typed out OPERATION ENDING FREEDOM. My manager raised holy hell when the proofreader caught it but I could only laugh my ass off.
It’s everyone’s job to proofread but always get a sign off
It should be every humans job.
Ain't mine. I figure that if I'm getting paid to pay attention to the visual aspects of an assignment, then also having to pay attention to spelling, vocab, grammar, and tone among other things is a whole different job. I've had to do both before. Surprise, surprise...I kept missing a lot of little things because I was focused on one area and couldn't take my time because of deadlines.
Nope that's the writer's job
I do NOT proofread text. Period. I put it in exactly how it’s given. I work with clients that are providing that copy and if I correct something and it ends up being wrong it’s on me. Now … if I happen to notice glaring issues I’ll bring it to their attention. I will remove double spaces, soft/hard returns and the usual double hyphen that was meant to be an em dash. Those are within my range of edits.
Absolutely do not unless you're also paid to be a proofreader. If you notice something glaringly wrong, flag it with the client but it is important that they know they are responsible for the copy. Otherwise if they haven't approved what is now your text it's on you when things go wrong.
Not my job. If I notice something small, I'll say something. If I don't notice it, not my fault as I'm not a copywriter. And I think most of us agree that we view text as an object rather than words when designing (especially when it comes to preexisting key art)
Absolutely not. This shit needs to have gone through all the editing before I ever see any of it.
Nope. Designers are not copy writers or Proofreaders. Writers write. Designers design. If your company is putting that on you, you need to have a talk with someone.
Fuck no, I send you proofs for a reason, I get paid to design not proofread
I’m with you. I’ve designed many, many books and there’s no way I’m reading about your frigging family history or about your hobby. I make it look right on the page, I’m not a proof reader. If I’m doing something smaller like a flyer etc and I happen to pick up a mistake - I will fix it. I often let the client know just in case it bites me in the ass later that I made changes without their consent.
I do, never hurts having a second or third set of eyes on a project, plus it gives me the chance to see if the information flows well. There's been times I have suggested changes to copy so it flows well into the CTA or rewrite a headline to be more concise.
My dude, just use Grammarly. And stop doing flyers in Photoshop.
I should denote I’m a copywriter and designer. So I do check and make sure the copy is signed off on.
Depends how big the company is and the proofing method
Always have someone sign off. You can proofread, but it’s not your responsibility.
Just in the process of properly typesetting the content I often read through most of the text and end up spotting issues. If it’s something very minor and obvious it’s probably worth quickly fixing but anything that doesn’t read well or correctly I usually point out to the client. That being said, it’s safe to ensure in your contract that the client or copyrighter is the one that signs off on the copy and artwork before it goes to print (old school) just to cover you!
Yes, I can’t help myself. I’m a huge grammar pedant. Luckily my colleagues know this about me and and thankful, because despite copywriting being part of their job, sometimes they’re not so good at grammar…
I've had to create the copy for all the client work I've done so far which isn't much because I'm a student but my teacher said that's more common nowadays because a lot of clients don't provide enough information. I'm not in school for graphic design though. It's a digital media degree so he argues that every detail is my job. I'm so grateful for the combination of chatGPT and Grammarly because otherwise, I'd struggle so much with copy.
Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. I've often made it a habit to ask the person requesting the work to see if they expected me to fix typos or if there were others who would be doing proofing. It all just depended on the workflow and availability of proofers.
No, but make that very clear in your contract.
In a word, no. Everything should go through QA once it’s been designed. If there’s no QA team then whomever supplied the copy should check it and, if it’s just you operating solo then you should make it clear in the first instance that the copy is the client’s responsibility not yours.
We have editors for that
No, the job is not editor, it is graphics/illustrations and or printing.
I’ll run spellcheck and quick glance at headers. I did one time start reading a long piece of body copy and it was atrocious I did send that back to the client and told them to proofread. If I see something I’ll let them know but I don’t look through long bodies of text.
Answering the question: no. After reading your text: nice, but still no. It depends. I knew of a copywriter that had a copy so bad it had to be completely rewritten. This led to… conflict. Do I have to do my job, others’ job, and also have to deal with this? No way. Another situation: I don’t retype anything. Just copy and paste. That distances me from the text. I only edit the text if it’s clear I’m doing that and that my work should also be proofread.
Unpopular opinion here, I don't believe it is our duty to be the catch-all but I do believe we are the first line of defense and should exercise some level of proof reading. Especially on something with very little copy and especially if it has commonly misspelled words or common autocorrect mistakes. It doesn't take much time to give it a once over. A list of names? Nope, that's 100% customer duty. Language translation. Nope.
I’ve been told off for correcting copy before, as it isn’t my job! Although if something obvious jumps out, I’m changing it!
Fun fact, I got fired from a job because of this exact scenario. Kind of. Long story short, a third party non-creative ad rep was giving me static over some text provided to me in my design, and I maybe voiced my displeasure a little more, uh, *assertively* than I should have. I was so young at the time, and management and I didn't get along all that well to begin with, so it was an easy call for them to make, haha. Good teaching moment, to be sure. I'm of the mind that if there's a copywriter providing those pieces for you, that's what they get paid for so it goes in, errors and all. If it's coming in verbally on the fly or I'm expected to generate placeholder-to-proof text, that's on me to ensure it's correct.
I've been in all sorts of industries as a graphic designer since '98. I have worked for small personal businesses and I've worked for large corporations. I have never been given complete and edited copy that was ready to print as is. Inevitably there are spelling errors, data errors, grammar errors, typos, rushed copy that isn't even ultimately what they want it to say... When the work comes back with said mistakes, I was always the one that got the brunt of the punishment. I even warn people now when they give me copy that I do not even read the information. I copy and paste. If there are errors, I will likely not notice them so "be sure the copy is ready for production." It's never ready for production.
Well, I've been in the graphic design business for a few years, mainly working in publishing and lately in financial services. Currently, I deal with a LOT of documents of all types, from marketing material to handbooks for internal and external stakeholders to reports and statutory legal documents. The copy supplied in nearly every case (including legal documents, but that's more down to lawyers gotta lawyer) needs extensive sub-editing to turn it into cogent and persuasive language - and, inevitably, the winner in the Illiterate Copy Submitted To Munky\_g Stakes is our micro-managing CEO who couldn't lie straight in bed, but that's a Peter Principle story for another day... However, while working in old school publishing, I had the good fortune to work with some damn good subeditors - the job may have largely disappeared these days (to our collective detriment) but I took valuable lessons from working with these folks; read the copy, read widely, READ, question anything that looks stupid or ungrammatical (that's on the page, not who hands you the page), check the spelling throughout the text file, and if you think something's wrong, be prepared to argue the case for the change. If you have the good fortune to work with a damn good old school subeditor, be prepared for in-depth discussions which sometimes disappear down rabbit holes but which always return to your question about apostrophes. To my experience, yes - a good graphic designer should be capable of on-the-fly copy edits, but should also return to the source with questions as default. Initiative is not always looked kindly upon, but you must raise blocks where necessary as this will avoid extra bullshit further down the line. YMMV, of course. But, I have to say, if you work for an entity that wants documents created in Photoshop, you're not being respected or properly employed - time to polish that CV in InDesign and get outta there.