I’ve given quite a lot of space to proofreading, lately, by way of emphasising that proofreading is a terrifically important part of writing a sefer. By way of closing this subject, I’m just going to draw your attention to the combination of tradition and technology we use here.

Some people find it very disconcerting that we use a computer at all. But a computer has a lot of the right skills; it’s a lovely example of using technology to take a traditional process and improve the way we do it.

Other people ask why there is any need for humans at all; “why can’t the computer do it all?” Fortunately, the computer has limitations.

For instance, the letters are very slightly three-dimensional; a human, with stereo vision, can tell the difference between ink and shadow, and a scanner can’t always. Sometimes it’ll interpret a shadow as a crucial fine line, and report a letter kosher when it really isn’t.

So a scan is an excellent tool – I think it’s one of the finer syntheses of technological development and ancient ritual – but it does not replace all the other proofreading tools we use, and it is not a substitute for hard work and knowing your stuff. We still need the subtlety which humans can bring to the task.

Final fact: proofreading takes about 1/12 of the total project time.