How to redline a document or contract using best practices.

Redlining helps you create solid, waterproof contracts. Learn the best practices to redline your documents.

All documents and contracts go through several drafts before reaching their final form. Redlining is the process of tracking changes between document drafts. The name derives from those familiar red lines word processing programs add under text when they track changes.

Best practices for redlining.

Appropriate redlining is essential to reaching a successful final document. Here are tips to help you redline documents right.

• Track every change: Make sure you track and preserve every change made to the document. Any undocumented changes could lead to other parties challenging the document’s validity.
• Keep everyone updated: Before you start redlining, make sure all parties know who is contributing to the document. Request the same information from the other parties to maintain a single focus.
• Know your software: You can redline documents with many different word processors and editors. Study the ins and outs of your choice and learn its strengths and limitations.
• Provide multiple document versions: When it’s time for your partner to do their review, send them the redlined document, a version with the changes put in, and the original unaltered document.
• Keep your language legally compliant: Make sure you don’t introduce changes that might make your document non-compliant with legal regulations and standards.
• Check for errors: Run a grammar check and triple-check all phrasing and wording. Poorly written language could introduce easily exploitable loopholes into your documents.
• Take your time: Don’t rush the redlining and review process. Business can be hectic, but make sure you don’t overlook anything due to hurry.

Best practices for redlining legal documents.

Contract redlining best practices look a little different in the context of legal documents. Here are some things to keep in mind the next time you’re redlining legal documents:

• Review with a lawyer. A contract lawyer can be an invaluable resource to help confirm that all crucial aspects of the contract remain.
• Redraft with clarity. Consider using an addendum to outline your redraft, or reference any supplemental information you need to clarify your points and changes.
• Take your time. This is important, so we’ll say it again. Careful review limits time consuming mistakes and liability overall.

Share review drafts with ease.

Good digital tools make it easy to share documents drafts for redlining. Acrobat Sign integrates with many document editing software options and lets you share your digital documents with a couple of mouse clicks. You can also track document status, and quickly request e-signatures for completed contracts, and password protect the PDF version of the contract.

Discover more ways Adobe Acrobat Sign can help you create, edit and share your documents.