Misprints

Misprints are errors that occur during the printing process, producing text that deviates from the intended content. The term typically refers to typographical mistakes in printed material—books, newspapers, magazines, and other produced texts—but can also describe errors introduced during digital transcription or scanning when text is converted to print or display. A misprint may involve incorrect letters, misspellings, misplaced punctuation, incorrect spacing, or duplicated or omitted words. It can also include layout errors such as misplaced or inverted characters, or pagination mistakes that affect alignment of text on a page.

Most misprints arise in the pre-publication phase through mistakes in typesetting, proofing, or copying manuscript text. They can occur from keyboard errors, font substitutions, or misread margins. In production, printer's errors like misbinding or misalignment can result in misprints that alter how a page appears. Misprints can also be introduced in the digitization process via optical character recognition mistakes.

Impact and response: Misprints can alter meaning, obscure data such as dates or numbers, or undermine credibility. Publishers typically issue errata or corrigenda to document corrections, and digital editions can be updated to fix errors. Proofreading standards and multiple proof stages aim to minimize misprints, though they persist, especially in long runs or time-pressured productions.

In contemporary use, the term often distinguishes typographical error from substantive content error, while in some contexts the synonym typos is used for both. Related terms include erratum and corrigendum.