Uploading and Processing Documents: Best Practices

While Formatly handles a wide variety of document types and formats, following these best practices ensures the best possible results. ## Document Preparation ### File Format Formatly works best with Microsoft Word (.docx) files. Ensure your document is saved in .docx format before uploading. ### Content Placement Place all text content within your document body. Extremely heavy use of text boxes, complex tables, or embedded objects may affect formatting results. ### Citation Clarity For best citation formatting results, ensure in-text citations are clearly marked with parentheses. Formatly can detect and format citations in most common formats. ### Reference List If you have a reference list, bibliography, or works cited page, include it at the end of your document. Formatly will reformat it according to your selected style. ## Style Selection Tips ### Know Your Edition Ensure you select the correct edition of your style guide. APA 7th edition differs significantly from APA 6th edition, and Formatly supports the current editions. ### English Variant Select the appropriate English variant (US, UK, AU, CA) for language-appropriate formatting. This affects spelling, punctuation conventions, and date formatting. ## Processing Options ### Tracked Changes Always enable tracked changes for your first few documents. This helps you understand what Formatly is correcting and verify the results. ### Report-Only Mode If you want to see what needs to be fixed without automatic corrections, use report-only mode. Formatly will generate a report of formatting issues without modifying your document. ## After Processing 1. Download your formatted document 2. Review tracked changes 3. Verify key elements (title page, citations, references) 4. Accept changes 5. Submit with confidence ## Common Issues and Solutions | Issue | Solution | |-------|----------| | Document has complex tables | Consider simplifying before upload | | Embedded images shift | Adjust image placement after formatting | | Custom formatting preserved | Formatly respects intentional formatting where it doesn't conflict with style rules | | Multi-language documents | Select the primary language variant | Following these guidelines will help you get the most out of Formatly's formatting engine.