How to mark a script in 2021

The following suggestions assume a Windows laptop; if you use an Apple, I’ll be glad to add your suggestions. They apply equally to scripts at all levels.

If it’s filled in by keyboard

• You’ll be able to recognise the fillable boxes easily – they’re blue, and when you click on them they open to receive characters.
• An apparently empty box may in fact be full when you click on it. To see it properly, you may need to click twice.

If it’s a photograph (or a series of photographs)

i.e. files ending in .jpeg, .bmp, etc.

• Insert it or them into a Word document:
  • Open a blank Word document.
  • Hit Insert > Pictures > This Device > find the file(s) > Insert.
• Save the file as a PDF:
  • in a convenient folder,
  • with a convenient name,
  • select ‘PDF’ in the drop-down menu in the second box down.
  • Hit ‘Save’.

To add points to a PDF in Adobe Reader

• You need to open the Tools bar: hit Shift^f4 (i.e. function key F4) > S > T
• In the toolbar at the top of the page, select the big T (for ‘text’). It will turn blue, showing it’s active; you may need to hit it a couple of times for success.
• Put your cursor where you want to write, and hit a number key. This should enter a red figure in an editable box (which you can delete or edit later), as in this screenshot:

• You can repeat this action when and where you want in order to add further figures.
• But if you use your cursor to reveal a hidden box, you may have to reopen the Tools bar. That’s frustrating, but only takes a few seconds.