Yes. FirstEdit’s pre-edit and a bespoke PerfectIt style can check some of the same things, such as preferred spelling, brand names and industry terminology. However the approach is very different.
FirstEdit is designed to save time during a review. It runs beforehand so that there is less to correct when a person does their review. FirstEdit makes every change automatically and it intentionally under edits.
PerfectIt is designed to make sure documents speak with one voice. It (typically) runs near the end and can capture inconsistencies introduced by human writers and editors during a review. PerfectIt will find more house style issues. However, it will not make any changes on its own and requires a person to judge each one.
It helps to illustrate that with an example:
- The preference for “advisor” (rather than “adviser”) can be built into both FirstEdit and PerfectIt. FirstEdit will automatically change one to the other. However, since it is under edits, it may skip where it cannot be confident of the change (e.g. in a job title). PerfectIt will show every instance and let the user judge.
The tools work well together. Using FirstEdit cuts the amount of time that you spend in PerfectIt (but does not eliminate it).