Editor has four major senses:
- a person responsible in some way for the final appearance of a publication;
- a film editor, a person responsible for the flow of a motion picture or television program from scene to scene
- a sound editor, a person responsible for the flow and choice of music, voice, and other sound material in a recording
- an editor (software), a software tool that can be used to input and format text.
Human editors in the print publishing industry include people who are responsible for:
- obtaining copy or recruiting authors, such as the acquisitions editor for a publishing house
- writing or obtaining material for a section of a newspaper, for example, contributing editor, book reviews editor, travel editor
- organizing and publishing a magazine — an editor-in-chief
- organizing and managing contributions to a multi-author book, for example, a symposium editor
- producing a definitive edition of a classic author's works — a scholarly editor
- improving an author's writing so that they indeed say what they want to say, in an effective manner — substantive editor. Depending on the writer's skill, this editing can sometimes turn into ghost writing.
- correcting spelling, grammar, and matters of house style — a copy editor
- choosing the layout of the publication and communicating with the printer — a production editor
- functioning like the guy who follows the elephants in a parade — a Wikipedia editor
- fact checking can be the responsibility of either
- the copy editor who finds an inappropriate term or phrase will often suggest an improvement