How to Compare PDF Versions to Identify Changes and Edits
Question details
The user needs to find out what edits or changes were made between an original PDF draft and a revised version.
- Product
- PDF Software
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Reviewing document revisions and collaborating with others to track edits on a PDF draft.
- Observed behavior
- The user wants to visually or systematically detect changes in text, images, formatting, and page layouts between two PDF files.
Ensure you have both the original PDF draft and the revised version saved in an accessible location on your computer before initiating the comparison.
Use Adobe Acrobat's Compare Files Tool
Adobe Acrobat Pro provides a dedicated tool to automatically analyze and highlight differences between two PDF files.
The Compare Files tool creates a detailed report showing exactly what has been added, deleted, or modified. This works best for text-heavy documents or files with layout adjustments.
Launch Adobe Acrobat, navigate to the 'Tools' menu at the top, and select 'Compare Files'.
Click 'Select File' on the left side to choose your original PDF draft. Then, click 'Select File' on the right side to choose the revised PDF version.
Click the 'Compare' button. Acrobat will process both documents and generate a summary of all detected text, image, and formatting changes.
Use the generated comparison report to review changes step-by-step. You can navigate through the highlighted differences using the on-screen panel.
Manage Tracked Changes from Original Sources
If the PDF was exported from an application with track-changes enabled, manage the edits in the source file first.
Compare and Edit Documents Seamlessly with WPS Office
WPS Office offers a comprehensive document toolkit that allows you to view multiple PDFs side-by-side, annotate changes, and convert PDFs to Word to utilize powerful track-changes and document comparison features.
- 1. Open PDFs in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open both the original and revised PDF files.
- 2. Use Side-by-Side View: Go to the 'View' tab and select 'Side by Side' to visually compare the documents synchronously.
- 3. Convert to Word for Automation: For automated comparison, click 'Tools' > 'PDF to Word' to convert both files. Open the new Word files, navigate to 'Review', and click 'Compare' to automatically highlight all text differences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the comparison tool detect image changes in the PDF?
Yes, advanced PDF comparison tools, such as Adobe Acrobat's Compare Files, analyze both text and visual elements. They can detect and highlight replaced, moved, or altered graphics.
Why are some text changes not detected during the PDF comparison?
If the PDF was created from a scanned image or flattened, standard text comparison tools cannot read the text. You must run OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on both documents to make the text searchable before comparing them.
Can I manually compare PDFs if I don't have premium software?
Yes. You can open both PDF files in a free reader like WPS Office and use the 'View Side by Side' feature. This allows you to scroll through both documents simultaneously to manually spot differences.
Can I save the comparison results to share with my team?
Yes, most professional PDF comparison features generate a summary report. You can save this report as a brand new PDF file and share it with collaborators to review the tracked edits.
