Compare PDF's?

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Kyle - Nitro Pro does not yet have a compare feature. We are seriously considering it though and would appreciate your input on aspects of compare that you would like to have - straight PDF to PDF, PDF to Word, image based compare for bitmap level detailed differences or simply regular PDF content comparison? There are many aspects to this, so I'd like to hear what you want.
Thanks for your use of Nitro products

I believe that even with Reader if you are allowing markup that a compare feature is a must. From a development standpoint starting with PDF to PDF compares first works but all three versions you have mentioned would definitely peak our interest in your products!

I would like to compare selected text, e.g. two paragraphs, within the same document.

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Compare Selected Text.

Hey Everyone,

I want to make sure this is a full idea. We don't have the Compare feature yet, but we are considering it. Your feedback here is very valuable!

Thanks!

Sounds great--pls see my comment above.

Dear Nitro team,

Reviewing and comparing is a big task, even though some software's available in market, I am requesting Nitro team to insert this option in Nitro PDF reader.

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Comparision of two PDF files.

Great!

I have nitro and would love to have regular pdf to pdf comparison. Other file types or bit level would be nice but not necessary. Any comparison ability would be a good start.

Some additional customer comments:

"I would be happy to just have the ability to look at two documents in two windows side-by-side, and especially, drag pages from one to the other"

I would also like this feature added to Nitro. With working on documents and making changes on a consistant basis, this feature would be extremely beneficial; and the lack of this feature does impair our work process. This could easily be a deterrant from staying with or purchasing Ntiro over the Adobe product.

A pdf to pdf comparision option is also a requirement for me. The compare option should work similar to the Adobe Acrobat Document -> Compare option, i.e. the two pdf documents are displayed side by side and the differences highlighted. The pdf file's output must be compared. Comparing the pdf file text information is worthless for most situations. Refer to the Adobe Acrobat Document -> Compare option for details.

My typical work flow is:
- Write a document (i.e. excel, word, etc) to pdf and save the pdf file.
- Review the pdf file and identify any required changes.
- Update the original document (i.e. excel, word, etc) and write to a new pdf file.
- Compare the new pdf file to the earlier pdf file. The compare utility should show the pdf documents side by side and highlight the differences. This allows the user to easily confirm the new document has the required updates and no other unintended changes.
- Submit the pdf report file to my Client.

Many of my Clients would also be interested in a pdf compare option. I submit a pdf report to them, they request changes, I submit an updated report and they need an easy method to quickly identify the changes.

I recommend a pdf to pdf comparison option first, similar to Adobe Acrobat. I recommend adding this as quickly as possible.

Additional file type comparisons could be added in a later release if requested.

I thought Nitro Pro had the compare option before I purchased it. After purchasing Nitro Pro and finding out the compare option is not available, I will not purchase another Nitro Pro product until the compare option is added.

To the Nitro Team - As I see from the comments above, the "Compare" feature has not yet been implemented. I would like to add as a new customer, that this feature is very important to users. In today's electronic world, more business is being conducted through the use of PDF files, and the "Compare" feature provides a very quick and easy tool to identify potential differences between PDF files. While it is never a perfect comparison, it at least should serve as the starting point as noted above, similar to what Adobe has in highlighting the that sections are different. If there were a way to make it more like Word, which can actually identify the specific difference, that would be great. But I'd be happy to have just the ability to identify areas of difference.

Hi,

I'm also looking for a Compare function, but my focus is in TEXT comparison.

I'll receive iterative versions of PDFs, say proposals or legal agreements and need to find the changes quickly.

A few products I've seen that do this are comparing the image of the PDF and my test results have been poor in my trials of them.

The insertion of addtitional text or a page break that moves text on one version to a different page number in the other document shows everything up as a change. So an insertion at page 3 of a 40 page document shows up as a changes on pages 4 - 40, which is not that informative to say the least.

Loathe as I am to commend Microsoft for much, their compare function in Word 2010 would be a point of reference as they've got a nice function in this regard. Allowing you to compare any of about 10 potential groups of things that may have changed, along with choices as to how you want to see the changes marked up. It's very efficient at isolating the changes.

Hope that helps as you work throug your approach.

Thanks.

Nigel

I see there is the tabbed views but I would like to cross edit the files...similiar to Adobe. I just purchased the software but our office quickly realized that we do not have this feature. I tmay be a deal breaker. I see that this issue has been brought up for the last year. Is there serious consideration or will it be years in the future. We are a paperless environment and the abilty to quickly edit and compare is critical.

@Chris Dahl - for me, I am looking for the ability to compare two PDF documents to identify what differences there are between them. For example, if I get a contract from a client in PDF, then they send me an updated draft, again in PDF, but don't highlight what changed, the compare feature allows me to see what changed.

Nitro needs to have a comparison tool. Nitro is currently a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat however, without this all companies and individuals in any field that deals with contracts on a regular bassis (all fields deal with them from time to time) will switch to Adobe. I would hate to see this product shelved simply because it couldn't do one aspect that another could... but imagine if you couldn't do formulas in MS Excel?

Had to buy another acrobat license today. Any update?