Compare the two policy draft PDFs to produce a change report showing additions, deletions, and page-by-page difference…
Open Adobe Acrobat on your computer.
Go to Tools and select Compare Files.
Click Select File under 'Compare' and choose your first PDF (the older or original version).
Click Select File under 'With' and choose your second PDF (the newer or revised version).
Click Compare to start the comparison.
Review the results in the comparison summary and use the side-by-side view to examine highlighted differences.
Best practiceFor best results, avoid using scanned PDFs as input files, as text recognition may be inconsistent.
You can filter the comparison results to focus on text, images, or formatting changes for a clearer review.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
The 'Compare text only' option tells Acrobat to ignore any pictures or graphics in your documents. It will only look for changes in the words. This is useful if you want to focus just on the written content and not on design or image updates, making the comparison faster and clearer for text-heavy documents.
You cannot compare your policy drafts if they have security settings that stop changes. The message 'security settings prevent comparison' means one or both of your PDF files are protected. To compare them, you need to remove these security protections from the files first. This is a common security measure for sensitive documents.
When you compare a report and a spreadsheet, Acrobat uses different modes to show changes. For reports, it will highlight text and layout differences. For spreadsheets, it focuses on cell content and data changes. You can choose 'Reports/Spreadsheets' mode for a more accurate comparison in these specific document types, helping you see relevant updates quickly.
Comparing signed document versions specifically highlights changes made *after* a signature was applied. This is crucial for legal and official documents to ensure their integrity. For unsigned documents, the comparison simply shows all differences between the two files. The signed document comparison feature helps verify that a document has not been tampered with after being signed, which is a key aspect of digital signatures.