When creating and assembling complex documents, version control is one of the most important elements contributing to a quality outcome. Otherwise, minor but important edits in one version might not make it into the final copy. Similarly, mistakes you thought you corrected during the "work in progress" phase could end up in the final version because someone got confused over which file to use.
There are many elements to establishing good version control for document creation—but sometimes, it's already too late. What if you need to figure out what differs between two documents that are otherwise very similar? A mistake in file naming or versioning isn't the only reason you may need to compare documents. Unfortunately, it might seem like your only option is to painstakingly flip back and forth between files to try and spot the changes.
In reality, that's not true. Through the rich features and intuitive user experience you'll find inside Tungsten Power PDF, you can make quick work of this frustrating task. Power PDF makes it easy to compare documents, whether you're a Mac or a Windows user.
6 Steps to compare multiple documents
More than just a way to edit a PDF file, Power PDF contains a very advanced document comparison utility that you can use to produce a detailed report on the differences between two documents or versions. To begin, open the first version of a document you want to compare, then follow these steps:
- Click "Advanced Processing," then "Process", and select "Compare Documents" to open a dialog box.
- Designate the open document as the initial file. (You can also use "Browse" to select a different file.)
- Designate the file you want to compare by opening it in Power PDF or browsing to its location.
- Choose your Comparison Type. "Visual and text differences" includes all possible changes, including notes, markup, signatures, and so on. "Text differences" only compares texts within boxes, headers, footers, and so on.
- If you chose "Visual and text differences," choose the markup colors you want and specify how close the comparison should be.
- If you chose "Text differences," select whether you want to include changes in formatting.
- Choose whether to have a side-by-side comparison (best for text differences) or a combination document. In a combined document, Power PDF produces a temporary file that contains all the latest changes to each individual file.
- Press OK to begin the comparison.
Once finished, you can even choose to save the "combined" document as a new file if you find that it accurately reflects the most up-to-date version you need.
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With many options to choose from, it's easy to see how Power PDF enables a very detailed analysis in just a few steps. Ultimately, this helpful feature is only one part of a much larger suite of robust tools businesses can use to transform how they work with documents in a digital space. See for yourself just how easy Power PDF is to learn and use and start making quick comparisons today when you download your free trial version now.