PDF compare

Hello,

Does anyone know of or had experience of PDF compare software. Acrobat Professional is not really upto the job and i have also looked at Global Vision (good software but very overpriced).
 
Re: PDF compare

We built a plug-in for Prinergy that does all of this. It compares 2 documents that can be of different dimensions (as long as the number of pages is identical) and then creates a new PDF that has the common objects on one layer, the unique objects from file one on another layer and the unique objects from file two on a 3rd layer. You can then turn the layers on or off to see the differences flash - similar to placing 2 proofs on a light table.

The differences are outlined exactly along the object's clipping path - not just an approximate rectangle and there is also an option to do a raster comparison that will show you roughly which image pixels are different within an image.

However, you must be a Prinergy user to be able to get a license for this plug-in.

Cheers,
Rob Morgan
Kodak
 
Re: PDF compare

Rob, what is the name of that plug-in. We use Prinergy here but I've never heard of anything you described. We use acrobat for any compares we need to do. If we need to purchase the plug-in, can you give me a ballpark price for Canada.
 
Re: PDF compare

Hi blue,

The plug-in is called Prinergy PDF Compare. If you have Prinergy 3.1 or higher then it would have been automatically added to your Acrobat Prinergy plug-ins folder. You can request a temporary key by contacting the Response Center.

Pricing talk is taboo on this forum but I'll say that it uses a floating license so you can use it on more than one machine without having to have separate keys or dongles.

Cheers,
Rob
 
Re: PDF compare

Thanks, Rob

I found the plug-in. Now the struggle of going through umpteeen people to see if we can get the license.
 
Re: PDF compare

Repro, We have been using a product called Global Vision for about 2yrs now, it takes 2 pdf's and rasters them, then lays one over the other and shows you the differences between the both. It's great for comparing any revisions that you make to file so you can verify that the only changes made are what the client requested, check it out at http://www.globalvisioninc.com/
 
Re: PDF compare

Leonard, is it possible to get more information from Acrobat Compare tool?
I tested it in the past and it circles differences but no clue what they are.
Example would be image changed, image is circled but it doesn't give you more info on what is changed, is it position, is it color space, etc...
I think this type of info would give boost to Acrobat compare tool and more people would use it.

Thanks
 
Re: PDF compare

We use Photoshop to compare two rastered PDFs on top of each other:
1) Open 1st PDF in Photoshop in greyscale at a suitable resolution
2) Open 2nd PDF in Photoshop in greyscale at a suitable resolution, drag into first photoshop document on new layer.
3) Change 2nd layer setting from "Normal" to "Differance"

Easy :)
 
Re: PDF compare

Chief,

Could this be done in InDesign by placing the PDFs on two layers, one on top of the other, and setting the top layer to another blending mode besides normal (such as difference)?

Don
 
Re: PDF compare

Not sure on this Don, I have just tried placing a PDF into Indesign which comes in at preview res so not good enough res for checking!? I'am not a big Indesign user so do you know if you can open/place a PDF in Indesign at a higher res?, does it depend on what settings where used to create the PDF in the first place?

Edited by: Chief_1975 on Oct 26, 2007 11:42 AM
 
Re: PDF compare

Chief,

Just go to the View menu and select Overprint Preview (which is off by default). Then you'll see all the data in the res it was built. If you want to then look at separations (I love this feature and to me it shows Quark's utter lack), choose Window menu > Output > Separations Preview. When viewing separations, Overprint Preview is automatically turned on.

Don
 
Re: PDF compare

In fact, I use this to check what's changed from a previous version at times. I just put the newer PDF on a second layer and turn on and off layers to see what changed. Or if I'm comparing InDesign doc versions, I copy the InDesign elements of a page from one document to another, place on second layer, and turn second layer on and off to compare. Separation Preview is also good for spotting elements that aren't colored correctly (such as on a job that's supposed to print in two colors, you can turn off the two colors that are supposed to print and easily see what's left is mis-colored). Quark's a broken down old lady in comparison to InDesign because of this IMO.

Don
 
Re: PDF compare

At this time, what you see if what you get. We are aware of the
limitations in the Compare tool available today in Acrobat 8.x and
certainly have a variety of ideas of ways to improve it in the future.

Leonard
 
Re: PDF compare

Thanks Leonard.
As PDF's are becoming more ubiquitous and more workflows move to PDF, this will become really handy tool to have.
Kodak Prinergy PDF compare is good example of how it can be done to help us in Prepress trenches, however not everyone has Prinergy workflow.

Rasterizing and layering work to certain extent but are manual and error prone and I would rather use native PDF tool for the job.
 
Re: PDF compare

Chief

You said "Not sure on this Don, I have just tried placing a PDF into Indesign which comes in at preview res so not good enough res for checking!? I'am not a big Indesign user so do you know if you can open/place a PDF in Indesign at a higher res?, does it depend on what settings where used to create the PDF in the first place?

You can click on the page and use the right button on the mouse and select display resolution and then select high. It will display High res on your documents
 
Re: PDF compare

"Chief

You said "Not sure on this Don, I have just tried placing a PDF into Indesign which comes in at preview res so not good enough res for checking!? I'am not a big Indesign user so do you know if you can open/place a PDF in Indesign at a higher res?, does it depend on what settings where used to create the PDF in the first place?

You can click on the page and use the right button on the mouse and select display resolution and then select high. It will display High res on your documents"

Or you can go to View menu > Overprint Preview, and the whole page is hires display then ;)
Also, when this is turned on, Window menu > Output > Separation Preview is automatically turned on and can be used (great for checking if an object is colored correctly. For two color jobs, I turn off those two seps, and anything I have left on the page is colored incorrectly, so I know easily what I need to fix).

Don
 

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