Compare drafts

When to use this

You have two versions of a document and need to find changed pages, visible regions, or wording.

Start a comparison

1. Open the newer or working draft in Orifold.
2. Choose File → Compare With… or More → Compare With….
3. Pick the other PDF.

The comparison workspace pairs pages side by side. It shows determinate progress while it renders and analyzes each pair; choose Cancel to stop after the active pair finishes. Changed regions are highlighted on both pages, and word-level additions and removals are counted. Use the changed-pages strip to jump between differences.

The workspace side is prepared from what is currently visible. Enabled watermarks, page numbers, Bates labels, stamps, hanko, images, and under/over PDF overlays all enter the visual comparison. Text counts still come from the preserved member PDF bytes, so a visual decoration does not invent a wording change. If Orifold cannot prepare the decorated visual evidence, it marks that channel unavailable instead of comparing an undecorated substitute.

Orifold labels a pair Analysis incomplete when a visual render or text layer could not be analyzed. If one available channel proves a change, the pair still appears as changed and the missing channel is disclosed below it. A blank but valid text layer remains valid evidence.

Align drafts whose pages shifted

Use the page offset control when a cover sheet or inserted section moved every later page. The offset changes page pairing without changing either document and starts a fresh comparison. Extra pages on either side remain visible as one-sided differences. A positive offset excludes leading pages from the picked PDF; Orifold reports how many were outside the comparison rather than implying that the entire file matched. Page headings keep each file’s actual page number.

Note

Comparison renders and diffs on your Mac. It respects displayed crop boxes and rotations and reads text from preserved member bytes. Password-protected comparison files are declined rather than guessed at or partially compared. Cancellation is cooperative between page pairs, so an active page rasterization can finish before the panel stops.