How to Compare Text

When working with digital documents in a fast-paced environment, precision is key. And if you're an educator reviewing assignments, reviewing business documents, or auditing financial reports, then this guide is for you.

In each case above, you’re looking to compare documents to discover any changes, whether it be to check for plagiarism, pinpoint changes in company finances, or discover what other business professionals want to negotiate. You need to find a quick way to spot those out.

This is where Xodo’s Text Compare tool comes in. By simply uploading your PDF files, you can effortlessly track changes and see the textual differences in your digital documents. 

How to compare text online

Xodo’s Text Compare tool lets you instantly compare the text in two files similar to any other checker tool that highlights differences between two files. Here’s how: 

1. Upload your PDF files to the free Text Compare tool.

2. Decide which option you want to use to compare your PDF text:

• Semantic Text Compare lets you compare your PDFs by visually highlighting the textual differences.
• Image Overlay compares your PDFs by overlaying the two files and sifting out the differences that occur between pixels.

3. Click on Compare to start the comparison process. Xodo will then generate the results, highlighting the differences that occur within the text.

Once the process is done, you can select Merge into one file to download the comparison reports together into a single PDF so you can see the textual differences from page to page. Or choose Download each file separately to save your PDFs individually with the differences highlighted for each of those files.

Compare text and more with Xodo

Why use Xodo? Why not some other tool to compare PDF online? Because Xodo and its Text Compare tool offers you more options to take your document comparison review further.

Add comments for other collaborators

That’s right – Xodo's Text Compare tool allows you to add comments on the differences you see. First, expand the Comments panel in the upper righthand corner of the interface and then click on the highlighted difference to comment on. Type in your comment and click on the triangular button to save it.

Attach a source file for reference

For adding supplementary source content you wish to share, you can reference a file by clicking on the Paperclip icon next to the comment field to attach a file to your comment. This way your comments are given more context for other collaborators reviewing the changes to your PDF.

Insert linked pages to comments

You can also add a URL or link to a page in the PDF document. When you activate a comment, simply click on the Link icon in the context menu that appears on the page and either enter your URL or the page number of the PDF page.

Access comparison reports on your desktop, mobile device, or online

Once you have your comparison report generated, Xodo gives you access to it from anywhere. You can continue to view your comparison results from any device. Xodo is available on Android and iOS, if you prefer working on the go.

Simply save the PDF report to your device, Google Drive, or even Xodo Drive as a Xodo Pro user, and you can view it instantly whenever and wherever needed.

Compare PDF text quickly online

You can easily skip the tedious manual document comparisons and take advantage of a more streamlined way to compare PDF online. And not only that, but you also get the added benefit of an entire suite of online PDF tools.

Xodo is your online workspace where you can view, edit, convert, annotate, merge, sign PDFs and more. Integrate Xodo Pro into your workflow at any stage and you’ll see the difference and convenience it has to offer. Try Xodo Pro free for 7 days and start taking your digital document reviews to the next level!