Copyright © 2006 Qtrac Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
DiffPDF is a Windows graphical user interface (GUI) program for comparing two PDF files.
DiffPDF shows pairs of pages from the two PDFs being compared with any differences highlighted. Comparisons can be made based on the text regardless of layout, or based on appearance (which accounts for fonts, colors, layout, diagrams, images, etc.)
"Your software is the best I've ever used for comparing PDFs.",
—Customer comments on DiffPDF/DiffPDFc
DiffPDF is useful for anyone who needs to compare PDF documents, reports, books, or labels—for example, archivists, engineers, journalists, packagers, publishers, researchers, software testers, and translators. DiffPDF is used in a wide range of contexts, from book authors to banks, insurance companies, and Government.
(If you require a command line tool, use our DiffPDFc program instead.)
You can try DiffPDF free for up to 20 days using a trial license key. And you can buy a full license key for DiffPDF that has no time limit for $140 USD (or local equivalent for many major currencies) using the secure MyCommerce platform. Tiered price discounts are applied if you buy at least 10 license keys—these are shown when you click Buy Now.
DiffPDF runs on all modern versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7, and 8) whether 32-bit or 64-bit (on x86-compatible processors, i.e., most desktop and laptop computers).
If your security settings prevent the buttons from working, use one of these links: Free Trial or Buy Now.
We recommend trying before buying, since license key purchases can't be refunded.
The manual can be viewed when the program is running by clicking the Help button then the Help menu option (providing you have a PDF viewer such as acroread installed). The manual is installed alongside the software (usually in "Program Files (x86)\Qtrac\DiffPDF\doc). You can also view the manual online at: DiffPDF-4.pdf (~900 KB). The license is available at diffpdf-license.pdf (26 KB) and from within the program.
The screenshot shows how easy DiffPDF is to use: choose the two PDFs to compare, then click the Compare button.
By default DiffPDF highlights deleted text in red, inserted text in cyan, and replaced text in magenta. All the colors can be changed to suit, or plain highlighting can be chosen. The change bar color, thickness, and indent can all be customized—or the change bar can be hidden entirely.
What the screenshot doesn't show is that DiffPDF can produce reports—either a PDF that matches what's seen on the screen, or textual reports (such as the CSV report shown below). Nor does the screenshot reveal all the options that are available. For example, it is possible to exclude corners and/or margins from consideration when comparing, which is ideal for excluding timestamps. It is also possible to compare ranges of pages to account for inserted and deleted pages. All DiffPDF's functionality is explained in the manual, and, of course, you can try it before buying it.
File,Page,X1,Y1,X2,Y2,Text,Change oldfile.pdf,2,42.50,197.71,63.18,209.22,The,delete oldfile.pdf,2,65.95,197.71,101.29,209.22,winner,delete oldfile.pdf,2,104.45,197.71,113.11,209.22,is,delete oldfile.pdf,2,116.05,197.71,132.73,209.22,the,delete oldfile.pdf,2,135.50,197.71,167.63,209.22,player,delete oldfile.pdf,2,170.85,197.71,192.19,209.22,with,delete oldfile.pdf,2,194.65,197.71,211.33,209.22,the,delete oldfile.pdf,2,214.15,197.71,240.15,209.22,most,delete oldfile.pdf,2,243.10,197.85,274.24,209.22,linked,delete oldfile.pdf,2,278.65,197.71,316.52,209.22,pieces.,delete oldfile.pdf,2,259.55,212.11,292.23,223.62,empty,replace oldfile.pdf,2,276.85,570.81,296.04,582.32,"i.e.,",replace oldfile.pdf,2,513.40,570.81,552.75,582.32,already,replace oldfile.pdf,2,42.50,585.21,105.86,596.72,surrounding,replace oldfile.pdf,2,291.60,599.61,352.30,611.12,surrounded,replace oldfile.pdf,2,354.70,599.61,382.36,611.12,itself.,replace newfile.pdf,2,525.80,197.71,553.14,209.22,emp-,replace newfile.pdf,2,42.50,212.11,51.84,223.62,ty,replace newfile.pdf,2,42.50,230.81,63.18,242.32,The,insert newfile.pdf,2,65.95,230.81,101.29,242.32,winner,insert newfile.pdf,2,104.45,230.81,113.11,242.32,is,insert newfile.pdf,2,116.00,230.81,132.68,242.32,the,insert newfile.pdf,2,135.45,230.81,167.58,242.32,player,insert newfile.pdf,2,170.75,230.81,192.09,242.32,with,insert newfile.pdf,2,194.55,230.81,211.23,242.32,the,insert newfile.pdf,2,214.00,230.81,240.00,242.32,most,insert newfile.pdf,2,242.95,230.81,274.09,242.32,linked,insert newfile.pdf,2,276.65,230.81,314.52,242.32,pieces.,insert newfile.pdf,2,275.15,589.51,288.80,601.02,for,replace newfile.pdf,2,292.20,589.51,340.38,601.02,"example,",replace newfile.pdf,2,42.50,603.91,77.85,615.42,beside,replace newfile.pdf,2,272.15,618.31,296.82,629.82,itself,replace newfile.pdf,2,299.85,618.31,363.88,629.82,surrounded.,replace
By default, two decimal places are used for coordinates, but this can be changed to suit. DiffPDF can also output text reports in JSON and XML formats.
Note that when DiffPDF is told to do appearance comparisons, the textual reports indicate the square areas that differ (with a customizable square size).
We always recommend using the most recent release. These are kept available for those who want to use specific previous versions. (For details of the changes between versions, see the Changes page.)