TinySandyFree Online Tools

PDF Compare Tool

Choose an original PDF and a changed version and see what moved. The report compares page counts and metadata, lists the words added and removed on each page with plus and minus markers, and can draw a visual difference of each page with the changed regions outlined and the percentage of pixels that changed. Different page counts are handled too.

PDF Tools Runs in your browser

Compare Two PDF Files

Drag and drop the original PDF here, or click to browseAccepted: PDF. Up to 50 MB.
Drag and drop the changed PDF here, or click to browseAccepted: PDF. Up to 50 MB.

How to Use the PDF Compare

  1. Choose PDF A (the original) and PDF B (the new version).
  2. Leave the visual comparison on to see changed regions, or untick it for a faster text-only check.
  3. Press Compare and watch the progress for longer documents.
  4. Read the summary, the metadata and page tables, then the word-level changes. Changed pages are shown as difference images with numbered boxes.

About This Tool

Anyone reviewing a revised contract, report or manual, designers checking a re-export against the previous version, and teams who need to confirm that two files really are the same.

Input: Two PDFs  ·  Output: Comparison report.

Features and Limitations

Features

  • Metadata table with a Same or Different result on every row.
  • Word-level text differences per page, with [+ added] and [− removed] markers in context, not just colour.
  • Optional pixel diff with highlighted regions, a changed-pixel percentage and a text description of where changes are.
  • Pages that exist in only one file are reported clearly.
  • Runs on your device, with progress for large files.

Limitations

  • Pages are matched by number. If a page is inserted near the start, every later page will show as different.
  • Text comparison reads the text layer only; scanned pages without text can only be compared visually.
  • The pixel diff renders pages at a low resolution (about 360 px wide) for speed, so very small changes can be missed and anti-aliasing can cause faint differences; adjust the sensitivity.
  • Limited to 300 pages and 50 MB per file; password-protected files must be unlocked first. Very different pages are summarised without surrounding context.
  • Processing happens on your device, so very large files depend on your browser's available memory.

Example

Comparing a contract with “30 days” on page 2 against a version that says “45 days” reports one removal and one addition on page 2, and the visual diff outlines the changed line.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the text comparison work?

The words on each page of both files are extracted and compared in order. Words only in A are marked [− word] and words only in B are marked [+ word], with a few words of context around each change.

What does the visual comparison show?

Both pages are drawn to a small image and compared pixel by pixel. Changed pixels are coloured pink, changed areas are outlined and numbered, and the caption gives the percentage of changed pixels.

Why are my pages marked different when nothing changed?

Different fonts, rendering or a re-exported file can move text by a fraction of a point. Use Low sensitivity to ignore faint differences, or turn the visual check off and rely on the text comparison.

Can it compare PDFs with different numbers of pages?

Yes. Extra pages are listed as only in A or only in B, and the pages that exist in both are compared.

Are the files uploaded?

No. Both PDFs are read and compared in your browser.

Related Tools

More like this: all PDF Tools tools, all Files & Documents tools or the TinySandy home page.