Compare Documents not Working

[watsojanh]

I open two documents, when I select COMPARE, I get an error message:  "These documents have security settings which prevent comparison.  Please modify security settings to allow editing and try again."  I go to SECURITY SETTING for each document, they both say "No Security" .  Any one have a suggestion?

Thanks

[AkanchhaS · Accepted solution]

Hi Watsojanh,

We apologize for the delay in response.

As shared, the error message appears as "These documents have security settings which prevent comparison. Please modify security settings to allow editing and try again." which indicates that the "Editing" for these documents has been restricted.

What you are looking at under the document properties is "Security Method". So you need to check the "Document Restrictions Summary"  and see whether it is allowed or not?

Sample Screenshot-

For more clarity, you may attach the screenshot of the "Security" tab for both the documents.

https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-7043#jive_content_id_How_do_I_attach_a_screenshot

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Akanchha

[Dan Chaloux]

I know this is a couple years old, but can you make an option for the comparison to ignore security? Something similar to Draftable would put you guys right back on top again with this tool. Just adding in my 2 cents. Thank you.

[21005127627491979vgir]

I concur - just ran into the same issue.

Regards,

ACDurston, GE Aerospace

[Troy27633633l18g]

+1 - and I don't understand why a document needs to be editable to be comparable.

[Richard303541688cms]

+1.  Same issue.  Completely agree with Troy......8g

[Richard303541688cms]

More in the use case.  Need to compare old and new audit reports.  These reasonably are set to be not editable.  I dont want to edit them or have risk of them being edited.   If I have permissions to view two files I should be able to compare them.   For now I must manually eyeball the difference on a monitor or printouts -crazy.

[Dan Chaloux]

The desktop version of Draftable has worked wonders at my law firm. It's unfortunate Adobe's built in tool does not work around secure PDFs. Save your eyes and try a different solution. Pricing isn't bad for Draftable. 

[GomesGomes]

Hi All,
Just CTRL P (To Print the Security Document) setting your printer to Adobe PDf (Ie you are printing a PDF) and Save it. This removes all security settings. You can then compare Adobe PDFs. 

Agreed that People are exisitng Adobe Acrobat as this workaround is not known

[Elyssa361070125qkh]

Thank you, this worked like a charm.

[michael35608659dh7p]

This does not work for me. A secure document is not allowed to be re-printed to pdf circumventing the security settings. All it does is save a .txt telling you as much. What I did notice is that my company will not secure 'source documentation' since it needs to be revised and annotated but it will lock 'pdf' downloads. If you have the option, try to grab the original source document otherwise I know of no other work around.

[Mike35475610hqak]

thanks. Ridiculous software.