RTL (Hebrew) text appears reversed in Acrobat Compare Files tool

Question

Hi,I'm generating a Hebrew-language PDF using iText 7 with the PDF Calligraph (Free Trial) module.The PDF displays correctly in Adobe Acrobat Pro — the text is shown RTL as expected, and copy-pasting the text outputs it in the correct logical order.However, when I use the "Compare Files" tool in Acrobat Pro to compare it with an older Hebrew PDF, the Hebrew text from the new file appears reversed (left-to-right) only during the comparison view.Even though:The PDF itself is valid (shows correctly)The language and RTL direction are set (e.g., he-IL)"Compare Text Only" is enabledThe comparison engine seems to render the new Hebrew text character-by-character in reverse order.I tried the following:Disabling/enabling the new Acrobat UI ("New Experience")Enabling "Compare Text Only"&#128204; Acrobat Pro version: 25.1.20531.0 (fully up to date)Is this a known issue with RTL languages in Compare mode?Is there a way to force logical RTL rendering for text during comparison?Thank you!

creative explorer · Answer

@Haim Bengigi Unfortunately, what you're describing is a known and persistent issue for many users when comparing PDFs with RTL languages like Hebrew in Adobe Acrobat's "Compare Files" feature. Even when the PDF itself is perfectly valid and displays correctly everywhere else, the comparison engine often struggles with the complex rendering of RTL text, sometimes treating individual characters in a LTR fashion during the comparison process itself. This isn't a problem with your PDF generation or iText 7; rather, it appears to be a limitation within Acrobat Pro's comparison algorithm when handling these specific language complexities.

You are going to hate me, but there isn't a straightforward "setting" to force logical RTL rendering specifically within the Compare mode's engine. Most users will NEED to rely on visual inspection or comparing the rendered output rather than the text-based comparison if perfect RTL display is critical within that tool.

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