Acrobat could not compare the documents completely

[jochem_devos]

Hey everyone,

I'm having an issue with comparing documents. We're generating PDF output from DITA (XML) content using an XSL stylesheet and the DITA Open Toolkit 1.8. The output cannot be compared it seems, I get the following message:

Acrobat could not compare the documents completely. Do you want to see the report anyway?

The report finds 0 differences. The PDF's I'm compare differ 2 pages (71 to 73) and the Table of Contents on the fourth page is already different, but not found.

Again, these are not scanned documents, they're created using DITA Open Toolkit. The compare is done with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. Any fixes for this?

[G_Snyder]

I don't think it's anything to do with your particular workflow - this feature currently just doesn't work. I've had it work in the past, but in the current CC apps (InDesign is my PDF source), it either crashes or fails to complete in the manner you describe.

[adeep93 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Greetings! I am sorry to hear that you are facing issues with compare feature. Please try out the files in our new and improved Compare functionality in the latest version of Acrobat DC Pro. Latest version for Adobe Acrobat DC build number: 2015.020.20039 (Continuous).

Reach out to us in case, you face any issues. Also, you may log a Bug Report at: Adobe Acrobat - Feature Request/Bug Report Form

Thanks,

Adobe Acrobat DC Team.

[shawnc43872505]

Also for future readers. I have found that the compare can also fail depending on the program that created the PDF(s) being compared. If this is happening to you the correction is to re-generate the PDF(s) using the Adobe PDF printing process and then compare the resulting versions.

This solved the error when I was getting it even on the latest build of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

[edc134]

This worked for me in 2023. Used preview on my Macbook to print the PDF as a PDF then the compare worked as expected. Obviously a bug that never got fixed.