Exit
  • Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
  • 한국 커뮤니티
2

Compare text content within two InDesign files

New Here ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

Hello all,

 

I have heard that since the latest update (October 2023) it should be possible to compare texts from two files. Is this correct? Can someone explain to me where I can find the function?

 

Thus far, I have only been able to find (old) answers from 2020 on this topic, which recommend exporting the files to PDF or using a script. However, I would like to compare the texts directly in Indesign.

 

Many thanks in advance!

TOPICS
Bug , Experiment , Feature request , How to
2.0K
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

I've never seen that listed as a feature for the current version - InDesign 2024 (19.0).

What is your source for that information? 

It doesn't sound like a feature I have ever even heard requested for InDesign.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Oct 30, 2023 Oct 30, 2023

Sorry, I had it confused apparently! It is part of the update of K4 and can only be used in InCopy, so doesn't have anything to do with InDesign. 

 

I was able to find back the article where I read it first (https://vjoon.com/resources/press-releases/k4-version-14/😞

K4 Revision Manager is now a standard feature of K4 at no additional cost 

Whether you‘re an editor-in-chief or communications manager, Newsrooms and communications teams want access to not only the tracked changes, but also the ability to compare different versions. For many K4 customers, K4 Revision Manager has been their tool of choice here for years. Previously a separate module purchase, with version 14 this module becomes an integral part of vjoon K4 at no additional cost.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

I have never heard about such a functionality. I cannot even imagine how it would work. 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Engaged ,
Jun 13, 2025 Jun 13, 2025

It's extremely common in text editors for programming. Changed lines may be marked with leading characters, or the application might display one doc on the left, the other in the middle, and finally the result of merging them on the right... with color-coding for added or removed lines.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

The PDF method using Acrobat is pretty comprehensive, especially locating changes and discrepancies between documents.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

The feature @Jeffrey_Smith refers to is in Acrobat > View > Compare Files and it works quite well:

 

Screenshot 2023-10-27 at 7.18.51 AM.png

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

Definitely not one of the new features of InDesign 2024.

Kasyan Servetsky has a script that can do this in a way, worth checking out: http://kasyan.ho.ua/indesign/all/compare_two_documents.html

Otherwise I use an application called Global Vision at work: https://globalvision.co/ - load the PDF original, and then PDF of the change, and it does a side-by-side comparison. Not cheap though, but definitely required for work I do.

If the answer wasn't in my post, perhaps it might be on my blog at colecandoo!
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Engaged ,
Jun 13, 2025 Jun 13, 2025

Unfortunately that link doesn't work.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 14, 2025 Jun 14, 2025
quote

Unfortunately that link doesn't work.


By @Thomas_Calvin

 

Both links work for me. What specifically doesn't work?

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Engaged ,
Jun 16, 2025 Jun 16, 2025

The first link times out:

Hmmm… can't reach this page

kasyan.ho.ua took too long to respond

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 16, 2025 Jun 16, 2025
quote

The first link times out:

Hmmm… can't reach this page

kasyan.ho.ua took too long to respond


By @Thomas_Calvin

 

Interesting... All I know is I can open it.

 

I uploaded the script to my server, maybe you can download it here:

http://zevrix.com/test/CompareTwoDocuments.zip

 

 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Engaged ,
Jun 17, 2025 Jun 17, 2025
LATEST

Maybe it's a regional thing. Thanks for posting that!

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 30, 2023 Oct 30, 2023

Hi @Greta33129374tamd:

 

Like Steve and Jeffery, I use Acrobat for this—even with FrameMaker docs which have document compare built in to the software—because of the compare controls. In Steve's screen shot the little gear icon is barely visible at the bottom, but it links to this dialog box which allows you to control what it compares in the list at the bottom:

2023-10-30_10-12-24.png

If you haven't used Acrobat yet for Document Compare, it's definately worth exploring. 
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/compare-documents.html

 

~Barb

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines