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Redline comparisons

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Redline comparisons provide a clear and concise visual representation of changes between two documents. This article will help you understand what Redline comparisons are, how to view them in Draftable Legal, and discuss their benefits and limitations.

 

What are Redline Comparisons?

Redline comparisons are a method to visually display the differences between two documents by highlighting the changes directly in the text within a single document view.

In Draftable Legal, Redline comparisons show deleted, inserted, and moved text with distinct formatting and colors that make it easy to identify modifications at a glance. Additionally Draftable Legal also offers a  Redline comparison output as Tracked Changes Word document. 

 

How to View Redline Comparison in Draftable Legal :

To view a Redline comparison in Draftable, follow these simple steps:

  1. Open the Draftable Legal New Comparison window
  2. Select the two documents you want to compare, either by browsing your files or dragging and dropping them into the compare window
  3. Once the documents are selected, tick the box for Redline (.pdf) in the comparison type row
  4. Click the Compare button to run the comparison
  5. After the comparison is complete, Draftable will display the results in the Redline comparison view

Creating Redline comparison outputs:

Redline comparison outputs are useful if you wish to have a portable comparison copy. There are a few different variants of these outputs which are: 

  1. Redline PDF - Output of the Redline comparison as a PDF file
  2. Changed Page PDF - Output of the Redline comparison as PDF file, but only shows the pages that contain changed content
  3. Word with Tracked Changes - Output of a Redline comparison converted into a Word with Tracked changes document. 

Video Resource: As an alternative option, this topic is included in our specially crafted explainer video, accessible via this link.

To create these outputs, follow the procedure below: 

  • Open the Draftable Legal New Comparison window
  • Select the two documents you want to compare, either by browsing your files or dragging and dropping them into the compare window
  • Once the documents are selected, tick the box for Redline (.pdf) in the comparison type row
  • Click the Compare button to run the comparison
  • After the comparison is complete, Draftable will display the results in the Redline comparison view
  • On the top ribbon menu you can select multiple options to save your comparison. 

    These options are: 
    • Open: Immediately open the output in another program (PDF viewer or Microsoft Word for tracked changes).
    • Save: Directly save the output to a location on your computer.
    • Save to DMS(As a new file or a new version): Directly save the output to your connected DMS option (i.e. iManage account). For example; Our article on iManage goes in-depth on this topic.
    • Print: Print the selected output to a printer device.
    • Copy to Clipboard: Directly copy the output to your PC's clipboard. There are options to select multiple options and zip these files as well.
    • Email: Automatically opens your email processor and attaches the desired output to a new email. We have an article here with more information.

Each of these output methods each contain their own options for specific outputs. These combinations are discussed below:

  • Redline PDF/DOCX: This output shows the newer document and marks up all changes on top of that in the Redline view
  • Changed Pages PDF: This output shows only the changed pages between the older and newer document. It marks up all changes in the changed pages as a Redline view
  • Tracked Changes: This output is an MS Office document with the changes shown in Track Changes (a Microsoft Office feature)
  • Changes report: An output that generates a document that contains all changes within a series of tables, making it easy to quickly see what specifically has changed between the documents.
  • CSV Change Report: Export the changes into a CSV file for detailed analysis or record-keeping.
  • Original file: An copy of the older document 
  • Modified file: An copy of the newer document 

 

Benefits of Redline Comparisons:

Redline comparisons in Draftable offer several benefits, including:

  1. Clarity: By displaying the changes directly in the text, Redline comparisons provide a clear and easy-to-understand representation of the differences between the two documents.
  2. Efficiency: As Redline comparisons show changes in a single page, this enables users to quickly identify and review changes, which can be more efficient compared to side-by-side comparisons.
  3. Customization: Draftable allows users to customize the formatting and colors (markup schema) used in Redline comparisons, ensuring that the display meets their specific preferences and requirements.

Limitations of Redline Comparisons:

Despite their benefits, Redline comparisons also have some limitations:

  1. Complexity: In documents with a high number of changes or complex formatting, Redline comparisons may become difficult to read and navigate.
  2. Non-Text Elements: Redline comparisons primarily focus on text changes

  3. Missing context: Redline changes cannot provide the full context of a change in the same way as a side by side output, making some changes harder to interpret

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