Comparison Type: How to choose the right option in the Draftable New Comparison Window

The most important of these is the Comparison Type selection. This article defines what each of these Comparison Type options is and explains their benefits.  

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Default Comparison Type behaviour

By default, Draftable will auto-select the following comparison types based on the input file loaded (see table below). Once a user selects a Comparison Type, Draftable will ‘remember’ the choice and keep that selection until it is changed again by the user. 

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Defining Comparison Types in Draftable Legal

There are 9 Comparison Types in Draftable Legal. These are summarized in the table below, in the order they appear in the dropdown, and described in more detail in the following sections of this guide. All nine options are always listed. Options that do not apply to the files you have loaded are shown greyed out rather than hidden, so you can see the full range of outputs at any time. In the example below, two Word documents are loaded, so Redline in Excel and Redline in Powerpoint are unavailable.

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Redline in Draftable

This Comparison Type is our recommended output for Draftable Legal customers when comparing Word and PDF files. It compares your files to produce a Redline that automatically opens in Draftable’s purpose build Comparison Viewer. Users can export the redline in any format (docx, pdf, tracked changes) from the Comparison Viewer. We recommend this option as the Draftable viewer offers a range of features to give users the best comparison review experience possible, including:

• An interactive (clickable) Change List where selecting changes will jump to their location in the document
• Changes can be tagged or have notes added to them.
• The Change List can also can be filtered by content type, change type, change location and tags or notes (see here for a detailed guide).
• The ability to dynamically show and hide unchanged pages (with options to expand the hidden pages as needed)
• The option to show the input files in the same screen to make it easier to review changes in context (see here for a detailed guide)
• The flexibility to choose any ‘Next Action’ (e.g. email, print, save to DMS, copy to clipboard) using any or all export formats (i.e. Redline, Changed pages only, Tracked Changes, Changes Report). Importantly, users do not need to rerun the comparison to get any output format

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Tracked Changes in Word

This Comparison Type is designed for users who prefer to work in Word with the markup shown as tracked changes. It creates a comparison output as a Word (docx) file with tracked changes (including associated metadata). This is particularly useful when continuing to work on the document in in Word and allows users to ‘accept’ and ‘reject’ changes easily. Once completed, users are given the option to choose their next action with the Tracked Changes in Word document. Options include:

• Open in Word
• Save (locally or to their DMS),
• Email (generates an email with the file attached),
• Copy to clipboard (useful for attaching to an existing email).

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Redline in Word

This Comparison Type is designed for users who prefer to work in Word but require a redline that does not contain any tracked changes metadata. It creates a comparison output as a Word (docx) file with static markup (i.e. the text is altered to reflect the markup but there are no ‘changes’ to review). This is particularly useful when using metadata cleaning tools that would otherwise remove tracked changes information. It also helps to maintain the markup schema in your Profile regardless of the client or external party word settings. As with the Tracked Changes in Word Comparison Type, once completed, users are given the option to choose their next action with the Redline in Word document. Options include:

• Open in Word
• Save (locally or to their DMS),
• Email (generates an email with the file attached)
• Copy to clipboard (useful for attaching to an existing email)

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Side by Side in Draftable

This Comparison Type is Draftable’s original product. It is designed for users that need to see the changes in a document but not necessarily continue working on it (as it can only product PDF filetype outputs). As with ‘Redline in Draftable’, this Comparison Type automatically opens in the Draftable Comparison Viewer. The same features are available in the viewer, including:

• An interactive (clickable) Change List where selecting changes will jump to their location in the document
• Changes can be tagged or have notes added to them.
• The Change List can also can be filtered by content type, change type, change location and tags or notes (see here for a detailed guide).
• The flexibility to choose any ‘Next Action’ (e.g. email, print, save to DMS, copy to clipboard)

We recommend this Comparison Type for users comparing PDF files when their Redline outputs are difficult to work through. Side by Side in Draftable accepts every file type Draftable can convert, so we also recommend it for Excel and PowerPoint comparisons (see here for our guide to comparing Excel and here for PowerPoint). Load your Excel or PowerPoint files and select Side by Side in Draftable as the Comparison Type, exactly as shown above.

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Redline in Excel / Redline in Powerpoint

Draftable has built dedicated comparison algorithms for Excel and PowerPoint files that produce an Excel or PowerPoint output with changes shown as redlined markup. Additionally, Draftable offers Excel and PowerPoint comparison via the Side by Side in Draftable comparison type.

• Redline in Powerpoint (.pptx file)
• Redline in Excel (.xlsx file)

These comparisons will open directly into PowerPoint and Excel based on the input files provided, or you can export the output directly to your PC. For more information on these Comparison Types see our guide to comparing PowerPoint files and our guide to comparing Excel files.   Below is an example of a Redlined Excel comparison; Below is an example of a Redlined PowerPoint comparison;

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Reviewing Excel and PowerPoint redlines in Draftable

This is not a separate entry in the dropdown. Redline in Draftable accepts Excel (.xlsx) and PowerPoint (.pptx) files as well as Word and PDF, so if you load a pair of Office files and leave the Comparison Type set to Redline in Draftable, you can review the redline directly in the Draftable Comparison Viewer instead of opening it in Excel or PowerPoint. The viewer includes the Change List for fast review, tagging, filtering and export of changes, so you can work entirely inside Draftable when you prefer. Below is an example of a Redlined PowerPoint comparison in Draftable.

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Departures Table

The Departures Table is a specialised report that presents document changes with full context. Rather than showing individual edits inline or as redlines, it highlights the entire section or clause where a change occurred. This makes it easier to understand the scope and impact of changes at a glance, which is particularly useful for long or complex documents such as contracts, agreements, and policy documents. The Departures Table is ideal when you need to:

• Quickly identify which sections or clauses have been modified between document versions
• Present a clear summary of changes to stakeholders who need context around each modification, rather than granular word-level edits
• Review changes in a structured, clause-by-clause format

Once you run a Departures Table comparison, Draftable provides the option to directly open the comparison as a DOCX, or save it as a DOCX.

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Redline - Changed Pages Only

The Changed Pages Only PDF provides a quicker way to focus solely on the modifications between the original document and its revised version. Rather than producing a full redline of the entire document, this Comparison Type outputs only the pages where content changes were detected — unchanged pages are excluded entirely. This is ideal when you need to:

• Quickly identify which pages have been modified without reviewing the entire document
• Produce a concise record of changed pages for filing or distribution
• Streamline your workflow by going directly to a Changed Pages output without needing to perform a full Redline comparison first

Once the comparison is complete, you can open the output directly as a PDF or save it as a PDF.

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Text-Only in Draftable

Text-Only in Draftable compares what your documents say rather than how they look. Before comparing, Draftable reduces both files to their text content, so differences in formatting, styling, numbering and images are disregarded and only wording changes are reported. As part of this process, content that normally sits outside the main body is brought into the text flow and compared alongside it:

• Footnotes and endnotes
• Headers and footers
• Comments
• Tables

This is the option to choose when:

• The same document has been re-typeset, converted between formats, or rebuilt in a different template, and a standard redline would be overwhelmed by formatting differences
• You need to confirm that wording is identical between two versions, regardless of presentation
• You need changes in footnotes, endnotes, headers or footers picked up as ordinary text

The comparison opens in the Draftable Comparison Viewer, with the same Change List, filtering and export options as Redline in Draftable.