Project tools
Revision comparison
Compare two versions of a document, see every class of change, and if the original was translated here, update only the sentences the revision touched.
Revision comparison takes two DOCX files in the same language and reports changes in wording, formatting, tables, lists, headers, notes, comments, images, embedded objects, fields and document properties. The comparison itself is monolingual. The two modes differ in what happens next. Revision comparison is available from Freelance, including Translator Pro, Business and Enterprise.
PDF and multiple-version comparison
Before choosing a Word comparison mode, expand PDF and multiple-version comparison. PDF comparison accepts an original and revised PDF, up to 50 MB and 200 pages each. It compares extracted wording and rendered appearance. Select a changed page pair to see both pages and a red overlay of changed pixels. Scanned pages are compared visually without OCR. Download comparison data saves a JSON report; this workflow does not edit PDFs or validate digital signatures.
Multiple Word versions compares up to ten revised DOCX files with one original. Turn on Compare consecutive versions to compare each file with the preceding version, and use Move earlier to set their order. Comparisons run in sequence. Stop after current comparison retains completed results. Each result has its own review decisions and Word/CSV downloads. Switching between results or collapsing the tools preserves those decisions while the page stays open. Starting again, changing files or reloading the page clears the results; download before leaving.
The two modes
| Same language | With translation | |
|---|---|---|
| What is compared | Two files you upload | A document in your account, picked from a searchable list, against a revised file you upload |
| What you get | A redline | A redline, plus an updated translation |
| Existing translation | Not involved | Loaded from the account and carried forward |
Same language works the way any document-comparison tool does: two versions in, changes out, export. With translation starts from a document DeepReference translated, since that is where the stored segmentation and the approved translation live. It answers the question a translation team really has: which parts of my translation did this revision invalidate?
If the document you pick was not translated here, the mode stops with "No document history was found." There is nothing stored to carry forward. Same-language comparison still works on any pair of DOCX files.
What it detects
A reviewer cares about more than the paragraph text, so the comparison reads both packages directly. Each change is counted once, under the most specific place it belongs: a text edit inside a table counts as a table change, the same edit in a header counts as a header change. The total always equals the sum of the categories.
| Category | What is found |
|---|---|
| Text | Insertions, deletions and edits, down to the character inside a word that merely changed |
| Moves | Text relocated rather than deleted and retyped. It counts as one move, not two changes |
| Formatting | Font, size, weight, colour, alignment, spacing, indents, borders, shading and text direction |
| Tables | Cell text by row and column, rows and columns added or removed, merged cells |
| Lists | Numbering and level changes |
| Headers and footers | By part, distinguishing default from first-page and even-page |
| Footnotes and endnotes | By note |
| Comments | Added, removed, and reworded. A reworded comment counts as a single edit |
| Images | Compared by content, so a renamed identical image is correctly not a change |
| Embedded objects | Compared by content, and opened where the format allows |
| Fields and cross-references | Labelled by type: cross-reference, page number, table of contents |
| Document properties | Authored properties only |
| Embedded documents | An embedded spreadsheet whose numbers changed is reported as changed content, not as an opaque blob |
If a check could not run, the report says so instead of hiding it. Staying quiet would suggest nothing changed there, and that is a different claim from "this could not be checked".
Reading the report
- A total, and subtotals that are the filter. Each category chip shows its count and switches the list to that category.
- Four views. Redline merges deletions and insertions into one flow, in reading order, so you can see what the editor did. Original and Revised show one version each. Side by side shows both.
- A clickable list. Every change names its kind, category and location, such as "Table 1 row 2 col 2" or "Header (section 1)", and expands to show the text. Choosing one scrolls the document to it.
- Change-to-change navigation with a live counter that follows the active filter.
- A density map of the document, so you can see at a glance whether the edits sit in one annex or run through the whole thing.
- Right-to-left redlines render correctly: in Arabic and Hebrew the struck text sits to the right of the inserted text, as it should.
Accept and reject
Every change to the wording can be accepted or kept out, individually or all at once. Your decisions shape the downloads: a rejected edit comes out reading the way the original did, a rejected insertion is dropped, a rejected deletion is put back.
Supported section properties, including page size, margins, columns and section break type, can be rejected when both files have the same number of sections. The download restores the original value for that property in the corresponding section. These decisions apply directly to both Word downloads; they are not native Word formatting revision marks. Supported table, row and cell presentation properties can also be restored when table topology and grid geometry match. These include widths, alignment, borders, shading, cell margins, row heights, repeated headers and wrapping. Revised cell text is preserved. Where explicitly offered, whole-table restoration restores the complete original table, including rows, columns, merges and wording. It supersedes other decisions inside that table and requires matching package dependencies and unambiguous text. Table insertion/removal, referenced objects, changed dependencies and unsupported properties remain for manual review. Table restoration currently covers the main document body, including nested tables.
Find changes in a long comparison
Search changes by wording, numbers or location. Combine search with a category, change type or review-decision filter. Filtering changes the displayed list, not the comparison total or the exported file. Downloads contain the complete comparison and all your accept or reject decisions, including decisions hidden by a filter.
Review focus narrows the list to wording, structure, or comments and notes. Optional filters hide whitespace-only or capitalization-only wording edits while retaining numerical and punctuation changes. These controls do not discard detected changes. Retain displayed supported changes and Reject displayed supported changes operate on reversible wording and supported section/table properties in the filtered list; Undo last group decision restores your previous decision set. Word downloads and the complete CSV still include all decisions.
Download displayed review report creates a standalone HTML report with the currently displayed changes, original and revised wording, decisions, active filters and detection limitations. Open it in a browser and use Print to print or save as PDF. The report is not a rebuilt document or a native PDF comparison.
Downloads
| File | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Word with tracked changes | A DOCX with supported wording revision marks for review in Word. Section and table-property decisions are applied directly, without native formatting revision marks. |
| Revised document | The revised version with your rejections applied and no marks left behind. |
| Summary CSV | One row per change, for a spreadsheet. |
A move is written into the tracked file as a deletion at the old position and an insertion at the new one. Word's own move marks are only valid alongside paired range markers, and a malformed range leaves the file unopenable. Two marks that accept and reject correctly are the safer trade. On screen the report still counts it as one move.
Nothing is translated until you say so
In With translation mode the comparison stops and shows you what it found before anything reaches the model: how much of the document still matched, how many sentences were edited, added, removed or moved, roughly how many words that is, and how many changes fall outside the wording entirely. Then it asks.
| Answer | What happens |
|---|---|
| Yes | Only the changed sentences are translated. The editor opens with them in place. |
| No | Nothing goes to the model and nothing is charged. The editor opens showing the previous translation on the changed sentences, marked out of date. |
Untouched sentences always keep their approved translations, and a paragraph that only moved keeps its translation too, since its position changed but its wording did not. Declining is a real answer rather than a dead end: your previously translated download stays exactly as it was.
Before the confirmation you also see how much of the document matched. Anything below 40% triggers a warning. Picking the wrong original will not fail; it just reports that almost everything changed, and that is worth catching before it gets expensive.
Keep exploring
Document translation
Upload DOCX, PDF, XLSX, or PPTX files, translate their text, and rebuild the result in the original file type.
Translation memory
Save approved source and target segments, reuse exact matches, and review fuzzy matches when similar text appears.
Exporting your work
Download the latest saved translation, choose other available formats and inspect the rebuilt document before delivery.
Document editor
Review and edit a translated DOCX in its rendered page layout, with tables, headings, images, and segment tools in view.