OmniDoc# check item by item after completion
Explain the meaning of each comparison option when comparing Word documents, and explain why the name of the reviser defaults to a certain name, and how to change it to the signature you need before each comparison. After reading, you can compare configurations according to scenarios to avoid ending up with the wrong person.
#Word document comparison settings: reviser name and comparison options
Key points of this article
- The revisionist name reads the user name saved in Word by default. Common sources are software accounts or user information, not the author in the file content.
- Change the user name in Word before comparing, and then check the revised by field when comparing. If both fields are correct, the wrong person will not be signed.
- The comparison options should be checked according to the scenario: turn off the formatting and case markings when only looking at text differences, and keep more markings for legal or contract documents.
- The comparison results must be checked one by one to confirm that the revisionist and comparison direction of each mark are not reversed.
When many people use Word to compare two documents for the first time, they will find that the revision marks in the results are all signed with the same name, or even a name they have never used. At this time, I often don’t know where to change it, and I am not sure whether this name will affect subsequent review records. This article is aimed at the problem of "how to set up comparison of word documents", including the role of each option in the comparison dialog box, and why the name of the reviser defaults to a certain name.
After reading this article, you will know how to configure the reviser name before comparison, how to select comparison options according to the document type, and what to check after the comparison results come out. The method in this article takes the desktop version of Word as an example, and the core ideas are applicable to most versions.
How to set up Word document comparison? One sentence conclusion
Let’s talk about the conclusion first: confirm the user name in Word before comparing, check the revised by field in the dialog box when comparing, and then check the comparison option according to the document type. These two settings do not replace each other. If the name is correct and the options are incorrect, the result will still be unavailable.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| For personal use, I just want to see what has been changed. | Keep the default reviser and only check text-related options | The default name does not affect reading, and the result is cleaner after turning off redundant tags. |
| The document must be handed over to colleagues or clients for confirmation | Before comparing, change the revisionist to your real name or department name. | The signature seen by the other party must be able to correspond to the specific person |
| Wording-sensitive documents such as contracts and regulations | Preserves all markings such as formatting, case, and whitespace | Subtle differences may also change the meaning of the terms and should not be missed |
| Logged into Word using a shared computer or someone else’s account | Check the username first and manually change it to your own name if necessary. | By default, the revisioner reads the user information in the current Word, and it is easy to use other people's names. |
| The original is a PDF, not a Word file | Using the compare function in the desktop client's PDF editor | Word's document comparison is only for Word files, PDF requires a special comparison tool |
Before you start: Confirm these points first
1. Confirm the order of the two documents. Comparisons are directional: one is the original document, the other is the revised document. When the direction is reversed, the insertion and deletion marks will be completely opposite, and readers will mistakenly think that the author has deleted content that should have been retained.
2. Check the current Word username. The revisionist name comes from the user information saved by Word, not the author attribute in the file. If Word has been logged into someone else's account on this computer, or someone else's name was filled in during installation, the default revisionist will be that name.
3. Decide where to place the comparison results. The comparison results can create a new document or be displayed directly on the original document or the revised document. Directly modifying the original file will overwrite the original revision record. It is recommended to save a copy before comparing.
4. Determine whether there are headers, footnotes, text boxes and tables in the document. These usually have separate switches in the comparison options. If only the main text is compared, date or number changes in headers and footers will be missed.
5. Clarify the purpose of comparison. If you just want to find content differences, and if you need to leave traces of all format changes, the options you should check are different. Without clarity of purpose, it is difficult to determine which markers are noise.
Steps to set comparison options and generate results
- Open the revised document in Word, switch to the review-related tab, and find the compare function. What is selected here is the comparison function, not the switch to turn on revision.
- Select original document. Specify the earlier version in the comparison dialog box as the basis for comparison.
- Select the revised document. Specify a newer version and it will be treated as the "modified" party.
- Expand more settings. By default, the dialog box only displays basic options. After you click to expand, you can see detailed items such as mark format, capitalization, whitespace, headers and footers, footnotes, and text boxes.
- Check the Revised By field. This determines the author name displayed for each markup in the comparison results. If the name is not what you want, just change it to the corresponding person or department here.
- Select the location where the results will be displayed. Creating a new document is suitable for retaining the original document, and displaying it on the original document is suitable for continued editing. You can select it as needed.
- Determine and generate comparison results. Word will display the differences as revision marks, and you can then accept or reject them one by one.
- Save as new file. After the comparison result is generated, save a copy with time to avoid subsequent misoperations from overwriting the comparison record.
Why does the revisionist default to a certain name?
The name of the revisionist comes from the user information of Word by default, that is, the account name you log in to the software or the user name filled in manually. When Word generates revision marks, it will write this name into every change, and comparison generated marks are no exception.
This means that who made the revision is not determined by the content of the document. Even if the "Author" in the document properties is written by someone else, the revisions in the comparison results will still show the current Word user name. Many people think that they can change the name just by changing the file properties. In fact, what needs to be changed is the user information of Word itself.
In addition, different Word accounts on the same computer store user information separately. If you have switched accounts, or if the company computer has set a uniform user name in advance, the default reviser will keep that name until you change it manually.
After comparing the generated results, do not hand them in directly, check them item by item according to the table below:
| Check item | What do you think? | What if there's a problem? |
|---|---|---|
| Comparison direction | See if the insert and delete tags are as expected, for example, new paragraphs should be displayed as inserts | If the direction is in the opposite direction, reselect the original document and the revised document, and regenerate it again. |
| Name of the reviser | Click on a few marks randomly to see if the signature is the person or department you want. | Go back to the revision by field to modify and regenerate the result |
| Headers, footers and footnotes | Turn to the header, footer and footer position to see if there is a mark | If there is no tag, check whether the corresponding content is checked in the comparison option. |
| Format and case change | See if there are a large number of format tags that mask the actual text changes. | Turn off formatting marks when there are too many text differences, leaving only text comparisons |
| Tables and text boxes | Check the contents of table cells and text boxes against the original file | Copy these contents separately for manual comparison. |
For important documents such as contracts, systems, or papers, machine comparisons can only help you identify differences, not the legal or academic implications of which changes. After the comparison results, it is still necessary to manually read through the key paragraphs and check the important numbers, dates and proper nouns.
# which method is suitable for you?
If you just proofread the draft yourself, you can keep the default reviser and check only the options related to the text. The result will be more concise and faster to read.
If the document is to be sent to someone for confirmation, then the name of the reviser is external and should be changed to your real name or department name in advance. In this way, what the other party sees in the comments and revisions is traceable.
If it is a contract, clause or academic manuscript, it is recommended to turn on all options for format, case, whitespace, and header footer, preferring to read more marks than leave out key changes.
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. Can the reviser of the comparison result be changed by modifying the author in the file properties?
No, I can't. The reviser of the comparison reads the user information in the Word, and the author in the file properties is not involved in this step. You need to change the name in the user information settings of Word, and then regenerate the comparison result.
2. What should I do if there are too many marks in the comparison results?
In most cases, the noise is caused by changes in format or case. Turn off formatting and case-dependent tags in the comparison option, leaving only text differences, which is usually much clearer.
3. Both documents are PDF, can I use the comparison function of Word?
Word's documentation is more targeted at Word files. PDF needs to be converted in an appropriate way, or use a tool that supports PDF comparison. The desktop client of OmniDoc comes with the ability to compare two PDF, which can be directly compared with two PDF.
4. If you accept the revision after the comparison, will the original document be changed?
If the result of the comparison is displayed by the new document, the original file will not be affected. If you choose to display it on the original document, the original file will be changed after accepting the revision, so it is safer to save the copy first than before.
5. Is the result of comparison credible for documents generated by machine translation or OCR?
There may be identification or translation errors in the content of the scanned piece or machine translation, and the comparison can only show the differences at the text level, not which version of the content is more accurate. After comparing this kind of documents, it is recommended to check the important contents manually.
# Summary
The key to the comparison of Word documents is to match the user name before the comparison, confirm the reviser field during the comparison, and then check the appropriate comparison option according to the document type. The name of the reviser comes from the user information of Word, not the file attribute, and it needs to be changed in the settings of the software itself. After the comparison results come out, check the direction, signature and header footnotes item by item before you can rest assured to give it to others.
