Visualize and Compare PDFs
The Visualizer allows you to explore aspects of a page that may be relevant for printing purposes, such as color applications, color spaces, safety zone or page object types. You will find this option in the “Reports” category and in the “View” menu of the standalone edition.
Whereas, the 'Compare' feature simply compares 2 PDFs and creates a report.
Visualizer on CLI
--visualizer [--usebleed] [--safetyoutside=safetyoutside] [--safetyinside=safetyinside] [--gamut_method=gamut_method] [--gamut_targetprofile=gamut_targetprofile] [--gamut_currentprofile=gamut_currentprofile] [--gamut=gamut] [--smlobj=smlobj] [--inkcov=inkcov] [--bmpres=bmpres] [--imgres=imgres] [--part=part] [--resolution=resolution] [--sep_colors] [--jpegformat=jpegformat] [--compression=compression] [--imgformat=imgformat] [-p=p] [-l=l]Purpose
Create a report listing print relevant aspects of a PDF document. Some usage examples can be found in this article.
Parameters
| usebleed | Width of BleedBox is used if existing, otherwise the default value or the value defined by “--safetyoutside” (default:off) |
| safetyoutside | Used as safety distance outside of the TrimBox, default: 3mm |
| safetyinside | Used as safety distance inside of the TrimBox, default: 3mm |
| gamut_method | Method used for Delta E (Default: Delta E 2000) |
| gamut_targetprofile | View in target color space |
| gamut_currentprofile | View in current color space |
| gamut | View in current and target color space and as heat map |
| smlobj |
Threshold for small object coverage highlighting, see "Resolution output" (default: low) |
| inkcov |
Threshold for ink coverage highlighting (default: 250) |
| bmpres |
Threshold for bitmap resolution highlighting (default: 550) |
| imgres |
Threshold for image resolution highlighting (default: 150) |
| part |
See "Report parts" |
| jpegformat | Baseline_Standard, Progressive_3_Scan (default: Baseline_Standard) |
| imgformat | JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PDF (default: JPEG) |
| resolution |
Resolution in ppi or width x height in pixel, e.g. 1024x800 (default: 72) |
| language |
report language (e.g. en (English, default), de, es, fr or it) |
| sep_colors |
Renders all individual separations in their respective color |
Resolution output:
Following you will find the values taken as tresholds for the chosen output resolution.
| Text |
Multicolored text |
Line |
Multicolored line |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| low |
8 pt |
10 pt |
0.5 pt |
2 pt |
| medium |
5 pt |
9 pt |
0.125 pt |
0.25 pt |
| high |
5 pt |
8 pt |
0.125 pt |
0.25 pt |
Report parts
Image report:
| all |
all visualizer parts |
| full |
regular page view |
| ink |
all ink coverage views |
| ink_temp |
ink coverage above threshold |
| ink_topo |
ink coverage topographic view |
| process |
all process color views |
| process_CMYK |
CMYK channels (without spots) |
| process_CMY |
CMY |
| process_K |
K channel only |
| spot |
all spot color views |
| spot_spots |
spot color channels |
| spot_spots_K |
spot color + K channels |
| spot_CMYK |
CMYK channels (without spots) |
| sep |
all individual separations |
| sep_process |
all individual process separations |
| sep_spot |
all individual spot color separations |
| sep:<NAME> |
separation of colorant with name <NAME> |
| imgres |
all image resolution views |
| imgres_img |
image resolution below threshold |
| imgres_bmp |
bitmap resolution below threshold |
| smallobj |
all small object views |
| smallobj_text |
very small text objects below threshold |
| smallobj_lines |
very small vector objects below threshold |
| safety_zone |
display safety zone inside and outside of TrimBox |
Example:
pdfToolbox --visualizer --smlobj=medium --inkcov=300
--part=ink --imgformat=png --pagerange=1-5 <PDF file>Please note that 'pdfreport' as format is only functional until and including pdfToolbox 11.
Compare PDF
The Compare feature in pdfToolbox 12 Desktop comes with a resolution setting to compare the parameters and the possibility to easily navigate to the previous or next page with differences.
Also "Delta C" and "Delta E" variants have been added as new channels with pdfToolbox 12.
Below is a comparison of 2 files at 72 ppi:
Below is a comparison of 2 files at 36 ppi (where the pixels can be seen due to the low rendering resolution.):
Compare on CLI
--compare [--threshold=20] [--areathreshold=5] [--diffres=150] [--format=images] [--channels=rgb] [--areathreshold=areathreshold] [--threshold=threshold] [--anchor=anchor] [--anchorbox=anchorbox] [--offset=offset] [--pagebox=pagebox] [--nosimulateoverprint] [--colorspace=colorspace] [--jpegformat=Baseline_Standard] [--compression=JPEG_medium] [--imgformat=JPEG] [--onlydifferences] [--anchor=upperleft] [--anchorbox=CROPBOX] [--offset=5mm,5mm] --pagebox=CROPBOX] <PDF file 1> <PDF file 2>Purpose
Compares two PDF documents and creates a report.
Parameters
| channels |
optional, channels to be compared, any of: RGB (default, including spot colors), CMYK, CMY (both including spot colors), or as separation (without spot colors): PROCESS_CMYK, PROCESS_CMY, PROCESS_C, PROCESS_M, PROCESS_Y, PROCESS_K |
| onlydifferences |
Only emit pages that have differences |
| highlighting |
optional, highlighting format for differences, redmask (default), mask |
| diffres |
Resolution used for comparison in ppi (Default = 72 ppi) |
| threshold |
optional, defines the difference highlighting in % of the compared pixel, to be used instead of --sensitivity Default = 0% (highest sensibility) |
| sensitivity |
deprecated parameter - use threshold controls difference highlighting, any of: maximum: Maximum sensitivity (default) medium: Medium sensitivity minimum: Minimum sensitivity |
| areathreshold |
optional, defines the threshold for the area with pixel differences above value defined with parameter "threshold" |
| format |
Compare report format, any of: pdfreport (default), imgreport, images, template |
| nosimulateoverprint |
optional, deactivates simulate overprinting |
| colorspace |
optional, one of: RGB, CMYK, Gray (default: RGB) (only applicable if report format is images) |
| jpegformat |
optional, Baseline_Standard (default), Progressive_3_Scan (only applicable if report format is images) |
| compression |
optional, JPEG_low, JPEG_medium (default), JPEG_high (only applicable if report format is images) |
| imgformat |
optional, JPEG, PNG, TIFF ( default: JPEG ) (only applicable if report format is images) |
| anchor |
optional, page box anchor point used to align the two page images for comparison (default: upperleft) - lowerleft: Use lower left corner of anchor box of page - bottom: Use center of lower edge of anchor box of page - lowerright: Use lower right corner of anchor box of page - right: Use center of right edge of anchor box of page - upperright: Use upper right corner of anchor box of page - top: Use center of top edge of anchor box of page - upperleft: Use upper left corner of anchor box of page - left: Use center of left edge of anchor box of page - center: Use center of anchor box of page |
| anchorbox |
optional, page box used to align the two page images for comparison (default: CROPBOX) - MEDIABOX: Use MediaBox of page - CROPBOX: Use CropBox of page - TRIMBOX: Use TrimBox of page - BLEEDBOX: Use BleedBox of page - ARTBOX: Use ArtBox of page |
| offset |
optional, offset to anchor point used to align the two page images for comparison. (default: 0,0): <x-offset>[<unit>],<x-offset>[<unit>] - x-offset: Move second document to the right - y-offset: Move second document upwards - unit: Optional unit for offsets: mm, inch, pt (default: mm) |
| pagebox |
optional, render pages using a page geometry box (default: CROPBOX) - MEDIABOX: Render MediaBox of page - CROPBOX: Render CropBox of page - TRIMBOX: Render TrimBox of page - BLEEDBOX: Render BleedBox of page - ARTBOX: Render ArtBox of page |
Example
pdfToolbox --compare --threshold=2 --areathreshold=5 <PDF file 1> <PDF file 2>