I want to compare two docuements. I took a snapshot of each. But, I can’t find a way to compare them. When a select a document in the binder it only shows its snapshot in the inspector snapshot panel. I then slect the other and it shows its snapshot alone. The manual sure implies that all snapshots can be viewed in the inspector pane and then you select two and compate them. How do I get BOTH of my snapshots listed in the snapshot list?
I’m not exactly clear what you’re trying to do–you want to compare the snapshots of two different documents to each other? You can do this manually, looking at each of the snapshots in a separate editor split, but you can’t use the “compare” feature of snapshots to compare different documents without some extra work (basically, copy/pasting document B overtop of A, so that B is now considered the same document as A and “changes” can be compared with earlier snapshots of A).
Split the editor. Load document A in one, then show the snapshots in the inspector. Click on the title of the snapshot you want to compare and drag it to the header of the editor split, holding down the Option key if you also want to use the “compare” feature to note changes from the current version of A. Repeat in the other split for document B.
If you just wanted to compare two snapshots of the same document in the editor (and then repeat this to compare snapshots of a different document), take a snapshot of the document as it is currently, then use the rollback feature to load one of the snapshots you want to compare (it will ask you then if you’d like to make a snapshot of the present state, but I always do it first because I’m paranoid like that). Then click on the other snapshot you want to compare to and drag that to the header of the editor, holding the Option key. After you’ve done your comparison, you can rollback again to the most recent version.
You could make a duplicate of the document before doing the rollbacks, if you want to do the comparison in one split and make changes to the current version of the document in the other. Then just delete the extra copy when you’ve finished.
You also can change the height and width of the snapshot viewing area in the inspector, so loading the comparison into the split editor may not be necessary. You can drag the divider between the editor and the inspector and between the list of snapshots and the displayed text within the inspector to enlarge the viewing area a good deal.
I am looking to do the same thing. Of course, I can compare side by side visually, but I am wondering if there is a way to get Scrivener to show me where the changes are. I have an original document, and another that has been edited by my advisor on his computer. I imported that doc (as rtf, so all the notes and edits were imported) but now I want to compare that to my original document (which has undergone some edits itself).
What this would take, I think, would be to be able to compare arbitrary snapshots, not just snapshots of the same document OR the ability to set a document as a snapshop of another document (that seems risky).
This may not be possible, but if it is, awesome!
Hi,
This is fairly straightforward to do. Just take a snapshot of your document, then select all the text and replace it with the newer document from your adviser using copy and paste. Now you can compare your supervisor’s text with your older version, which is in the snapshot.
Hope that helps.
All the best,
Keith
Well, now that you mention it, that seems obvious. Thanks!