Revise/Edit Automated Comparisons

[michele_c1]

Hi all,

I do film script comparisons all the time for work and the automated "Compare Files" feature in Adobe Acrobat is a great place to start. The automated comparisons, though, have way more annotations than I need and I'd love to be able to go through them and "delete" the ones I don't need so I can create a new PDF that only highlights the actual changes I need. Is there a way to go through each highlight of the "Compare Files" feature and, if necessary, remove the highlight from the changes?

Thanks,
Michele

[try67]

If those highlights are comments then you should be able to select them under the Comments List section of the Comment panel, and then delete them.

[michele_c1]

Weirdly enough I can't delete them (screenshot below)! Any workaround?

[try67]

Go to Properties and check if they are locked. If so, un-lock them and try again.

[michele_c1]

Unfortunately, I thought of that too and they are indeed unlocked, but I still can't delete them (screenshot below). I suspect there's some rule about not being able to delete comments that aren't your own? And the automatic compare document comments aren't registered as my own by Acrobat..?

If we could solve this it would help me hugely on my everyday job. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help @try67!

[try67]

No, there's no such rule. Maybe the file itself is locked...
What do you see under File - Properties - Security?

[michele_c1]

Here you go.

I should mention that I'm working off of the file automatically generated by the "Compare Documents" command. The one that automatically saves as "[Compare Report] File Name". I wonder if there are security/edit properties assigned to that automatically generated document.

[try67]

Strange... Could you share a sample file with us (via Dropbox, Google Drive, Adobe Cloud, etc.)?

I haven't used that feature in a while so I don't recall what kind of output it generates, exactly.

[michele_c1]

Sure, here you go: Dropbox - Compare

Thanks for taking the time to help!

[try67]

Thanks. I see now what's the issue, and am working on a script that will

unlock all of these comments with a single click.

You'll be able to get it for free from my website. I'll post the link to it here when it's ready.

[michele_c1]

Thank you! Very exciting, looking forward to it!

[try67 · Accepted solution]

Here it is: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat/Reader -- Unlock All Comments (FREE)

I used the sample file you shared for the screenshots... I hope that's not a problem.

Let me know how it works out for you!

[michele_c1]

Sorry I feel so dumb -- do you have instructions for Adobe Acrobat DC? I copied your JavaScript into the folder Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/DC/JSCache because I couldn't find the path you were suggesting in your instructions. But then I can't really see where I can click to Unlock All Comments in the application.

No problem re: using my screenshots on your website.

Thank you!

[try67]

If you can't find the JavaScripts folder in that path then you should

create it yourself, and then put the .js file in it.

[michele_c1]

I did that and it didn't work but if I copy/paste the script you wrote and run it in the document directly it does. Thanks for your help! Happy holidays!

[try67]

Strange, but glad to hear you were able to get it working for you anyway!