# vslavik/diff-pdf

A simple tool for visually comparing two PDF files

Repository: https://github.com/vslavik/diff-pdf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/diff-pdf
Homepage: http://vslavik.github.io/diff-pdf
Language: C++
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: pdf
Last push: 2026-03-28T12:40:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 69/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 74, release rhythm 45, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 6153, "days_push": 158, "days_rel": 158, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4299, forks 260 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:41.552703+00:00)

## What it is
diff-pdf is a command-line tool for visually comparing two PDF files, with options to output a diff-highlighted PDF or view differences in a simple GUI. It is written in C++ and provided as-is with no active development or support.

## Use cases
- visually compare two pdf files
- generate a pdf highlighting differences between two pdfs
- check if two pdfs differ in a script via exit code
- compare translated pdfs by shifting pages side by side
- view two pdfs side by side and zoom in on differences

## When to choose
- you need visual (rendered) PDF comparison rather than text extraction diff
- you want a scriptable diff tool with a nonzero exit code on differences
- you need a diff-highlighted PDF output for review

## When to avoid
- you need active support, bug fixes, or new features - the project is unmaintained
- you only need textual PDF diffing without rendering
- you are unwilling to build from source on platforms without precompiled binaries

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: pdf, developer-tools, gui, cli
- domain: pdf, files, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cli, cpp
- tags: pdf-comparison, visual-diff, document-diffing, command-line, macos, linux, desktop

## Member repositories
- vslavik/diff-pdf (main) score 69

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:41.552703+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:21:51.438858+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/vslavik/diff-pdf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:41.552703+00:00, sha 195d5e433a00)
  - homepage: http://vslavik.github.io/diff-pdf (fetched 2026-08-29T09:10:59.512969+00:00, sha 8d4c2152a31e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.