Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers document comparison software that extends beyond Microsoft Word (see article below), a time-billing program with conflict checking, and a Web-based discovery review and litigation analysis application. Don't miss the next issue.
Compare Apples to Oranges
By Peter R. Olson
While the human eye may not be able to discern the difference between Sarah Palin and Tina Fey, being unable to see what opposing counsel changed in the agreement you're drafting is no laughing matter. Technology usually comes in two varieties — must have and nice to have. Document comparison resides firmly in the must-have category. But what happens when opposing counsel throws you a curveball and returns the agreement in PDF format, or worse, faxes it back to you?
pdfDocs compareDocs 3.1 ... in One Sentence
DocsCorp's pdfDocs compareDocs enables you to compare any two versions of a document regardless of their respective formats.
The Killer Feature
Many document comparison tools use their own proprietary format for the file in which you review, accept, and reject the changes. By contrast, compareDocs outputs the changes in your choice of Word or PDF format — the two major document format standards.
For example, if you compare two Word files with compareDocs, you review the changes in Word. As a result, you can continue to work in the document. You won't have to switch between documents or applications.
Other Notable Features
compareDocs can compare two versions of a document in different formats. It works its magic thanks to its inclusion in the pdfDocs Suite, which includes robust PDF tools. Thus, if you send opposing counsel a Word file and receive a PDF file back, compareDocs can convert your original file to PDF format to facilitate the comparison. An optional OCR component even enables you to compare two PDF documents and output the marked up document as a Word document.
compareDocs 3.1 adds support for the .docx format in Microsoft Office 2007. It also includes better handling of tables, headers, and footers. The comparison engine also runs faster.
compareDocs has long integrated with document management systems such as Interwoven, Open Text, and Worldox. The new version adds Web-based document management system NetDocuments to this list.
What Else Should You Know?
As noted above, pdfDocs compareDocs 3.1 resides within the pdfDocs Suite, which sells for $189. The suite also includes pdfDocs formFiller and pdfDocs Desktop, the latter of which provides law firms with PDF creation, collation, redaction, file splitting, bates numbering, automatic document binding for closing or deal books, and other tools. pdfDocs OCR Server is available for an additional charge. Learn more about pdfDocs compareDocs 3.1.
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