Comparing Drawings

You can compare two drawings to highlight the differences and check for changes, in the context of a 2D review.

You can compare the following document types: cgm format, drawing representations and .CATDrawing format, layouts, sheets, raster formats (bmp, jpg, rgb, and pcx).

Note: You can also compare a sheet versus a layout.

Before you begin: Create a review on a drawing.
  1. From the Review section of the action bar, click Compare Drawings .

    The selected drawing is considered as the first object for comparison.



  2. Search the second drawing.

    By default, the revisions of the first selected drawing are displayed in the search results.

    You can also search other drawings. To do so, enter a search string in the search box available on the top bar and click Search .

  3. Select the required drawing from the search results.



  4. Optional: If you have selected a drawing with multiple sheets, select the required sheet in the Select Layer dialog box and click OK.

    The compare result appears displaying the drawings and the comparison result.



    Notes:
    • Elements common to both drawings appear in blue color.
    • Elements that are present in the first drawing but not in the second appear in red color.
    • Elements that are present in the second drawing but not in the first appear in green color.
    Important: The compare result is pixel-based, even for input vector based formats like CGM. The precision of the comparison depends on the size of the window and the current zoom.
  5. Optional: In the Compare.x dialog box, modify the predefined colors.
    1. Click a color and modify it as required.
    2. Click Recompute Compare .

    The refined color is applied.

    Note: Modifications in markers, measures and slides are updated using Recompute Compare .
  6. Optional: Calibrate the results in the Calibrate panel.
    The drawings are aligned for easier comparison. For more information, see Calibrate Dialog Box.
  7. Click Recompute Compare .
  8. Click Ok and Exit Compare .
    The comparison result Compare.x appears in the notes under the review node in the tree. The information of the sheets is also saved with the compare.
  9. Optional: Double-click Compare.x to display the comparison result.
    The compare result is displayed.
    Note: You can add slides, annotations and measures on the comparison results.