#  `diff_text`

Diff the text content of two PDFs and output bounding boxes
## Usage
> pdftl `<input_a>` `diff_text` `<input_b>` `[options...]` `[output` `<output>]`

## Details
Performs a highly granular, spatially-aware text comparison between two PDFs.
Outputs a JSON array of structural changes, including precise bounding box
coordinates for where the changes occurred on the page.

### Options

* **`granularity=<level>`**: Controls how the diff engine groups text before comparing. Options:
    `char`, `word`, `line`, `paragraph`. Using `word` prevents sub-word shredding on
    typos. *(Default: word)*

* **`ignore_whitespace=<bool>`**: If true, drops changes where the only difference is invisible
    space (e.g., reflow line-breaks). *(Default: true)*

* **`ignore_soft_hyphens=<bool>`**: If true, strips `\ufffe` soft hyphens before comparing. Useful
    for ignoring hyphenation differences caused by text reflowing across margins. *(Default:
    false)*


* **`include_bboxes=<bool>`**: If true, includes spatial bounding box coordinates for every
    change. Turn this off for a cleaner, text-only JSON output. *(Default: true)*

* **`margin_top=<float>`**, **`margin_bottom=<float>`**, **`margin_left=<float>`**,
    **`margin_right=<float>`**: Filters out changes that fall entirely within these margins (in
    points). Excellent for removing noisy page headers, footers, or marginalia. *(Default: 0)*


**Tags**: text, compare, utility

*Source: pdftl.operations.diff_text*

*Read online: [https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/operations/diff_text.html](https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/operations/diff_text.html)*

*Type: Operation*