adam-binks/latexdiff.md

## latexdiff.md

      
    Raw
  

              latexdiff.md
            
          
    How to LaTeX diff your Overleaf project

Set up local latex environment


Install Texstudio https://www.texstudio.org/ and Miktex https://miktex.org/download
Open Miktex > check for updates > updates tab > update now

Grab the two versions


Download the original version

Go to Overleaf > history > find the version > view single version > download project at this version


Download the current version

Go to Overleaf > menu (top left) > Download source
NB: if you've made changes using Overleaf's "track changes" feature, you'll need to accept those changes before they are reflected in your diff PDF


Unzip both versions, rename the folders "orig" and "updated"

Compile to generate bibliographies


Open orig/main.tex and updated/main.tex in Texstudio
Compile each of them (green play button)

This may take a while on first run because it needs to download the packages you're using


Create the diff file


Open a terminal in the folder containing the "orig" and "updated" folders
Run "latexdiff-so orig/main.tex updated/main.tex --flatten > diff.tex"

We use latexdiff-so as it is standalone (doesn't rely on any other Perl libraries)
--flatten tells latexdiff to follow \input commands properly


Check and upload the output


Open diff.tex in Texstudio, run "Build & View" (double green arrow) and inspect output

You might have to fix some errors here, for example removing tikz figures


You can upload the diff.tex into your Overleaf project to share with collaborators and submit