How to LaTeX diff your Overleaf project

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