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Tracking changes with latexdiff (for article resubmissions)

There are two ways to produce a diff PDF with latexdiff. Choose the one that works best for you.

Option 1: Manual approach (download and compile locally)

This approach requires you to have a LaTeX editor installed locally (e.g., TexShop) and latexdiff installed on your machine.

We assume that you work in [Overleaf]([your overleaf project]).

Step by step

  • Label the overleaf project at first submission: go to [your overleaf project] > History > All history > [latest documented change] > More actions (3 dots) > Label this version > [choose your label]
  • After reviewing & introducing changes into the overleaf project, (recommended) do the labelling again for the re-submission
  • to produce the diff pdf, download both overleaf projects:
    • to download the current version: [your overleaf project] > Download > Source
    • to download the previous (submitted) version: [your overleaf project] > History > Labels > [choose the label] > More actions (3 dots) > Download this version
  • compile both separately in your local latex editor (to get .bbl output files from bibtex). "Compile" = Run LaTeX, then BiBTex, then 2x LaTex compiler
  • in terminal, navigate to new project folder
  • run from command line: latexdiff --flatten [filepath to old tex file] [name of new tex file] > diffs.tex
  • this will produce the diffs.tex file in the current folder; to produce the diffs PDF, compile the diffs tex

Option 2: Automatic approach (using latexmkrc in Overleaf)

This approach runs latexdiff automatically every time you compile in Overleaf. No local tool installation required.

We assume that you work in [Overleaf]([your overleaf project]).

Overleaf uses LatexMk to compile your project. You can create a latexmkrc file to customize the compilation process, including running latexdiff before the actual PDF compilation.

How it works

  1. Create a file named latexmkrc in your Overleaf project
  2. Add the following content to configure latexdiff:
# Compile a single file normally (i.e. response.tex - comment out if needed)
#$pdflatex = "pdflatex %O response.tex"

# Run latexdiff to create a diff, then compile it
$pdflatex = "latexdiff -t UNDERLINE --flatten main_v1.tex main.tex > main-d.tex; pdflatex %O main-d"

Explanation

  • The first line is commented out but shows how you could compile a different file normally (just replace response.tex with your desired filename).
  • The second line is the relevant configuration:
    • latexdiff -t UNDERLINE --flatten main_v1.tex main.tex > main-d.tex: runs latexdiff to compare main_v1.tex (the frozen/old version) with main.tex (the new version) and outputs the diff to main-d.tex
    • -t UNDERLINE sets the diff style (underline for deletions/additions)
    • pdflatex %O main-d.tex — compiles the diff file. %O passes through any options/flags Overleaf might add.
    • The semicolon ; chains the two commands together.

Important notes

  • main.tex should contain your updated version with all the changes.
  • main_v1.tex should be the frozen version (the last submitted version). Do not modify this file.
  • If your document uses \include or \input to load additional TeX files, you may need to flatten those into a single file for the comparison to work correctly, or ensure both versions include their respective _v1.tex or .tex, then latexdiff will take care of the flattening.
  • After uploading latexmkrc, Overleaf will automatically run latexdiff on every recompile (the manual compilation options are shwdows by this). The resulting PDF will show all changes marked up.