Compare several documents in an Acrobat PDF Space
Three supplier quotes sit in three PDFs. One prices a pack, one a single item, and one forgets the price altogether. A PDF Space can line them up with citations, but the citation is only useful if you open it.
What you'll make
a comparison table across several PDFs that keeps each original price and unit, shows any per-item sum, and marks missing figures as “not stated”, with every figure checked against its cited page.
What you'll need
Acrobat with PDF Spaces available in your account, PDFs you’re allowed to upload there, and about 20 minutes. If PDF Spaces isn’t available, the same table and checks work in any chat that can read files.
Example result.
Cedar: pack of 12, £144 → £144 ÷ 12 = £12 each
(price p.1; pack size in p.2 footnote)
Alder: pack of 8, £88 → £88 ÷ 8 = £11 each (p.1)
Birch: pack of 10, price not stated → cannot calculate (p.1)1. Decide what you are comparing
Name the item, the unit, the currency and the conditions that matter, such as tax, delivery or minimum order. Check the products really are comparable before a unit price means anything. Keep each original value and unit next to any per-item figure: “£88 per pack of eight” shouldn’t become an unexplained £11 in a column labelled “price”.
This post is about the Acrobat route and its citations. For the full pricing method, including minimum orders and delivery, see comparing supplier prices across units.
Why this works: criteria written down first stop the table quietly comparing different things.
What you should see: a short list of columns and the conditions you’ll mark as missing if a quote doesn’t state them.
2. Create the Space with only these files
In Acrobat desktop, select PDF Spaces in the left panel of the home screen, then Create a PDF Space. Add the files and select Add to PDF Space. The Space opens with an Overview page, the file list and a chat panel. It answers from the files you added, not from the web.
To try the route first, use our three one-page practice quotes.
Check the file list matches what you meant to add. Read the generated overview too; it’s a summary, and it can be wrong.
Why this works: a Space limited to the right files can’t borrow a figure from somewhere else.
What you should see: your files listed, an overview, and an empty chat panel.
3. Ask for one comparison table
Compare [file names] for [item]. Make a table: supplier, stated pack
size, stated GBP pack price, per-item calculation, missing terms. Cite
each figure. Use only these documents. Keep original units; calculate
per item only when both pack size and price are stated. Mark a missing
price as "not stated", never zero. Do not recommend a purchase or
assume tax, delivery, availability or minimum order.[file names] are the PDFs in the Space; [item] is what you’re buying.
Why this works: “never zero” stops a blank price becoming the cheapest offer, and showing the calculation lets you redo it.
What you should see: one row per file, with citation markers beside the figures.
4. Open every citation that matters
Select each citation beside a price or pack size. Acrobat opens the original file at the cited place and shows the document title and page. Read the surrounding text, not only the highlighted figure: pack sizes and conditions often sit in a footnote or on another page. Then redo each division yourself.
Why this works: the citation tells you where to look; it doesn’t prove the figure was read correctly.
What you should see: every price and pack size found where the citation says, and your own sums matching the table.
Check the result
- Each price appears in its cited file, with the same unit.
- Every per-item figure uses a pack size the document states.
- A missing price says “not stated”, not £0 and not “free”.
- The overview doesn’t repeat an error you’ve corrected in the table.
The usual failure: a pack price is read as a per-item price, usually because the pack size is somewhere the first page doesn’t show. The row then says “£144 per item”, which makes a fair offer look absurd. Spot it by opening the citation and searching the file for “pack”, “per” or “box of”.
The comparison misread [file and page]: the source says [value and
unit]. Correct that row, keep the original unit and show the per-item
calculation. Leave [missing price or terms] as not stated. Use only
the files in this Space and do not choose a supplier.[file and page] is where the source is; [value and unit] is what it says; [missing price or terms] is anything still blank.
Worked example: the pack size on page 2
Fictional example. Three two-page quotes for the same display block, with tax, delivery and minimum order not stated in any of them:
Cedar quote, page 1: Display block. Price: £144.
Cedar quote, page 2, footnote: All prices are per pack of 12 blocks.
Alder quote, page 1: Display block, pack of 8. Pack price: £88.
Birch quote, page 1: Display block, pack of 10. Price: not stated.The first table said “Cedar: £144 per block” and “Birch: £0”. Opening the Cedar citation showed only page 1; searching the file found the page-2 footnote. After the repair prompt, the table matched the example result at the top of this page: Cedar £144 ÷ 12 = £12 per block, Alder £88 ÷ 8 = £11, Birch not stated.
What mattered:
- The citation pointed to the right file, not the whole answer. Page 1 held the price; the unit was on page 2.
- Blank isn’t zero. Birch can’t be ranked on price, so the honest conclusion is narrow: Alder has the lower stated per-item price of the two priced quotes.
- No winner. Tax, delivery and minimum order are still missing, so this is a comparison, not a purchasing recommendation.
Task kit for this job: Download (ZIP) · Reusable instructions
Go deeper
Keep original and calculated values side by side
For anything bigger than three quotes, use separate columns for the source value and unit, the calculated value and unit, the calculation itself and the citation. Define any currency conversion or quantity adjustment before applying it, and never add an exchange rate or volume discount the documents don’t state. A reviewer should be able to rebuild every number from the table alone.
Share the table, not necessarily the Space
A shared PDF Space can expose every file, note and summary in it, not only the comparison. Before sharing, check the file list, the overview and who will receive it. If the audience only needs the checked table, copy it into a document and share that instead.