Overview & background
Sheet comparison is a feature available on paid Fieldwire accounts. The feature allows you to compare two sheets together, whether they're two versions of the same plan or two entirely different plans. Differences between the drawings will be shown in color which is useful for coordination and change control.
Coordination and change control
Note: Consistencies between the drawings are shown in greyscale, whilst differences are shown in red/blue.
How to compare your sheets
To compare your sheets, open your project and select the plan(s) that you'd like to compare. Select 'Actions' then 'Compare', and you'll have the ability to select the versions that you'd like to compare.
How to compare by going to the 'Actions' menu
Note: You can choose to compare either two versions of the same sheet, or two entirely different sheets.
Comparing different plans
Note: Here you can see which plan will be indicated in red (A4.01), and which will be in blue (A5.01).
Select 'Compare' and you'll be prompted to align the sheets to create the perfect overlay. Click 'Compare; again (you'll see a progress bar indicating this process) and once that is complete, you will see the first sheet displayed in red and the second in blue.
Comparing two versions of the same plan
Comparing two versions is perfect for change control, and will highlight any inconsistencies between the two versions.
Image of two versions of the same plan being compared
Tip: Overlaying two separate plans is perfect for coordination between different disciplines, for example, if you wanted to check the lighting layout with respect to the architectural layout.
Tip: You are also able to export an image of this comparison by clicking the 'Actions' button directly above the compared plans and selecting the 'Export' option. The image file will be saved to your computer.
Exporting the compared sheets as image
Tip: If the view is too cluttered, you can hide tasks, markups, attachments, plan links and/or photos by pressing the "eye" icon to the top right of the screen:
A red "eye" icon indicates that a filter has been applied
Compare Sheets on Mobile (iOS and Android)
You can also compare sheets on your iOS or Android device.
To compare the plans, open a plan-- select the version, and choose to 'Compare' the sheet in the bottom left corner.
Next, you'll be prompted to select the sheet or version to compare. Re-align the sheets so they'll have the proper orientation and choose to 'Compare' the two in the top-right corner.
You can add markups or tasks on the comparison view.
Those markups and tasks are saved to the primary or top sheet.
Note: If I add markups in the example above, those would display on sheet E.4
My Plan Sheets do not overlay correctly, what should I do?
If you compare two plan sheets, and you find that one plan sheet is not flush in the overlay, or is much larger than the other plan sheet, it's likely the case that the sheets have different page dimensions. The comparison might look similar to this, where the top sheet is much larger than the bottom sheet:
If you have access to the plan files themselves, or if you export the sheets from Fieldwire so you have the files, you can confirm the page dimensions in a PDF Reader / Editor, like Adobe Acrobat by checking the 'Document Properties'.
Fieldwire's compare tool only works with Plans that have the same dimensions. If your plans have different page dimensions, and you would like to compare these, you must send the Files to your Architect or Design team to re-size these accordingly - then re-upload the copies to Fieldwire. You can also share this article which speaks more about how to format Plan Files for Fieldwire.
More Information
These Help Center articles explain more about features offered in the "Plans" tab.