# Checking what was extracted

> The CV Comparison Tool highlights text in the original document that did not make it into the formatted output, so you can spot omissions before sending a CV.

Source: https://www.remakecv.com/help/formatting-cvs/checking-the-extraction
Last updated: 2026-08-21

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RemakeCV's CV Comparison Tool (Beta) shows the original CV with any text highlighted that did not make it into the formatted output. It is a review aid, not an editor — you cannot mark text in it. Use it to catch omissions before a CV goes to a client, especially on scanned documents.

## What does it show?

The original document, with highlighting over any text that does **not** appear in the formatted output. It answers one question quickly: *did anything get dropped?*

That matters because a missing section is the hardest error to notice. A wrong date is visible; a paragraph that silently never made it across is not, unless you compare against the source.

> **Note:** 
The tool is marked Beta and it is a comparison aid, not a verdict. It is read-only: you can select and copy text, but you cannot annotate or edit within it.

## How should I read the highlights?

Not every highlight is a problem. Text is legitimately dropped when it is page furniture rather than content.

| Highlighted | Usually means |
|---|---|
| A bullet point or paragraph of real content | **Genuine omission** — add it in the editor |
| A section heading you expected to see | The section may not have been recognised |
| Page numbers, headers, footers | Normal — deliberately not carried over |
| Decorative or template text from the candidate's design | Normal |
| Scattered fragments across a scanned CV | OCR differences, not necessarily omissions |

The workflow is: scan the highlights, ignore the furniture, and act on anything that is substantive content.

## Why are scanned CVs noisier?

On an image-based CV the comparison runs against OCR-recognised text rather than a clean text layer, so small character-level differences register as mismatches even where the content did make it into the output. Expect more highlights and weight them more loosely.

See [scanned PDFs and OCR](https://www.remakecv.com/help/troubleshooting/scanned-pdfs-and-ocr.md).

## What do I do about a real omission?

### Add it in the editor

Faster than reprocessing for one or two missing items. See [reviewing and editing](https://www.remakecv.com/help/formatting-cvs/reviewing-and-editing.md).

### Reprocess if a whole section is missing

Free, and a second pass sometimes resolves an ambiguous layout differently. See [the formatted CV looks wrong](https://www.remakecv.com/help/troubleshooting/formatting-looks-wrong.md).

### Report a recurring pattern

If the same kind of content is dropped across many CVs, that is something we can fix in the pipeline. Email support@remakecv.com with the source file.

## When is it worth using?

Every time on a scanned CV, and whenever a candidate is going to an important client. On a clean single-column Word CV the extraction is reliable enough that a normal read-through of the editor is usually sufficient.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I edit or mark text in the comparison view?

No. It is read-only — you can select and copy text, but not annotate it. Make corrections in the editor alongside it.

### Does a highlight always mean something is wrong?

No. Page furniture, headers, footers and decorative text are legitimately dropped. Highlights are a prompt to look, not a defect list.

### Why are there more highlights on a scanned CV?

The comparison runs against OCR-recognised text, which introduces small differences that read as mismatches even when the content did make it across.