SuperDoc Benchmark

Visual comparison tool for SuperDoc document rendering. Compares how SuperDoc renders .docx files against Microsoft Word's output.

Requirements

This tool only works on macOS with Microsoft Word installed.

Requirement	Why
macOS	Uses AppleScript to automate Word
Microsoft Word	Generates the "ground truth" PDF renders
Node.js / npm	Installs and runs SuperDoc
pnpm	Only needed if using a local SuperDoc repo

Installation

From npm (recommended)

This installs a small wrapper with a bundled macOS binary (Apple Silicon only):

npm install -g @superdoc-dev/visual-benchmarks

From source

Requires Python 3.10+ and uv (Python package manager).

git clone https://github.com/superdoc-dev/superdoc-visual-benchmarks.git
cd superdoc-visual-benchmarks
uv sync
uv run superdoc-benchmark

GitHub Releases are notes-only; install via npm or from source.

First Run

On first use:

1. macOS will ask for permission to control Microsoft Word - click "OK" to allow
2. Playwright browser will be downloaded automatically (~150MB, one-time)

If Playwright download fails, install manually:

npx playwright install chromium

Usage

Note: If running from source, prefix commands with uv run (e.g., uv run superdoc-benchmark).

Interactive Mode

Run with no arguments for the interactive menu:

superdoc-benchmark

CLI Commands

For scripting and automation:

# Check tool version
superdoc-benchmark --version

# Capture Word visuals
superdoc-benchmark word ./path/to/docs/
superdoc-benchmark word ./document.docx --dpi 200 --force

# Compare Word vs SuperDoc
superdoc-benchmark compare ./path/to/docs/

# Manage SuperDoc version
superdoc-benchmark version                            # show current
superdoc-benchmark version set latest                 # install latest from npm
superdoc-benchmark version set next                   # install next (pre-release) from npm
superdoc-benchmark version set 1.0.0                  # install specific version
superdoc-benchmark version set --local /path/to/repo  # use local repo (requires pnpm)

# Clean up
superdoc-benchmark uninstall                           # remove all cached data

Output

All outputs are saved to the reports/ directory:

reports/
├── word-captures/<document>/
│   ├── <document>.pdf          # PDF exported from Word
│   └── page_0001.png ...       # Rasterized pages
├── superdoc-captures/<document>-<version>/
│   └── page_0001.png ...       # Screenshots from SuperDoc
└── comparisons/<document>/
    ├── comparison-<version>.pdf  # Side-by-side: Word | SuperDoc
    ├── diff-<version>.pdf        # Diff overlay: Word | colored differences
    └── score-<version>.json      # Similarity scores

How Scoring Works

Each page is compared pixel-by-pixel between Word and SuperDoc renders. The score (0-100) is a weighted combination of:

Metric	Weight	What it measures
SSIM	40%	Structural similarity (layout, shapes)
Ink Match	20%	Whether text/graphics appear in the same places
Edge Match	15%	Whether lines and boundaries align
Color Match	15%	Whether colors are accurate
Blob Penalty	10%	Penalizes large missing or extra content

Before scoring, images are automatically aligned to handle minor position differences. The tool also detects "single issue" pages where only vertical spacing differs (common with fonts) and adjusts scoring accordingly.

Overall document score = 70% average + 30% worst page (so one bad page hurts but doesn't ruin everything).

Data Locations

What	Location
Config	~/.superdoc-benchmark/config.json
SuperDoc workspace	~/.superdoc-benchmark/workspace/
Playwright browsers	~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/

Development

uv sync
uv run superdoc-benchmark

Build binary:

uv run pyinstaller superdoc-benchmark.spec
# Output: dist/superdoc-benchmark

License

AGPL-3.0-only. See LICENSE.