Turn a PDF into clear study notes in the order it was written
Paste a PDF or drop the file and get short notes with headings in the document's order, bold key terms, and figures copied exactly as written.
This preview shows the first 180 words and does not keep your file.
Need a different result? Turn anything into anything: drop any file, pick what you want out of it.Try it →Lecture handouts and reading packs often arrive as PDFs, and copying them into your own notes by hand takes longer than the reading itself. This page writes study notes from the PDF: headings in the order of the material, two to four bullets under each, and key terms in bold. Names, figures and dates are kept exactly as they appear.
What you get
Headings in document order
Sections keep their numbers and sequence as written, so 4.1 comes before 4.2 and the notes follow the chapter from start to finish.
Key terms in bold
Terms the PDF defines or stresses, such as trophic level or photosynthesis, are bolded so you can find them quickly when revising.
Figures copied exactly
Numbers, units, dates and names are carried over as written, including values like 4.2 mg/L and 100 kJ, so the notes match the source.
How it works
- Step 1
Paste the text from your PDF or drop the file. The preview reads up to 5 pages or about 6,000 characters.
- Step 2
Read the preview notes and check that the headings match the sections in your PDF.
- Step 3
A free account gives you the whole document, longer files, the notes as an editable document, and flashcards and a quiz made from the same notes.
Who uses it
Students with a reading pack
You need notes for each chapter before an exam, not a retelling of the whole book. Headings in the original order make it easy to revise section by section.
Anyone working through a training or meeting PDF
Long internal documents often hide the facts you need under dense paragraphs. Notes with bolded terms and exact figures let you pick out dates, names and numbers quickly.
Teachers and tutors preparing revision material
A handout can become a first draft of revision notes for students. Check the notes against the handout before sharing, since the order and wording come from the original.
Questions
Does the notes tool keep my PDF?
No. The preview reads up to 5 pages or about 6,000 characters and does not keep the file. A free account is needed to handle whole documents.
Will the notes follow the order of the PDF?
Yes. Headings appear in the order of the material, so Section 4.1 comes before 4.2 and the notes keep the sequence the author used.
My PDF is a scan. Can I still get notes?
A scanned PDF is only a picture of the text, so it needs OCR to read the words. OCR is included with a free account. Without it, the preview cannot read a scan.
Can the notes contain mistakes?
Yes. Results can contain mistakes, especially when text copied from a PDF has broken line breaks or an unusual layout. Check names, figures and dates against the original PDF when it matters.
Which language are the notes written in?
The notes are written in the same language as the PDF, and figures and names are kept as they appear in the source.
Related tools
See it on real examples
Three actual runs of this tool. Open one to see the input and the whole result.