PDF to Flashcards
Updated · By the Revizly team
Upload a PDF and Revizly turns it into flashcards. Lecture handouts, textbook chapters, exported slides and your own typed notes all work, scanned pages included. You get a deck organized by topic in about 30 seconds, plus a study guide and a quiz from the same file.
Real example
What are fungi?
What went in: A PDF of lecture slides from a college mycology class, uploaded by a student.
Learning outcomes: Describe common daily encounters with fungi. Detail organismal features of fungi. Understand fungal cell wall composition. Contrast fungal ecological strategies… Breakfast: Bagel with Brie • Saccharomyces, Penicillium. Went for a run: air, sport drink • airborne molds, citric acid from Aspergillus…
The first ten cards Revizly made from that PDF, unedited.
The flashcards
How to turn a PDF into flashcards
Sign in, upload the PDF, and Revizly reads every page, finds the topics and writes a question-and-answer card for each idea worth knowing. You can start studying the deck about 30 seconds later.
The demo shows what happens with slides full of bullet points and shorthand: “Breakfast: Bagel with Brie • Saccharomyces, Penicillium” becomes a real question you can answer. You don’t have to clean up the PDF first.
- Sign in with Google or your email. The free plan covers 2 classes a month.
- Upload the PDF. A 10-page handout and a 40-page chapter both work.
- Open the Flashcards tab and start answering. Revizly schedules each card with spaced repetition.
Which PDFs work best
Anything with text a student would need to remember: lecture handouts, slides saved as PDF, textbook chapters, study packets and typed notes. Scanned pages work too, because Revizly reads them with OCR.
Have notes that aren’t in a PDF? The same thing works with PowerPoint, Word, photos of handwritten notes, a YouTube lecture or pasted text. Turning notes into flashcards is the same process with a different file.
| PDF type | How it turns out |
|---|---|
| Lecture slides saved as PDF | Great: short bullet points become clean questions |
| Textbook chapter | Great: one deck covering every section |
| Your typed notes | Great: cards follow your own structure |
| Scanned or photographed pages | Good: read with OCR first |
| Mostly diagrams with little text | Fewer cards, since there’s less text to work from |
PDF to Anki
On the Premium plan, you can export any Revizly deck as an Anki file. So if you already study in Anki, Revizly can do the slow part, turning the PDF into cards, and you keep your usual app.
The export also works on your first class, which is made with every Premium feature. Download the file from the Flashcards tab and import it into Anki on your computer, then sync it to your phone as usual.
If you don’t use Anki, you don’t need to. Revizly has its own spaced repetition schedule and apps for iPhone and Android.
Is it free?
Yes, the free plan covers 2 PDFs (classes) a month with a preview deck for each, and your first class is made in full. Paid plans give you the complete deck for every PDF.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2 classes a month, a preview deck for each (your first class in full) |
| Essential | $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year | 20 classes a month, full decks |
| Premium | $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year | Unlimited classes, Anki export, fresh decks on demand |
Turn your PDF into flashcards
Sign in, upload the PDF and get a deck in about 30 seconds, plus a study guide and a quiz. The free plan covers 2 classes a month.
PDF, photos, Word, PowerPoint or a YouTube linkYou can upload right after you sign inFrequently asked questions
How do I convert a PDF into flashcards?
Sign in to Revizly, upload the PDF and wait about 30 seconds. You get a deck of question-and-answer flashcards organized by the topics in your file.
Does it work with scanned PDFs?
Yes. If the PDF has no selectable text, Revizly reads the pages with OCR first, then writes the cards.
Can I export the flashcards to Anki?
Yes, on Premium and on your first class. You download an Anki file and import it into Anki.
How many cards will I get?
It depends on the PDF. On a paid plan, Revizly writes up to 8 cards per topic across up to 12 topics, so longer files get bigger decks.
Can I turn my handwritten notes into flashcards?
Yes. Take a clear photo of each page and upload the photos instead of a PDF. Revizly reads the handwriting and writes the cards.
Can I edit the cards?
Yes. You can reword, delete or add cards. The ones you write or edit are kept as yours.