What is PDF Highlights App used for?

PDF Highlights App turns highlights from annotated PDFs into searchable cards in one local workspace, organized by idea and exportable with citations. It is a good fit for law students organizing case highlights, researchers building a literature review and synthesizing themes across many PDFs.

How much does PDF Highlights App cost?

Paid plans for PDF Highlights App start at $10 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.

Is PDF Highlights App open source?

No. PDF Highlights App is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Note Taking category, open-source options include Tangent, SiYuan and Zettlr.

What are some alternatives to PDF Highlights App?

PDF Highlights App competes with Readwise, LiquidText and Glasp.

PDF Highlights App: features, pricing and alternatives

About PDF Highlights App

PDF Highlights App is a desktop app for people who read and highlight many PDFs, such as case files, papers and course readings. You mark up PDFs in its built-in reader, or import files already highlighted in Preview, Acrobat or another reader, and each highlight becomes a card holding the exact quoted text, the file it came from, its page number and a link to the spot in the PDF. Highlight colors can become tags.

The workspace lets you narrow cards by tag, run a full-text search across every highlight, and group cards by theme or arrange them into outlines, so you can build a brief, literature review or argument without reopening every file. Organized notes can be copied out, or exported as Markdown, CSV or JSON files that carry citations and surrounding context.

The app runs on Mac and Windows and works with local project workspaces, so your documents stay on your own machine. A 7-day free trial is available, and pricing is on a separate page that lists the plan details.

Key features

Highlights extracted as cards
Verbatim text with source file and page number
Link back to the exact PDF location
Highlight colors turned into tags
Search and filter across all highlights
Export to Markdown, CSV and JSON
Built-in PDF reader with highlighting

Good fit for

Law students organizing case highlights
Researchers building a literature review
Synthesizing themes across many PDFs

Tags: pdf; highlights; note-taking; research; annotations; knowledge-management; markdown; desktop-app

PDF Highlights App: questions and answers

What is PDF Highlights App used for?: PDF Highlights App turns highlights from annotated PDFs into searchable cards in one local workspace, organized by idea and exportable with citations. It is a good fit for law students organizing case highlights, researchers building a literature review and synthesizing themes across many PDFs.
How much does PDF Highlights App cost?: Paid plans for PDF Highlights App start at $10 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
Is PDF Highlights App open source?: No. PDF Highlights App is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Note Taking category, open-source options include Tangent, SiYuan and Zettlr.
What are some alternatives to PDF Highlights App?: PDF Highlights App competes with Readwise, LiquidText and Glasp.