Summarize a PDF with AI
Upload a PDF, pick a length and optional focus, and get key points you can check against the cited pages.
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Try it 5× without an account. A free account includes 20 AI credits a month. See plans
What it does
AI PDF summarizer, explained
The AI PDF summarizer reads your document and writes a summary with key points, each tied to the page numbers it was drawn from, so you can click through and check the source instead of trusting the wording.
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Choose brief, standard or detailed, and optionally a focus such as “payment terms and termination” or “methods and limitations”. Every summary also lists omissions: the sections it didn't cover, so a short summary doesn't quietly pass for the whole document.
Use it to triage a long contract before a careful read, prepare for a meeting on a 60-page report, or decide which pages of a policy matter to you. If you have a specific question, Chat with PDF is a better fit; if you need to find every place a concept appears, use AI search.
Each summary costs 2 AI credits. The document's text is sent to OpenAI's API to write it, under OpenAI's API data-usage terms, which by default exclude API data from model training. A summary is a reading aid, not legal or financial advice, and it can be wrong; the page citations are there so you can verify.
How to do it
Summarize a PDF with AI in 4 steps
1Your PDF
2Ask or summarize
3Answers that cite pages
- 1
Upload the PDF
It opens in the editor with the AI panel on Summary. Scanned PDFs need OCR first so there is text to read.
- 2
Set length and focus
Pick brief, standard or detailed, and type a focus if you only care about certain topics.
- 3
Generate
Uses 2 AI credits. Without an account you have 5 AI credits to try it.
- 4
Check the citations
Click a page number next to any key point to jump to the source and confirm it.
Example
Before and after
A 42-page commercial lease you've been asked to sign by Friday.
A standard summary focused on rent, renewal and termination: key points on rent escalation and the renewal notice deadline, each citing its page, plus a note that the exhibits and the floor-plan pages were not summarized.
Settings & formats
What you can control
- Length
- Brief, standard or detailed.
- Focus
- Optional topics to concentrate on, in your own words.
Input
Output
Good to know before you start
- Summaries can misstate or leave out details; always check important points against the cited pages.
- Scanned PDFs without a text layer can't be summarized until OCR adds one.
- Text inside images, charts and diagrams is not read, so conclusions shown only in a chart are missed.
- A brief summary leaves out detail by design; the omissions list says what wasn't covered.
If something goes wrong
If something goes wrong
- The summary says there is no text
- The PDF is a scan. Run OCR PDF first, then summarize.
- The summary skipped the part I care about
- Add a focus, such as “indemnification clause”, or ask about it directly in Chat with PDF.
AI PDF summarizer: questions people ask
How do I know the summary is accurate?
Each key point cites the pages it came from. Click through and read the source for anything you will act on.
What are omissions?
A list of parts the summary didn't cover, such as appendices or tables, so you know what you still need to read.
Is my document used to train AI?
The text is processed by OpenAI's API under OpenAI's API data-usage terms, which by default exclude API data from training. PDFBetter does not train models on your documents.
How many credits does a summary cost?
2 AI credits per summary, whatever the length you choose. The Free plan includes 20 credits a month and Pro includes 500.
Can it summarize a document in another language?
Yes. Ask for the summary in your language in the focus field; for a full translation, use the AI PDF translator.
Is the summary legal advice?
No. It is a reading aid. For decisions about a contract, read the cited clauses and consult a qualified professional.