Short answer: open PDF to Handwritten Notes, drop in your PDF or Word file, keep the pages you need, tidy the text, then pick a handwriting style and notebook paper and download a PDF. It works for PDFs made on a computer; scanned PDFs need OCR first.
Which PDFs work
| Your file | What happens |
|---|---|
| PDF exported from Word, Google Docs or a website | Its text imports cleanly |
| Word document (.docx) or a .txt file | Imports directly |
| Scanned PDF or a photo of a page | No text inside: run OCR PDF first |
| Password-protected PDF | Unlock it first |
Step by step
- Import the file. For a long PDF, set the page range (for example one chapter) and click "Import these pages".
- Clean up the text. It lands in the editor. Delete headers, footers and page numbers you do not want written out, and fix any lines a multi-column PDF put in the wrong order.
- Format it as notes. Turn titles into headings with
#, number questions withQ1.(the number goes in the margin), make lists with-and underline key terms with**stars**. The toolbar under the text box does this for you. - Choose the look. Pick a handwriting style, blue or black ink and ruled paper. For a phone photo look, choose "Photo of a notebook" under Paper.
- Check and download. Page through the preview, then create the PDF. "Under 1 MB" keeps it small enough for most upload portals.
Notes in Hindi and other languages
Notes in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and six more Indian languages are written with matching handwriting fonts, with conjuncts joined correctly. Our guide to text to handwriting in Hindi covers the details.
In your own handwriting
Under "My handwriting" you can upload a handwriting font made from your writing, or draw each letter once. See how to use your own handwriting.
Related tools
- Text to Handwriting: type or paste instead of importing
- OCR PDF: make a scanned PDF readable first
- Handwritten Notes to PDF: the reverse, photos of real notes to a PDF
- Compress PDF to a size: shrink any PDF for a portal