Reading & Annotating

Alfred Scholar includes a built-in PDF reader so you can read, highlight, and annotate your research papers without leaving the platform. Your annotations are saved automatically and visible to all workspace members.

#Opening a document

Click on any document in your library to open it in the PDF reader.

#Reader toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the reader gives you quick access to:

#Highlighting text

To highlight a passage in your paper:

1. Click the Highlight button (highlighter icon) in the toolbar to enter highlight mode.
2. Select the text you want to highlight.
3. A color picker appears - click a color to save the highlight immediately.

To change the default highlight color before selecting text, click the color circle next to the highlight button.

#Annotating image regions

To annotate a figure, chart, or image:

1. Click the Select region button (square icon) in the toolbar.
2. Click and drag on the page to draw a box around the area.

#Viewing all annotations

Click the Annotations button (speech bubble icon) in the toolbar to open the annotations sidebar. This shows every annotation on the document, letting you:

• Jump to an annotation - Click any annotation to scroll to its location in the PDF.
• See attached notes - View the text attached to each highlight.
• Change color - Click a color swatch on an annotation to update its color.
• Add a comment - Click the comment icon to open the thread and type a reply.

#Annotation comments

Each annotation supports threaded comments, useful when collaborating with team members:

1. Open the annotations sidebar.
2. Click the comment icon on an annotation to expand the thread.
3. Type your comment and press Enter or click the send button.

All workspace members can see and add comments to annotations.

#Imported annotations

If your PDF already has highlights or annotations, Alfred Scholar imports them automatically. These imported annotations are marked with a PDF badge in the sidebar.

Imported annotations are read-only - you cannot change their color, delete them, or modify their comments. This preserves the original state of the PDF annotations.

#Deleting annotations

Click the trash icon on an annotation in the sidebar to delete it and its highlight.

Note: You can only delete annotations you created. Imported PDF annotations cannot be deleted. Workspace owners can delete any user-created annotation.

#Keyboard shortcuts

#Next steps

• Chat with your documents - Ask Alfred questions about what you just read.
• Manage citations - Review the citations extracted from your paper.