How to annotate PDFs and lecture slides on iPad

Import the PDF from Files, write and highlight on it with Apple Pencil, find anything later with search, and export the marked-up pages as PDF or PNG.

Updated 9 October 2026 · By the NoteFun team at Quillwind

NoteFun is a handwriting notebook for iPad and Apple Pencil. Lecture slides, readings and worksheets come in as PDFs and become pages you can write on, like any other page.

Step by step

  1. Import the PDF. In the Library, tap New, then Import, and choose the PDF in Files. The PDF becomes a notebook, one page per PDF page, and its contents appear in the Outline.
  2. Write and highlight. Write on the slide with any pen, and mark key lines with the highlighter. Pressure and tilt work as they do everywhere on iPad.
  3. Move or remove marks with the lasso. Circle strokes with the lasso, then tap the selection to cut, copy, paste or delete.
  4. Ask about a slide. Write your question next to the slide and tap Ask. The reply is written on the page in ink.
  5. Search the PDF and your notes. Tap Search and type a word. NoteFun finds it in the PDF text and in your handwriting.
  6. Export. Export a page as PDF or PNG, or export the whole notebook, to share or hand in.
A lecture slide titled Market equilibrium imported as a PDF into NoteFun. The student has drawn a shifted demand curve, circled the new equilibrium, highlighted key bullet points and written on the exam in red.
A lecture slide marked up with pen and highlighter.

Asking about a slide

When you Ask on a PDF page, NoteFun sends one picture of that page and the text of that PDF page to the tutor service, so the reply can use what the slide actually says. Nothing is sent until you tap Ask, and AI can be turned off for any notebook. Read the privacy policy before asking about sensitive documents.

Finding things later

Search looks through the notebook you have open: the PDF's own text and the handwriting you added on top. Handwriting is read on your iPad, and fresh writing takes a moment to become searchable. The search guide has more.

NoteFun search on iPad. Searching the word demo lists two handwriting matches from page one and a match from a PDF page.
One search covers your handwriting and the PDF text.

Tips

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