PDF documents
Put a PDF into a lesson, choose which pages to use, annotate it together, and present it to the class.
Who this is for
Both roles, because a PDF block is shared ground. Teachers add PDF material — coursebook pages, exam papers, handouts — choose its pages, and present it live. Students read it inside the lesson and can annotate it with PDF notes.
What this page answers
- How do I add a PDF to a lesson?
- Can I use only some of its pages?
- What can students do with a PDF during a lesson?
- How do notes on a PDF work?
- What happens when I present a PDF live?
Prerequisites
- a lesson you can edit
- a PDF file, or one already in your Materials Library
Looking to extract PDF content into exercises? The PDF block explained on this page is an interactive classroom tool embedded directly on the lesson canvas for live viewing, zooming, laser pointing, and shared class annotations. To select up to 20 pages of a library PDF inside the AI assistant and turn text, tables, and images into interactive lesson exercises, see Ask AI with PDF Materials & Page Recognition.
Adding a PDF
Open the Lesson blocks drawer
Open the blocks drawer in the editor and choose the PDF block. See Blocks for the drawer itself.
Pick the file
Two options:
- Upload a PDF from your computer. The maximum file size is 25 MB, and only PDFs are accepted. PDFs with an owner password (print or copy restrictions that open without typing a password) are unlocked automatically for page viewing and AI recognition. PDFs that require a user password just to open are rejected ("This PDF needs a password to open. Upload a PDF that opens without a password.").
- Choose from your library — search your existing materials and pick one. Reusing a library file avoids uploading the same coursebook to every lesson.
Choose the pages
A page picker appears. Select only the pages you actually want in the lesson — the three exercise pages, not the whole 200-page book. Students never see the pages you left out.
Insert
The PDF appears in the lesson as a resizable block.
You can change the page selection later without re-uploading: use the choose pages control on the block's toolbar.
Reading and navigating
The PDF block has its own toolbar:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Page arrows | Move between the pages you included |
| Rotate | Turn a sideways scan the right way up |
Zoom In (+) & Zoom Out (-) | Enlarge or reduce dense pages for comfortable reading |
| Reset Zoom | Return the page view to its default 100% fit |
| Laser pointer | Point at something while teaching |
| Fullscreen | Fill the screen with the document |
| Choose pages | Change which pages the block shows |
When zoomed in, click and drag across the page canvas to pan smoothly and inspect margins, diagrams, or fine print.
On mobile screens and narrow viewports, the toolbar automatically collapses into a compact overflow menu so controls do not obstruct the page content. If a network interruption prevents a PDF page from rendering, an inline Retry button allows you to reload the document without refreshing the entire lesson.
A second page slider sits at the bottom of the frame, so on a long page you can turn pages without scrolling back to the top.
Exporting Lessons as PDF
To export the entire lesson as a standalone PDF document, click the Tools menu in the lesson header and select Export as PDF. The exporter compiles the lesson document, preserving exercises, text blocks, and formatting while honoring any explicit page breaks (/pagebreak).
Notes on the page
Anyone in the lesson — including students — can drop a PDF note onto a page. Use Add PDF note in the block's toolbar, then click where the note belongs. Notes carry the author's name, are moved by dragging, can be resized, and appear for everyone in the room as they are added.
Students can place notes and annotations on embedded PDF pages even when the lesson document itself is read-only (such as in homework assignments or when the teacher has locked document text editing).
Who can change what:
- Students can edit and delete their own notes via the note's action menu or trash icon.
- Teaching staff can move or delete anyone's notes (while editing a note's text remains restricted to its original author).
This makes a PDF usable as a shared workspace: ask students to mark the sentence they think is wrong, and the whole class sees the marks appear.
Notes belong to the lesson, not to the file. Using the same library PDF in another lesson gives you a clean copy without the previous class's notes.
Exam lockdown and timed exams: During a timed exam or exam lockdown, student drawing and PDF annotation are locked. Outside of exam lockdown, students can annotate PDF pages during homework or read-only practice. See Lesson Lockdown and Exam Controls.
Presenting a PDF
In a live session, the teacher acts as the presenter, and the PDF follows them:
- The page you turn to becomes the page everyone sees.
- Entering fullscreen puts everyone in fullscreen.
- Your laser pointer is visible to the class.
Students can glance at another page between your moves, but the next page you turn to brings them back with you. While you hold fullscreen, students cannot leave it on their own — useful when you need the whole class looking at the same exam question.
Presentation sync is a teaching tool, not a lockdown. Students still control their own device. For controlled exam conditions, see Lesson Lockdown and Exam Controls.
Practical tips
- Import once, reuse often. Put the coursebook in the Materials Library and pick pages per lesson.
- Keep selections small. Two or three pages per block keeps navigation fast and the lesson readable on a phone.
- Scan quality matters. Rotate and zoom help, but a crooked low-resolution scan stays hard to read.
Related pages
- Blocks
- Media
- Presentation Mode
- Annotations — a different feature: teacher-only notes students never see, not the shared PDF notes on this page
- Materials Library