PDF-first slide generator

Drop a PDF, get a slide deck with citations intact

Upload a lecture handout, research paper, or textbook chapter and Scholarly rebuilds it slide-by-slide — keeping figures, citations, math, and code anchored to the right slide.

Start from a topic instead

Free to start · No credit card · Export to PowerPoint, Google Slides, PDF

Used by 170,000+ students worldwide

Looking for the main AI Slide Generator tool? Try the AI Slide Generator.

Citations stay anchored
Figures & references kept in place
Math & code preserved
Not flattened to plain text
How it works

From PDF to presentation in three steps

Convert PDF to slides with AI in one upload — no blank-slide problem, just a structured draft you can edit and present.

01

Step 1: Upload PDF

Lecture handout, research paper, textbook chapter — drop in any PDF.

02

Step 2: AI Extracts Structure

Section headings, key points, figures references — restructured into slide-friendly chunks.

03

Step 3: Edit & Present

Refine and export to PowerPoint, Google Slides, or PDF.

Why use it

Why convert PDFs to slides?

Skip the blank-slide problem and start from a real draft of your source.

Faster than starting from scratch

Skip the blank-slide problem. Get an outline you can polish.

Slide-by-slide review

Dense PDFs become a visual chronological summary you can actually study.

Class presentations

Got a paper to present? The deck is half-built before you start.

PDF-first by design

A Slide Generator Built Around PDF Input

Most slide tools accept a PDF as one of many inputs and treat all of them the same. PDF to Slides AI is tuned specifically for the PDF case: the AI parses the document's actual structure (headings, sections, columns), tracks figure and citation references so they stay anchored to the right slide, preserves math notation and code blocks instead of flattening them to plain text, and respects the document's argument flow rather than re-outlining from scratch.

If you don't have a PDF and are starting from a topic, notes, or a prompt, the general-purpose AI Slide Generator is the better entry point.

Best Source PDFs

Text-based PDFs work best — research papers, lecture handouts, textbook chapters, slide decks already in PDF form. Scanned documents work but produce more accurate decks when the text is clean and selectable.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How does PDF-to-slides AI work?

Upload a PDF and Scholarly's AI reads its structure, identifies main ideas, and rebuilds the content as a coherent slide deck — title, agenda, one-idea-per-slide content, and conclusion.

What kind of PDFs work best?

Text-based PDFs (lecture handouts, research papers, textbook chapters, papers in PDF form). Scanned documents work but produce better decks when the text is selectable.

Can I edit the generated slides?

Yes, fully editable — add slides, rewrite bullets, restructure the order, change titles.

Can I export the slides?

Yes, export to PowerPoint, Google Slides, or PDF.

Are math and code preserved?

Yes, math notation and code snippets are kept intact when extracted from the source PDF.

Is it free?

Yes, free with lifetime free AI creation limits. Premium includes 10 AI creations each week and longer documents.

How do I convert a PDF to slides with AI?

Upload your PDF, and the AI parses its real structure — headings, sections, columns, figures, citations, math, and code — then rebuilds it slide-by-slide. You start from a structured draft instead of a blank deck, edit it, and export to PowerPoint, Google Slides, or PDF.

Can I turn a PDF into a PowerPoint with AI?

Yes. Scholarly's PDF-to-PowerPoint AI generates an editable deck from your PDF and exports straight to .pptx, so you can keep refining it in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote. Figures and citation references stay anchored to the slide they belong to.

Get started

Sign up to Convert PDFs to Slides

Free to start. No credit card required.

Start from a topic instead

Free

See what it does with one of your own sources.

$0/month

  • 3 AI Chat messages per day
  • 1 free AI creation total
  • 1 free file upload total (8MB)
  • 5 quiz questions per day
  • 1 exam attempt per day
  • 15 voice minutes per day
  • 32-page PDF to flashcards
  • 500 autocomplete words per day

Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, or create a podcast, video lecture, slides, infographic, mind map, study guide, worksheet, spreadsheet, story book, timeline, SOP, flowchart, lesson plan, or outline — or run Deep Research or turn a recording into AI Meeting Notes.

Most Popular

Premium

Steady weekly output from the material you already have.

$12/month

$30/month

Everything in Free, plus:

  • 10 AI creations per week
  • Unlimited AI chat & autocomplete
  • Unlimited file uploads (up to 300MB)
  • Unlimited study sessions
  • Unlimited exams & quizzes
  • 1000-page PDF to flashcards
  • Export to Anki
  • Priority support

Laureate

For work where being right matters more than the price.

$99/month

billed monthly · cancel anytime

Everything in Premium, plus:

  • Any Frontier model — Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Grok 4.6
  • 75 AI creations per week
  • 20 Frontier creations per week
  • 20 Frontier Chat messages per week
  • Unlimited uploads up to 1 GB, plus 3,000-page PDFs
  • 12 hours of voice mode per day
  • Priority support and early access to new Frontier models

Pricing shown in USD. Local currency may be available for Premium in app.

Compare plans

AI chat

Premium and Laureate include unlimited AI chat. Frontier Boost on makes Auto (Laureate) use Claude Opus 5; off uses GPT 5.6 Luna.

Free
3/day
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited

Chat Frontier Boosts

Premium includes recommended access to Grok 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Claude Sonnet 5. Laureate adds the remaining Frontier catalog plus 20 Frontier creations and 20 Frontier Chat responses each week; Auto uses Claude Opus 5 while boosts remain and GPT 5.6 Luna afterward.

Free
Premium
Laureate
20/week

AI creations

AI creations are used for AI Flashcards, deck edits, AI Podcasts, AI Video Lectures, AI Slides, worksheets, AI Infographics, mind maps, study guides, spreadsheets, story books, timelines, SOPs, flowcharts, lesson plans, outlines, AI Meeting Notes, and Deep Research reports.

Free
1 total
Premium
10/week
Laureate
75/week

Creation Frontier Boosts

Frontier Boost on makes Auto (Laureate) use Claude Opus 5; off uses GPT 5.6 Luna. Laureate includes 20 boosts within its 75 weekly creations. Flashcards never spend a boost.

Free
Premium
Laureate
20/week · included

Video lectures

Free
Uses AI creations
Premium
Included in 10/week
Laureate
Included in 75/week

File uploads

Free
1 total (8MB)
Premium
Unlimited (300MB)
Laureate
Unlimited (1 GB each)

PDF to flashcards

Free
32 pages
Premium
1000 pages
Laureate
3000 pages

Practice questions

Free
5/day
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited

Practice exams

Free
1/day
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited

Voice mode

Free
15 min/day
Premium
2 hr/day
Laureate
12 hr/day

Autocomplete

Free
500 words/day
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited

Export to Anki

Free
Premium
Included
Laureate
Included

Support

Free
Standard
Premium
Priority
Laureate
Priority

What customers say

Scholarly has enhanced the quality of notes and questions I administer to my tutees. Insightful, to the point.

TD Georgas

TD Georgas

Tutor

I have very good experience with Scholarly it summarize me scientific text in hovel academic level with citation. I use this for any therapeutic area . It is great and useful tool.

Diana

Diana

Scholarly user

Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organizing and retaining information much easier.

Briana

Briana

Scholarly user

This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organize it specifically for your needs.

Kelvin

Kelvin

Scholarly user

Your questions, answered

Is Scholarly free to use?

Yes! The free plan includes core study tools with clear limits: 3 AI Chat messages per day, one free AI creation total, 1 free file upload total, quizzes, practice exams, and manual flashcard creation. Upgrade to Premium for 10 AI creations per week and unlimited uploads.

What uses my free AI creations?

Generating flashcards, improving a flashcard deck, making a podcast, creating a video lecture or infographic, building slides, a spreadsheet, or a story book, making a mind map, study guide, or worksheet, having an AI Agent create a timeline, SOP, flowchart, lesson plan, or outline, running Deep Research, or processing a recording uses your free AI creation. It is a lifetime free credit and does not reset. AI Chat messages, quizzes, and exams still have separate daily limits; free file uploads are also lifetime credits.

Can I cancel anytime?

Absolutely. There are no contracts or commitments. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings, and you'll keep access until the end of your billing period.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Pricing is displayed in USD by default, but local currency is available in the app.

Can I use Scholarly with a class or school?

Yes. For a school or organization-wide rollout, contact us at hello@scholarly.so and we'll help you find the right setup.

What happens when I hit a free plan limit?

You'll see a prompt to upgrade. Your existing work is never lost — limits only apply to new actions. Free AI creations and the free upload are lifetime credits and do not reset. Premium includes 10 AI creations per week and unlimited uploads.