Highlights

The PDF Reader

for Research
Introduction Guide
 Getting Started
Welcome to a different PDF reader! Highlights extracts the
text and images you markup and formats them into notes
on the fly. It will also extract annotations from your existing
PDFs when you open them.

Let’s go through the basics of using the app starting with

the interface. The Toolbar is located at the top and can be
hidden by a single tap on the document. To show it again
tap the document once more.
Settings Display Settings Metadata Share

Go
Annotation
Format Search
Back Bar Note

On a compact screen, like an iPhone or the app in Slide

Over on an iPad, the toolbar will have limited space and
some options will be tucked away under the More button.

Go Back Display Settings Share

More Search

The Display Settings lets you switch between the PDF and
your Notes. On wider screens you have the additional
option of showing Both PDF and Notes side-by-side.
Rotating the screen will automatically change this setting.

On the bottom bar you will find the thumbnail view that lets
you scrub through the PDF by dragging your finger over it:

To close a PDF and go back to your files, tap the back

arrow in the top left corner.
 Annotate Faster
To annotate a PDF you select the content with your finger
and use the popover to specify the markup type:
Strikethrough Highlight Image Selection
Copy Underline Note Look Up

If you use an iPad with an Apple Pencil, you can enable the
Annotation Bar in the toolbar and select the tool there
before making the selection.
Apple Pencil and mouse pointer users also have access to
color options in the text selection popover when annotating.

To annotate even faster, enable default annotation colors. PRO

To change an existing annotation or add a comment, tap the

annotation to bring up the annotation popover:

Delete Annotation
Color
Author Modification Date

Comment

Remove
Comment Only
 Made for Research
Extracting text is just the beginning. Highlights can extract a
range of information and is optimized for scientific articles.

Image Selection: grabs an image of the current

selection in the PDF.

iPhone & iPad Mac

Text Recognition: OCR a selection to extract PRO

text from PDFs without a working text layer.

Table Recognition: Convert image selections to PRO

tables with actual data using machine learning.

Grouping
Left align Center align Right Align
Merged Long Cell
Split 50 % 50 %
Mass 100 kg 10 mg
Time 32 s 10 h 10 min

Fetch metadata: Automatically detect DOI-links in PRO

scientific literature and download the metadata.

Citation lookup: Markup the text of a citation and PRO

tap the link icon in the Annotation Popover.

Iijima, S. Nature 354, 56–58 (1991)

 Export Anywhere
Tap the Share icon in the top right corner
to share your Notes or the PDF itself.

Notes can be exported anywhere as PDF

files in the free version.

As a Pro user, you can export your notes

to editable formats such as Markdown,
TextBundle and HTML. You can also
PRO
open them directly in shoebox
applications like Evernote, DEVONthink,
Ulysses, Bear and Keep It.

Customize the appearance of your notes

using the Format options. Here you can
decide what to include in your Notes.

Sort your annotations by color lets you

use your own color categories and
sorting order for your annotations.

Copy the contents of an annotation using

the copy button in the popover. Or using
the three finger tap gesture.

Smart Copy gives you the

PRO desired format depending on the
context.

Copying an image selection will

paste a PNG, a citation a BibTex
string and a table a CSV that can
be imported into a spreadsheet.
 Highlights Pro
Unlocks all the features on your iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Essentials Free Pro

Read & Annotate PDFs ✔ ✔
Smart Merge Annotations ✔ ✔
Edit PDF Metadata ✔ ✔
Handoff between iPhone, iPad and Mac ✔ ✔
Notes
Sort Annotations by Color Categories ✔ ✔
Export Notes as PDF ● ✔
Export Notes as Markdown, HTML & TextBundles ● ✔
Export Notes Directly to Other Apps ● ✔
Productivity
Text Recognition ● ✔
Table Recognition ● ✔
Smart Copy ● ✔
Custom Default Colors for Annotation Tools ● ✔
Underline Power Tools ● ✔
Selection Power Tools ● ✔
Research
Fetch Metadata ● ✔
Citation Lookup ● ✔
Integrate with Reference Managers ● ✔
Support for Math Formulas (MathJAX) ● ✔
Appearance
Dark Mode ✔ ✔
Custom Icons and Accent Colors (iOS) ● ✔

For more information see highlightsapp.net/pro

 Thank you!
More tutorials and a FAQ can be found on:
highlightsapp.net