How to Add Review Comments to a PDF Without Changing the Original

1. Know the difference between PDF annotations and review notes

There are two different workflows often described as commenting on a PDF: adding annotation objects inside the PDF, or keeping review notes separately from the original document. PDF Review Notes uses the second approach and stores comments with their target positions locally.

Sending the original PDF alone will not share these comments. Export a report in HTML, CSV or Markdown. By default, an HTML report also contains the source PDF, so recipients can inspect each note alongside its location.

2. Open the PDF and find the page you want to review

Open PDF Review Notes, choose Choose PDF, or drag a file onto the page. The app handles one PDF at a time with a 250 MiB limit. Files above 100 MiB trigger a performance warning.

Use page navigation, the page-number field, zoom, Fit width or Fit page to locate the passage you want to discuss. On desktop, Ctrl plus the mouse wheel also zooms around the pointer.

Password-protected PDFs are not supported. You can still review an image-only scanned page, but its text cannot be selected as normal PDF text; use a rectangular Area review instead.

3. Select PDF text and attach a review comment

Drag across the passage you want to review. The PDF text-selection layer captures the selected text and its location. Then choose a review type, enter your comment and add the item.

Choose from Change, Question, Check, Good and Note. Change suits wording that should be revised; Question suits a passage that needs clarification. Every review requires a comment.

Select a note in the review list to return to its page and position. The app stores anchors in PDF coordinates rather than screen pixels so the highlighted location can be restored after zooming.

4. Add comments to charts, diagrams and scanned pages

For figures, photographs and scanned pages whose text is not selectable, use Area review to draw a rectangle around the relevant region. On desktop, Shift plus drag provides a quick way to mark a rectangular area.

After marking the region, choose a review type and write your comment. Area reviews work for table cells, charts and layout details that are not selectable as text.

An Area review does not recognize text inside the rectangle. The app has no OCR feature and does not extract scanned words automatically or edit the PDF contents.

5. Track open and resolved review items

Each new review starts as Open and can be changed to Resolved after it has been addressed. Filter by status or type when you want to work through the remaining issues.

Previous review and Next review beside the PDF viewer follow the active filters and the Page or Added sort order. If nothing is selected, Next starts from the first matching item. Navigation stops at the ends instead of wrapping around.

You can delete a review and immediately undo the deletion while the same PDF and review session remain open. Opening another PDF or replacing the session clears that earlier Undo action.

6. Save and resume work on the same PDF

Reviews are autosaved to IndexedDB on your device. When you reopen the same PDF, the app restores its notes using the document's SHA-256 hash as an identifier.

To continue on another device, export the review session as JSON and import it there. Unlike HTML, CSV or Markdown reports, the session JSON is intended for resuming editable review work.

Clearing browser site data may delete autosaved reviews. Keep a separate JSON backup when you need to preserve unfinished work.

7. Share the PDF and comments in a standalone HTML report

To share a review, select HTML in the export dialog. By default, the report embeds the original PDF, so a recipient can inspect the PDF pages and review list in one file. Selecting a review card navigates to its saved page and location.

Recipients can open the HTML report in their browser and filter items by Open or Resolved. The PDF can be excluded to make the report smaller, but then the report cannot display the full source document.

You can optionally include cropped images of rectangular review regions. The export uses a snapshot of the PDF, reviews and settings taken when generation begins, preventing later edits or a different source from being mixed into the file.

8. Export comments as CSV or Markdown instead

Choose CSV if you want to manage issues in a spreadsheet, or Markdown for a text-based review record. CSV uses UTF-8 with a BOM and preserves comments and statuses in tabular form. Markdown groups reviews by page.

CSV and Markdown never include the source PDF. All three report formats export every review, even if you are viewing only Open items. Filters change the list and review navigation, not the export.

CSV preserves the review text as entered. If you open an untrusted review file containing formula-like strings in a spreadsheet, import the review columns as text.

9. Troubleshoot PDF limits and understand local processing

If a file fails to open, check that it is a PDF. The app also checks the document's PDF signature. Files over 250 MiB and password-protected PDFs are unsupported. Some documents requiring unusual font assets may have rendering limitations.

An HTML report can be large because the original PDF is embedded by default. Turn off PDF inclusion for a smaller file if appropriate. Check the review counts and filename before export, then confirm the downloaded file exists on your device.

The browser handles PDF loading, review storage and report generation. Neither the PDF nor its comments are uploaded; the app also blocks runtime network connections with CSP connect-src 'none'. The initial request for the webpage is separate from processing your document.

Tips and limitations

• Use Area review for scanned pages instead of repeatedly trying to select text that is not present.
• Review the Open and Resolved statuses before exporting so recipients know which items have been addressed.
• HTML includes the original PDF by default. Check which document and review details you are sharing before sending the file.
• For longer projects, save a separate session JSON backup rather than relying only on local browser autosave.