Read and annotate
Move between the summary, original PDF, highlights and source passages.
Open a paper in the Library to see its tabs: Details (the paper’s record, where it opens), View (the PDF), Notes, Summary, References, Citations, Exhibits, Files and Poster. A new paper has no summary until you select Summarise this paper on its Summary tab; the tab shows the credit cost first. The panel shows when processing is still running or a file is unavailable. Open the full reader for continuous pages, zoom, page navigation and text search.
Read the source behind a summary
The summary separates overview, methods, findings and limitations from AI assessment. It may have saved language versions. Use a Page or Read passage link to open a saved quotation in the original reader. Unverified claim means no verified source was saved; Source unavailable means saved evidence cannot currently be used. Older summaries need regeneration to request evidence.
Source links locate quotations. They do not prove that the quotation supports every part of the AI’s claim, even when its wording matches. Check the surrounding paper before relying on a finding. Summary translations preserve the original quotations and claim identities, but their meaning is not independently verified.
The reader can open a source passage from search, a cited Ask answer or an annotation link. Text find highlights matches on the rendered PDF. A reader-only page inversion control can reduce glare without changing the original file.
In the web app, maths in summary text appears as formatted inline or display equations. Wide display equations scroll horizontally within the summary. If a formula cannot be rendered, its LaTeX source remains visible. This does not change the original PDF or its extracted equations.
Set the summary style for a project
On the web or the desktop app, open Project settings, choose Processing, and find Summary instructions. A preset is a named set of instructions, up to 1,000 characters, that can set reading level, emphasis or style. Default is built in and adds no instructions. Members allowed to edit the project can choose New preset, add one of the example sentences, then Create preset, and can edit or delete their presets later. Depth and evidence rules still apply. On a tablet, Project settings opens this page on the web.
The selected preset, marked Used for new summaries, writes every new summary in the project for everyone. Existing summaries keep the instructions they were written with until you choose Regenerate; the line under a summary names the preset it was written with. Choosing or editing a preset alone uses no plan usage.
Regenerate on the web, the desktop app or a tablet asks which preset to Write it with, starting from the project’s default, before you confirm. Picking another preset there changes only that paper’s new summary, not the project’s default.
Mark up what matters
Select PDF text to highlight it or use Add to note. That action adds the quotation, page and citation to your latest note for the paper, creating a private reader note if needed. Annotations sync to your account and can queue locally during a temporary disconnection. You can also import supported annotations already embedded in a PDF, subject to its format limits.
To place a sticky note with the keyboard in the web reader, Tab to Paper text and press N. If you have already selected Sticky note, press Enter or Space in Paper text. The note opens at the visible part of your current page with the editor focused. Type your note, then press Escape to save it and return to the document.
Reading progress can mark a paper Skimmed and then Read near the end. It will not automatically move a later state backward, and you can override it manually.
On the web, Appearance sets the reading font for Library note excerpts and reader note text, including quoted passages. The font follows changes while the note is open.
Export annotations as notes
In the web reader, choose Export as notes to open the annotation-export dialog. Pick a destination, scope and fields to include, then review the preview and mark count. The preview refreshes whenever you reopen the dialog; Export waits while changed choices load. If the preview cannot load, choose Retry preview.
For Markdown, spreadsheet and Word files, choose Export. After the dialog closes, Download started names the file. Check your browser’s downloads if the file does not appear: the message confirms that Distari handed the download to the browser. A failed export keeps the dialog open so you can try again. Clipboard and draft destinations confirm where the notes went. Exporting annotations costs no credits.
Other source views
The Exhibits tab shows extracted figures, tables and equations when available. These are derived from the paper and may lose layout details such as merged table cells. The Files tab keeps the original PDF and, when configured and completed, translated extracted text. A translation does not replace the source PDF and may be partial or stale after the source changes.
The web app can keep chosen papers, folders or projects offline, including their PDFs and saved summaries. In the Library, use Make available offline on a paper, or the folder or project menu’s Keep folder available offline or Keep project available offline. Open Settings → Offline to review saved scopes, browser storage and queued changes. Some project screens still need a connection. The native apps also keep chosen research offline; see Apps and devices.
Suggestions, rewrites, research gaps, methodology comparisons and summary translation use your plan’s usage on Free and Pro, and have no daily free allowance. In a shared project, the owner’s plan pays (see Plans and credits). Reading saved results is free; failed work releases the usage it held. Missing source summaries, comparison tables, agreement maps, drafting and full-text translation use plan usage too. Local PDF text extraction is free.