The integrated PDF reader lets you read, search, and annotate documents directly in amaise.
Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the PDF reader offers these functions (left to right):
Button | Description |
Split document (divider icon) | Split the document at the current page — the tooltip reads Split document here, current page will be the 1st. The button only appears from page 2 onward; page 1 cannot be split. |
Mark as important document (star icon) | Mark or unmark the document as important. Important documents land under your personal Important: {your name} label in the document list, where you can filter them with one click. |
Add comment (comment bubble icon) | Place a free comment anywhere on the page. After clicking, choose the position on the page and enter your comment. |
Print (printer icon) | Print the document. Only visible if you have the necessary permission or the |
Download (download icon) | Download the document as a PDF. Same permission as printing. |
Search (magnifying glass icon) | Open or close full-text search in the document. Enter a search term to highlight all matches and navigate between them. The search reliably captures both typed words and handwritten notes. |
Full Screen (fullscreen icon) | Display the document in fullscreen mode. Press |
To the left of these buttons, the toolbar also holds the thumbnail-panel toggle, the view controls (including page rotation), and the zoom controls — see More features.
If a document is part of a case export with pagination per Art. 8 ATSV, it's locked: the Split document button is unavailable, and you can't move, merge, or delete it either. See Exports: problems and solutions for how the lock is released.
Text selection popup
When you select text in the document, a popup appears with these options — plus the highlight colours and annotation tools explained in the "Annotations" section below:
Copy — Copy the selected text to the clipboard.
Copy link to selected text — Creates a deep link that leads directly to the selected spot in the document. This lets colleagues open the relevant passage with one click.
Explain by DocPilot — Lets DocPilot explain the selected text passage. Only available if the
ENABLE_DOCPILOTfeature is enabled for your workspace.
Annotations
You can add various annotations to documents. Note that annotations require certain permissions — not all users can create annotations.
Annotation types
Select text in the document to see annotation options:
Colored highlights — Highlight important text passages in color. Six colors are available: blue, green, orange, purple, red, and yellow.
Strikethrough — Cross out text passages.
Comment — Add a comment anchored to the text selection.
Free comment — Place a comment freely anywhere on the page (also available via the toolbar button).
Annotations save automatically. They belong to the case, not to you alone: every case member sees them, with the author's name attached.
Edit or remove an annotation
Click a highlight to open its popup:
Pick another color swatch to recolor it
Copy copies the highlighted text, Copy link to selected text creates a deep link to the passage, and Explain by DocPilot is available here too
Delete (trash icon) removes the annotation — hold Ctrl or Cmd to select several highlights and delete or recolor them together (Backspace also deletes the selection)
Comments are edited and deleted via the ⋮ menu on their comment card
Find your annotations again
You don't have to scroll through documents to review your highlights: in the document list, the Annotations filter section collects every annotated document — one colored chip per annotation type, plus Any annotation for all of them at once. See Document study: filter and select documents.
More features
Scrolling and zooming — Navigate through pages and adjust the view. When switching to a new document, the zoom resets automatically to the last chosen page or width setting.
Page navigation — Jump directly to a specific page using the page number field.
Next document — When you reach the bottom of a document's last page, a Next document button appears so you can continue straight to the next document (or back to the first, on the last document).
Page rotation — Rotate individual pages via the page manipulation overlay for better readability. The rotation is saved; if you turn a page the wrong way, Undo in the notification reverses it right away.
Thumbnail panel — Show or hide a page overview on the left to quickly switch between pages.
Keyboard shortcuts
You can navigate the PDF reader from the keyboard:
← / → — Previous / next page
Cmd / Ctrl + F — Find in the document
Cmd / Ctrl + P — Print
Tip: see the full list and the shortcuts for other views in the article Personal settings: Keyboard shortcuts.
Splitting large PDFs
amaise supports PDFs up to 2,000 pages per file. If your document is larger, split it into smaller files before uploading. The easiest way is using the print function in Chrome or Edge: open the PDF, select Print, choose “Microsoft Print to PDF” or “Save as PDF” as the printer, and enter the desired page range under Pages (e.g., “1–100”). Repeat for each additional range.