Read and navigate PDFs
Use this guide to read a PDF in Atlas, move through its pages, and verify that citations link to the correct passages.
What this page covers
Learn the reading workflow, PDF viewer controls, page navigation, selection, anchors, and limitations.
Open the PDF
Select the source from the project list. It opens in the middle panel.
If you arrived by selecting a citation in chat, Atlas opens the PDF near the cited passage. Before reading the cited section, confirm that the document title and visible content match the source you expected.
Move through the document
Use the viewer toolbar to:
- Scroll continuously through pages.
- Jump to a specific page number.
- Search for a phrase using the search control.
- Zoom in or out with the zoom controls.
- Rotate pages if needed.
For research papers, start with the abstract, introduction, methods, results, limitations, and conclusion. For reports and reference documents, use section headings and tables to locate the evidence you need.
Verify a citation
When a chat answer cites a PDF:
- Select the citation badge.
- The viewer scrolls to the cited passage and highlights it.
- Read the highlighted sentence.
- Read the surrounding paragraph for context.
- Check whether the passage supports the claim Atlas made.
- Look for caveats or qualifications nearby.
A citation is a path to evidence. The passage may support the claim accurately, partially, or in a way that requires interpretation. Reading the surrounding text is how you confirm which it is.
Handle page number differences
PDF file pages and printed page labels often differ. A paper might label its introduction as page 1 even though the file has cover pages before it. Atlas citations use the file page. The printed label remains useful when a paper refers to its own pagination.
When page numbers seem off, search for a phrase from the cited passage to confirm you are on the right page.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| Search does not find text | The PDF may be scanned or image-based |
| Citation opens near but not exactly on the phrase | Search for the phrase on that page to locate it |
| Viewer is slow to load | Large PDFs and image-heavy documents take longer to render |
Use the PDF viewer controls
The PDF viewer is the main reading and verification surface for imported PDF sources. It lets you inspect the original document behind summaries, maps, and citations.
Core controls
| Control or state | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Scroll | Move through rendered pages. |
| Page navigation | Jump to a specific page or page range. |
| Search | Find extracted text inside the PDF when available. |
| Citation jump | Open a cited location from chat, summary, or another surface. |
| Zoom | Make text or figures readable. |
| Side panel or split view | Compare the PDF with notes, chat, or maps. |
Page numbers and anchors
PDFs can have multiple numbering systems:
- rendered page index
- printed page label
- article page number
- citation anchor
- extracted-text location.
These can differ. When verifying a citation, read the opened page and nearby context rather than relying only on a page number.
Search and extraction
PDF search depends on extracted text. Search works best when the PDF contains selectable text. Scanned documents, images, unusual layouts, or poor OCR can reduce search and citation quality.
If a PDF looks readable to you but Atlas cannot search it well, the file may be image-based or structurally difficult to parse.
Verification workflow
- Open the answer or summary citation.
- Read the cited passage.
- Read nearby paragraphs for qualifiers or contradictions.
- Check figures, tables, and footnotes if the claim depends on them.
- Revise the answer or note if the citation does not support the claim.
When to troubleshoot
Use Troubleshoot source processing when the PDF fails to process, lacks searchable text, opens incorrectly, or produces unreliable citations.