Lecture Notes to Anki

    Lecture notes to Anki: upload your lecture notes as a PDF and get an Anki deck built from them.

    Every card shows the page it came from, so you know exactly where the information is.

    1. The pharmacy lecture “PHAR 5420 Beta-Lactams Lecture Notes.pdf” is dragged from Chrome’s downloads onto Synaptic Recall’s upload page, with only Anki selected.
    2. The lecture uploads and Dr. Synapse starts building the deck, counting cards as they are written.
    3. The deck is ready: 31 cards from the lecture, with a Download Anki button.
    4. A card from the deck opens in Anki: “After anaphylaxis to amoxicillin, what decides whether a cephalosporin will cross-react?”
    5. Show Answer reveals: “Similarity of the R1 side chain, not the shared beta-lactam ring.”
    6. The key term “anaphylaxis” opens its definition: A severe, rapid-onset, life-threatening systemic allergic reaction.
    7. Dr. Synapse explains: “Cefadroxil and cefprozil share amoxicillin's R1 side chain; cefazolin's is unique. The 2022 drug allergy practice parameter allows a…”
    8. Anki scrolls down to the lecture slide the card came from: “”.
    9. The view moves onto the slide and a gold box marks the line the answer came from: “Cross-reactivity follows the R1 side chain, not the shared beta-lactam ring”.
    10. End card: “Lecture notes to Anki deck”, an Upload now button, and “3 free credits · no card needed”.
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    Notes, not just slides

    Typed notes and handouts are read the same way as slides.

    The deck is built from your notes, so you start with exactly what your course covers.

    Dr. Synapse reporting a 31-card deck ready from one lecture, with a Download Anki button

    What every card includes

    We build your deck directly from your source material, so you can spend that time actually practicing active recall.

    • The right number of cards for the material, not one per bullet point
    • The right question for each fact, worded so you can’t answer it by recognition
    • The slide it came from on the card, so you know exactly where the information is
    • A dropdown with a further explanation
    • Key terms highlighted, with what each one means and where the word comes from
    A card from the 31-card deck open in Anki: the answer, Dr. Synapse’s explanation and the lecture slide it came from

    Ready for Anki

    Active recall means trying to answer a question from memory before checking the answer, and Anki gives you that practice one question at a time.

    The deck downloads as an .apkg file that Anki imports.

    Anki’s Import File window: 31 new notes imported from the deck

    How it works

    Upload one lecture as a PDF or PowerPoint.

    The system is three simple steps you do for every one of your lectures:

    • Understand the why behind the information: the Story
    • Memorize with active recall: the Anki deck
    • Apply it to real exam questions: the practice exam
    The upload page tailored for Pharmacy, with a lecture PDF dropped in and the Anki deck selected

    Free to try

    New accounts start with three free credits, and no card is needed.

    Three credits cover one lecture with all three study modes.


    Try it on your next lecture.