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Use case or problem
I use Obsidian as my primary study environment for long-term exam preparation.
Currently, when I want to highlight or underline a sentence in a PDF, I have to open the document in another application, save the changes, and then return to Obsidian.
This constant context switching interrupts my study flow.
I don’t need advanced PDF editing features like handwriting, text boxes, signatures, or form editing. My only goal is to make simple highlights and underlines while reading, without leaving Obsidian.
Since many users keep their PDFs inside their vaults, native support for these basic annotations would make studying much more efficient.
Proposed solution
Add lightweight native PDF annotation support focused on text.
The feature could allow users to:
- Highlight selected text.
- Underline selected text.
- Save annotations directly into the original PDF using standard PDF annotations.
- Display existing highlights created by other PDF readers.
The goal is not to replace a full PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat, but to provide the most common study annotations directly inside Obsidian.
Current workaround (optional)
Currently I use another PDF application to create highlights, save the PDF, and then return to Obsidian.
While this works, constantly switching between applications breaks concentration and makes studying less enjoyable.
Related feature requests (optional)
I understand that PDF editing is a complex feature and that Obsidian is not intended to become a full PDF editor.
However, lightweight text highlighting and underlining would cover the majority of study workflows while keeping the PDF viewer simple.
Thank you for considering this suggestion.