# PDF Annotation Export Extract existing annotations (highlights, comments, stamps, links, markup) from a PDF into JSON > Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/pdf-annotation-export - **Category:** PDF Tools - **Keywords:** pdf, annotation, export, highlight, comment, markup, extract ## Overview Reads annotations already embedded in a PDF and exports them as a structured JSON string shown directly in the output area (no file download). Markup (Highlight/Underline/StrikeOut), notes (Text/FreeText), stamps, links and shape annotations are all supported. Pure-JS via pdf-lib. ## Inputs - **PDF File** (file): Upload a PDF containing annotations - **Include Page Numbers** (checkbox) ## When to use - When you need to compile editorial feedback and comments from a reviewed PDF document. - When you want to extract highlighted text and research notes from academic papers or reports. - When you need to audit or verify embedded links, stamps, and markups across a multi-page PDF. ## How it works - Upload your PDF file containing the embedded annotations. - Choose whether to include page numbers in the final output metadata. - The tool parses the PDF structure locally using client-side JavaScript. - The extracted annotations are instantly displayed in the output area as a structured JSON string. ## Use cases - Consolidating peer-review comments and highlights from a draft manuscript into a single JSON file. - Extracting highlighted quotes and citations from digital textbooks for study guides. - Auditing corporate documents to verify that all approval stamps and external links are present and correct. ## Frequently asked questions ### What types of PDF annotations can this tool extract? It extracts markups like highlights, underlines, and strike-outs, notes like text and free text, stamps, links, and shape annotations. ### Does this tool upload my PDF files to a server? No, all processing is performed locally in your web browser using client-side JavaScript, ensuring your document data remains private. ### Can I download the output as a JSON file? The tool displays the structured JSON directly in the output text area, allowing you to copy it to your clipboard. ### Does the export include the page numbers of the annotations? Yes, you can enable the page numbers option to map each extracted annotation to its corresponding page in the PDF. ### Can this tool extract regular text that has not been annotated? No, this tool is specifically designed to extract embedded annotations and markups, not the standard body text of the PDF. ## Related tools - [PDF Form Data Export](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/pdf-form-data-export): Read AcroForm field names, types and current values from a PDF and export them to JSON - [OCR PDF to Structured JSON Bridge](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/ocr-pdf-to-structured-json-bridge): Extract the PDF text layer with geometry (lines by y-position, tables by column gaps, headings by font size, colon key-value pairs), then fill a user-supplied JSON Schema field by field — labels matched by normalized keys, values coerced to declared types and validated with ajv. - [PDF Table Extractor to CSV/JSON](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/pdf-table-extractor-to-csv-json): Extract tables from PDFs with OpenDataLoader and export them as structured JSON, flat CSV, or HTML tables - [PDF to JSON Structure Explorer](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/pdf-to-json-structure-explorer): Extract structured OpenDataLoader JSON from a PDF and browse headings, paragraphs, tables, lists, pages, and bounding boxes in an explorer view - [Fitness Workout PDF Generator](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/fitness-workout-pdf-generator): Generate a printable workout-plan PDF from JSON or CSV data with exercise tables, progress boxes, and optional QR video links - [PDF Page Range Extractor](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/pdf-page-range-extractor): Extract only selected PDF pages with OpenDataLoader and export the subset as Markdown, JSON, or text - [Rich Text JSON to PDF](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/richtext-json-to-pdf): Convert TipTap, Quill, or Slate JSON exports into a styled PDF document - [Chat Transcript to PDF](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/chat-transcript-to-pdf): Lay out multi-role chat transcripts into a PDF conversation ## Samples - [PDF Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/pdf-samples): Generated PDF samples from tools dated 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-10 - [Markdown Slide Deck Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/md-slide-deck-to-pdf): Remark/Marp style Markdown slide decks for testing PDF export layouts - [Distributed Tracing Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/distributed-tracing-samples): Comprehensive distributed tracing examples using Jaeger, OpenTelemetry, and other modern observability tools for microservices architecture - [AWS EventBridge Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/eventbridge-samples): AWS EventBridge examples including event buses, rules, targets, schema registry, custom events, and cross-account event routing for serverless event-driven architecture ## Related content - [PDF Repair, Cleanup, and Slimming](https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/pdf-repair-cleanup-and-slimming): Rescue a damaged PDF, strip what should not travel with it, and cut its weight — repair broken headers and cross-reference tables with diagnostics, export annotations before erasing them, remove metadata and form fields, then downsample and recompress to hit your size target.