Text to Flashcards: Paste Any Text, Get an AI Study Deck | SmartRecall
Text to Flashcards: Paste Any Text, Get a Study-Ready Deck in Minutes
Not everything you want to learn comes as a tidy PDF. Sometimes it's a paragraph from an article, a definition list you copied, a chunk of documentation, or a passage you want to memorize word-for-word. SmartRecall's text-to-flashcards converter takes any text you paste in and turns it into question/answer cards on an SM-2 spaced-repetition schedule. Sign up free and your first 20 AI-generated cards are on us — no credit card.
If you can select it and copy it, you can turn it into flashcards.
The most flexible input there is
Text is the raw material every other format gets converted into anyway. Skipping straight to pasted text means:
- No format friction. No upload, no file type, no OCR step. Copy from a browser, a doc, a chat, an email — paste and go.
- Precise scope. Paste exactly the paragraph you care about instead of a whole 300-page book. The AI focuses on what you gave it, so the cards are tighter.
- Works with anything textual. Articles, textbook passages, lecture transcripts, API docs, legal clauses, poems, recipes, product specs — if it's text, it's fair game.
How it works in 3 steps
- Paste your text. Drop in anything from a single definition to several pages. The only requirement is that it's actual text (not a screenshot) — if you can highlight the words, SmartRecall can read them.
- AI writes the cards. SmartRecall reads the whole passage, identifies the facts, claims, definitions, and relationships worth remembering, and turns each into a question/answer pair — mixing recall, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, and short application prompts.
- Review and study. Edit wording, merge duplicates, drop anything low-value, then hit Start and let the SM-2 engine schedule each card for exactly when you're about to forget it.
What you can paste
| Text source | Works well? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Articles & blog posts | Excellent | Key claims and definitions become recall prompts. |
| Textbook / chapter passages | Excellent | Paste the section you're studying for tight, focused cards. |
| Definition & vocabulary lists | Excellent | Term → definition converts almost 1:1 into two-sided cards. |
| Documentation & reference text | Very good | Commands, parameters, and rules become quick-recall cards. |
| Transcripts (lecture / video / podcast) | Very good | Paste the transcript text; the AI extracts the substance. |
| A screenshot or image of text | Not yet | No image recognition — copy the underlying text instead, or OCR it first. |
SmartRecall reads pasted text only — there's no OCR, so a screenshot won't work. Select and copy the real text, or run an image through OCR first, then paste.
Not just PDFs
SmartRecall started as a PDF-to-flashcards tool, but text is the universal input. Use pasted text when:
- The source isn't a PDF (a webpage, a doc, a chat message).
- You only want a specific passage, not a whole file.
- You've already got the text on your clipboard and don't want the upload step.
Prefer uploading a PDF when the material is a long text-based document you'd rather not copy-paste in pieces, or paste your own notes when you've already condensed the material by hand.
What it costs
- Free account — sign up and get 20 credits for AI generation, plus up to 3 decks. Enough to try it on real material and judge the quality. Manual cards and SM-2 reviews are always free.
- Student — unlimited decks and a study report. See pricing for current numbers.
- Pro — everything in Student plus Anki export (
.apkg).
One AI-generated card costs one credit — no surprise charges, and you set the card count before each generation.
Use cases
Turn an article into recall. Read something worth remembering? Paste the key section and get a handful of cards instead of losing the insight in a week.
Memorize a specific passage. For definitions, legal rules, or text you need close to verbatim, fill-in-the-blank cards let you rebuild the passage from memory.
Study from transcripts. Auto-generated lecture, video, or podcast transcripts become decks — paste the text and let the AI pull out what's testable.
Language learning. Paste a sentence list or a short reading; SmartRecall detects the source language and can put the answer side in your target language, with example sentences drawn from the same text.
FAQ
Is there a length limit on the text I paste? You can paste anything from one line to several pages. You control how many cards to generate (up to 30 per generation); for very long text, paste it in focused sections so each deck stays sharp.
Do I need to format the text a certain way? No. Plain paragraphs, bullet lists, and outline notes all work — the AI reads meaning, not formatting. Formatting is stripped on paste; the substance is kept.
Can it read a screenshot or photo of text? Not directly. SmartRecall works with actual selectable text, not images. Copy the underlying text, or run the image through OCR first, then paste the result.
What question types can it make? Four: question/answer, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, and short case/application prompts. Pick which types to include so the deck matches how you'll be tested.
Does it work for non-English text? Yes. The AI reads the source language of whatever you paste — Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, and most major European languages. The SmartRecall interface is available in English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, and 한국어.
Ready to turn text into a deck?
Paste any text and watch a study-ready deck appear in minutes. Sign up free, get 20 cards on us, no credit card required. Get started free →