Ask about a PDF in the Automatio Chrome extension
Ask the AI about any PDF file visible in your browser. Use specific tags to send a screenshot of your current view or the document URL to the side panel for analysis.
What to ask
Type it in the Automatio side panel in Chrome, with the page open. Send it as written, or change the details to fit your case.
@screenshot Look at the table on this page and summarize the primary findings regarding [subject].
How it works
- 1
Open the document
Open the PDF file in a Chrome, Edge, or Brave tab so it appears in the browser's PDF viewer.
- 2
Open the side panel
Click the Automatio toolbar icon to open the chat and tools interface next to your PDF.
- 3
Send context
Type
@screenshotto capture the visible part of the document or@urlto pass the link, then add your question and press enter.
What you get
The AI provides an answer based on the visual information in the screenshot or the content it retrieves from the URL. Check the result against the original document to ensure the AI correctly interpreted the specific section you requested.
Good to know
- The @page command cannot read text from a PDF open in Chrome's PDF viewer.
- @screenshot only captures the portion of the PDF currently visible in your browser tab.
- Every request sent to the AI uses credits from your Automatio account.
- The extension does not work in Firefox or Safari as they lack the required browser API.
Variations to try
Extract text from image
@screenshot Transcribe the handwritten notes visible on the right side of this document.
Summarize via link
@url Read this PDF and give me a bulleted summary of the executive summary section.
Questions
Why can I not use @page for PDFs?
The @page command is designed to read the text of standard web pages. Chrome's PDF viewer is a separate interface that the extension cannot scrape directly for text, so you must use a screenshot or the URL instead.
Can I ask about a PDF stored on my hard drive?
If you open the local file in Chrome, you can use @screenshot to ask about what you see on the screen. To process the entire local file, use a tool that supports file uploads up to 20 MB.
How much does it cost?
Using the extension side panel to analyze documents costs credits. The number of credits used depends on the AI model you select and the amount of data processed in the request.
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