Cornell notes from anything you read or watch
Paste your lecture notes, a chapter, or an article. Penwell sorts it into the Cornell layout: cues on the left, notes on the right, a summary at the bottom.
What a Cornell page looks like
Every page is split in three. The left column holds questions and keywords. The right holds the notes. The bottom holds a short summary. The layout is what makes it a study tool, because you can hide the notes and test yourself from the cues.
Where does it happen?
What goes in? What comes out?
Why do leaves look green?
Inside chloroplasts, mostly in leaf cells.
Light, water, and carbon dioxide go in. Glucose and oxygen come out.
Chlorophyll reflects green light and absorbs red and blue.
How it works
- 1
Give it your material
Paste text, upload a PDF, drop a link to an article or a YouTube video.
- 2
Choose the Cornell style
Penwell lays the notebook out with cues, notes, and a summary on each page.
- 3
Study from it
Read it, edit it, flip through the flashcards, or take the quiz.
How to study from Cornell notes
- Cover the notes column and answer each cue out loud.
- Check what you missed, then cover it again tomorrow.
- Write the summary line in your own words before you read ours.
Want to make those cues into cards? Penwell turns them into flashcards, and you can take a short quiz from the same notebook.
What to expect
The notes follow your source. Messy or very short input gives thin notes, and a scanned PDF with poor text recognition will lose detail. Read through the result once, fix a cue or two, and it becomes yours.
Questions
What are Cornell notes?
A note-taking method from Cornell University. Each page has three parts: a narrow cue column on the left for keywords and questions, a wide notes area on the right, and a short summary at the bottom.
Is the Cornell notes generator free?
Yes, to start. Every account gets 5 notebooks a month free, no card needed. Pro is $1.49 a month for unlimited notebooks and clean exports.
What can I turn into Cornell notes?
Pasted text, a PDF, DOCX or Markdown file, a web article, or a YouTube link. Audio and video files up to 500 MB work too.
Can I still edit the notes?
Yes. Treat the result as a first draft. Rewrite a cue or add your own example. Notes you reshape yourself are easier to remember.
Does it make flashcards too?
Yes. The cue questions and the notes next to them become flashcards, and you can take a short quiz from the same notebook.
Will the notes be accurate?
They follow your source, so a clear source gives clear notes. Skim them before an exam and fix anything that looks off.
Make your first Cornell notebook
Takes under a minute. No card.