# Scanned notes and textbook chapters to exam questions

> Turn a scanned textbook chapter into a quiz. Photocopies and photographed notes are read with optical character recognition, then every quote is checked.

Markdown copy of https://meduniexam.com/for/scanned-textbooks (the HTML page), published by MedUni Exam. Published September 11, 2026, updated September 12, 2026. Site guide for agents: https://meduniexam.com/llms.txt.

Old editions, library photocopies and phone pictures of a borrowed book are images, not text. Pages like that are read with optical character recognition first, so a scanned chapter turns into a quiz where every question carries a quote and the page number it came from.

[Upload a scanned chapter](https://meduniexam.com/#/)

Free to try. No card and no account needed.

[Try the sample exam](https://meduniexam.com/#/sample), ten real questions with no upload and no account.

## How a scan becomes questions

1. Each page is checked for a text layer. Pages that have one are used as they are.
2. Pages without text are sent for recognition and the result is stored against that page number.
3. Questions are generated from the recognized text and must quote it verbatim.
4. The quote check then runs against that same stored page text, so a question cannot cite a page it did not come from.

## Getting the best scan

- Use a scanning app that flattens and de-skews the page rather than the plain camera
- Photograph one page at a time, not a two page spread
- Avoid shadows across the gutter, which is where recognition fails first
- Keep the original page order so page numbers stay meaningful
- 300 dpi is enough; higher just makes the upload slower

## Honest limits

Recognition errors are the main cost. A garbled line produces a quote that does not match, and the question is thrown away rather than shown to you. That is a safe failure: the bank stays clean and you lose a question, not your trust in the answer. Figures, tables laid out as images and handwritten margin notes are the weakest cases.

## File size

Scanned books are large because every page is an image. Uploads run in parts, so a few hundred megabytes is routine and the upload resumes rather than restarting if the connection drops.

## Questions about scans

### How good does the scan need to be?

Readable by a person at 100 percent zoom. Straight pages, even lighting and 300 dpi or better give near perfect text. Skewed phone photos of a curved book spine are the usual cause of poor results.

### Are mixed documents a problem?

No. Pages with a text layer are read directly and only the pages without one go through recognition, so a book with a scanned appendix costs almost nothing extra.

### Can it read handwritten notes?

Printed text is reliable. Handwritten notes are recognized inconsistently, and a misread word can cost a question, since a quote that does not match the page is rejected rather than guessed at.

[Upload a scanned chapter](https://meduniexam.com/#/)

[See pricing](https://meduniexam.com/pricing.md)

No account needed to try it. Registering keeps your library, grades and review queue across devices.

## Related pages

- [PDF to quiz](https://meduniexam.com/pdf-to-quiz.md): How a PDF becomes a quiz here: the read, the quote, the two checks, the measured speeds, the file types that work and the prices.
- [For medical students](https://meduniexam.com/for/medical-students.md): Why questions generated from your own syllabus beat a generic question bank.
- [Dental exam questions from your own notes](https://meduniexam.com/for/dental-students.md): INBDE-style and module exam questions generated from your own dental school notes.
- [MCAT science practice from your own notes](https://meduniexam.com/exam/mcat.md): Discrete MCAT science questions generated from your own review chapter, each citing its page. Passage sets and CARS are not produced.
- [How Many Questions: Step 1, NCLEX, MCAT, PLAB](https://meduniexam.com/blog/how-many-questions-are-on-each-medical-exam.md): The question count, the testing time and the computed pace for the ten exams on this site, from USMLE Step 1 at about 280 questions to PLAB 1 at 180, each row naming the exam owner's document it came from, checked on September 21, 2026.