Docly practical guide
Summarise a PDF and Ask Document Questions
AI can accelerate the search for key points in a long report, but its output is an assistant draft. Verify important information at the source page when a document affects contractual, medical, legal or financial decisions.
Create a useful PDF summary
Add the document to PDF Summary and choose a short or detailed result. A useful summary separates purpose, main findings, dates, responsibilities and unresolved points.
For very long documents, summarising sections first and then requesting an overall synthesis can reduce the loss of important detail.
Ask effective PDF questions
Replace a vague question such as ‘what does this say?’ with ‘what is the delivery date?’, ‘list each party's obligations’ or ‘explain the risks in section 3 with page references.’
Verify AI answers
Open cited pages and compare dates, amounts, conditions and exceptions with the original text. Do not rely on information presented as certain when it does not appear in the document.
Quick checklist
- ✓Specify the desired output format in each question.
- ✓Verify dates and amounts on the source page.
- ✓Do not treat a summary as the official record.
Tools in this guide
Frequently asked questions
Is an AI PDF summary reliable?
It is useful for initial review, but critical decisions should be checked against the source document.
What can I ask a PDF?
Ask targeted questions about dates, parties, obligations, findings, risks and specific sections.