PDF to Quiz: Create a Quiz from Any PDF with AI

Most AI quiz makers start from a topic prompt: you type “the water cycle” and the model writes questions from its general knowledge. That works, but the questions reflect a generic version of the subject, not the version you taught.

Generating from your own document fixes that. The questions use your wording, your examples, and the specific points your chapter chose to emphasize. Students are assessed on what was actually covered in class, which is the whole point of a recap quiz. It also means you spend less time editing, because the source already matches your curriculum.

Document generation is reliable, but a few habits make the output noticeably better and cut your editing time:

• Upload chapter-sized chunks, not whole books. One unit or chapter at a time gives focused questions. A 300-page PDF forces the model to skim, and the file is likely over the 10 MB limit anyway.
• Give it a clear page. A photo works: lay the worksheet flat, fill the frame with it, and check the text is sharp before you upload. If you have the original Word file or PDF, upload that instead, since it reads more reliably than a picture of a printout.
• Say how many questions and which types. If you leave it open, the AI picks a reasonable mix. Specifying gives you the assessment you actually want.
• Review answers in your subject area. The AI is strong but not infallible. Watch for two patterns: a question built on a trivial detail nobody would reasonably remember, and answer choices that are both defensible enough that sharp students will argue about them. Expect to tweak 1 to 3 questions out of 10, usually to reword an ambiguous option or swap a weak distractor for a real misconception.

You do not need to pay to try this. Here is the honest breakdown of what the free plan includes and where Pro starts, so there are no surprises:

The free AI allowance is a lifetime total of 5 generated quizzes rather than a monthly reset, so it is best spent on the quizzes that save you the most prep. Once you are past the try-it-and-see stage, Pro at $5.99 per month (or $39 per year) removes the cap and unlocks the other seven question types.

Once the quiz is saved, hosting it is the same as any other Sheelon quiz:

1. Click Start game on the quiz you just built.
2. Pick a mode: Classic (individual scoring), Team Mode (groups compete, on Pro), or Classwork (each student works at their own pace). For work due later, use Homework instead and set a deadline.
3. A 6-digit PIN appears. Put it on the projector or read it out.
4. Students open sheelon.me/join on any device, enter the PIN, and type a nickname. No app, no account.
5. In Classic or Team Mode, click Start Game and the questions advance in real time with a leaderboard between rounds; in Classwork, each student works through them at their own pace.

Plenty of tools can turn a PDF into a list of questions. The difference shows after the questions exist. In Sheelon, the output is a live, interactive game: students join with a 6-digit PIN on their own phones, answer in real time, and see a leaderboard between rounds, no student accounts and no printed answer sheets to grade.

• Diagrams and charts count. PDFs are read natively, so a labeled figure in the chapter can become a question about the figure, not just about the surrounding text.
• The game grades itself. Answers are scored live during the game instead of collected for marking later.
• Results come out as data. After the game, export per-student scores and question-by-question accuracy to Excel or PDF for your gradebook.