BOTPLE EDUCATION
Botple Notes

How to type answers on a scanned worksheet

If your worksheet is a scan or a photo, normal “fill in PDF” tools do nothing — there is nothing to click into. Here is what actually works, free, with no install.

Open your worksheet → See how it works

Free. No account, no sign-up, no upload — your file stays on your device.

Why the “fill” button doesn’t work

This part is worth understanding, because it is not your fault and no amount of clicking will fix it.

A PDF can hold two very different things. It can hold a real form, where the author has marked out proper boxes for you to type in. Or it can hold a picture of a page — which is all a scan is.

On a scanned worksheet, the answer boxes and the ruled lines are just pixels in an image. They look like boxes to you, but to the software they are no different from the rest of the picture. That is why Acrobat, your browser’s PDF viewer, and every “fill in PDF online” site give you nothing to type into. There genuinely is nothing there.

So the answer is not a better fill tool. The answer is a tool that lets you put your own text anywhere you want on top of the page.

Three steps

1 Open your worksheet. Drag the PDF or photo onto Botple Notes, or pick it from your files. If the worksheet only exists on paper, photograph it right there in the app — it will straighten the page and clean up the lighting for you.
2 Click where the answer goes, and type. Anywhere on the page. Move the box if it lands slightly off, resize it, change the size, colour or font. You can also write by hand or draw, if the question needs a diagram.
3 Export to hand in. You get a clean, flattened PDF with your answers printed onto the page. Your original file is never changed, and your answers stay editable in case you want to fix one later.

One honest note

On a digital worksheet — one exported straight from Word, not scanned — Botple Notes can find the answer boxes for you and offer them, so you just click and go.

On a scan, it cannot, and neither can anything else. The boxes aren’t really there to find. You place your answers yourself, which takes a couple of extra seconds per question and works every time.

Common questions

Do I need to install anything?

No. It runs in your browser, with no account and no sign-up. It also keeps working offline after the first load — useful on school computers that wipe themselves every time they restart.

Is my worksheet uploaded anywhere?

No. Your file stays on your device. The work happens in your browser, and your worksheet is never sent to a server.

Can I fix my answers later?

Yes. Answers are kept as a separate editable layer, so you can reopen the worksheet and change them. The file you export to hand in is a flattened copy.

Does it work on a Chromebook or a locked-down school laptop?

Yes — that is the main reason it is a website and not an installed program. If the machine can open a browser, it can run Botple Notes. See using it on a school Chromebook for more on locked-down devices specifically.

I have a Windows laptop and wanted something like Notability

Notability is iPad and Mac only. See a Notability alternative for Windows and Chromebook for what Botple Notes can and can’t do in its place.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Botple Notes is free for students and stays that way, with no trial and no restriction on what you export. A small credit is included on the page by default so other students can find the app too — it is one tap to turn off in the export screen if you would rather not.

Open your worksheet → About Botple Notes