PDF Cover Cards puts the first page of a PDF on each card in a base

Name: PDF Cover Cards
Author: theluckystrike

Your base of book and paper notes looks like a shelf, with page 1 of each PDF as the cover.

Install in Obsidian

Directory page Source on GitHub

MIT · no telemetry · core features free

A base named Library shown as cards with drawn book and manual covers, with the author and year under each title. — Open larger

version: 1.0.1
released: 2026-10-10
downloads: 1
review: Passed
health: Excellent
license: MIT
platforms: Desktop, Mobile
obsidian: 1.13.4 or later

Directory facts fetched 2026-10-10 15:29 UTC from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.

About PDF Cover Cards

People who keep one note for each book, paper, manual or scan, with a link to the PDF.

PDF Cover Cards draws page 1 of the linked PDF on each card, so a base of notes looks like a shelf of documents. You can pick another page with #page=N. It's a layout for the core Bases plugin, so the base still selects, filters and sorts the notes.

The plugin draws the pages with the PDF reader that comes with Obsidian. It only reads your notes and your PDFs.

A library base shown as cards with PDF covers, then the PDF files as cards, then papers cropped to the top half

Free features

Page 1 of the linked PDF on each card

Choose a property that links to the PDF. Each card shows page 1 of that file, the note name, the properties of the view and the page count. Click a card to open the note.

Which PDF and which page

A PDF file in the base is its own cover. Next comes the PDF property of the view, then the first PDF that the note links to or embeds. Add #page=N to a link to show another page, for example [[Manual.pdf#page=3]].

The Library base beside the note Bread at Home, which embeds its PDF in the text and has that cover on its card. — Open larger

PDF files as cards

A base can select the PDF files themselves, for example with the filter file.ext == "pdf". Then each PDF is a card with its own cover.

A base of twelve PDF files, each drawn as a card with its own cover and page count. — Open larger

Embeds and live update

Embed the layout in any note, such as a reading list. When a PDF changes, its cover draws again.

The card layout embedded in a note named Reading list, under one line of text. — Open larger

The free version draws covers for the first 30 cards of a view that have a PDF.

Pro features

Pro costs $5 a month or $15 one time through GitHub Sponsors. One sponsorship turns on Pro in all 15 plugins.

Covers on every card Pro

The free version draws the covers of the first 30 cards of a view that have a PDF. Pro draws a cover on every card.

Cover crop Pro

Show only the top half or the top third of the page. For papers and reports, the title and the abstract are then large enough to read on the card.

Two papers with covers cropped to the top of the page, so the title and the abstract are readable. — Open larger

Saved covers Pro

With Pro, drawn covers are saved as small JPEG files in the plugin folder. The base then shows them at once the next time. The setting Clear saved covers deletes them.

Contact sheet export Pro

Export every cover of the view to one PNG image, with the note name under each picture. The image goes into the folder for new files.

An exported PNG open in a tab, with covers in a grid and a title under each one. — Open larger

See how Pro works

Set up PDF Cover Cards

needs

Obsidian 1.13.4 or later
The core plugin Bases, turned on

steps

Create a base, or open one, and set its filters so that it selects your document notes.
Select the view menu in the base toolbar and add a view of the type PDF covers.
Open the view options. In PDF property, choose the property that holds the link to the PDF.
Use Properties in the base toolbar to choose the properties that show under the title.

Why this exists

The forum request Allow PDFs as card image in Base has 16 votes and has been open since 2025-06-27. The core Cards layout shows an image property as the picture, and it shows nothing for a PDF link.

Allow PDFs as card image in Baseopened 2025-06-27

How to show a PDF cover on a card in Obsidian Bases

How it compares

Core Cards layout: The core Cards layout shows an image property as the picture. It shows nothing for a PDF link.
Dynamic Views: Dynamic Views has card and masonry layouts with image covers. Its code treats a PDF as a file icon, not as a picture.

Questions about PDF Cover Cards

Can Obsidian Bases show a PDF as the card image?

The core Cards layout shows an image property as the picture, and it shows nothing for a PDF link. PDF Cover Cards adds a layout that draws the PDF page. It needs the core Bases plugin.

Does PDF Cover Cards change my notes or my PDFs?

No. It only reads them. The contact sheet export makes a new PNG file, and saved covers go into the plugin folder.

How fast does it draw covers in a large base?

In the end-to-end test, a base of 200 notes drew its first 30 covers from 12 PDFs in 0.9 to 1.2 seconds. That was on Obsidian 1.14.4 on an M3 Pro Mac. The first open after the app starts is slower, and large scanned PDFs take longer.

Which PDF files work with PDF Cover Cards?

Each PDF that the Obsidian PDF viewer opens. A damaged or locked PDF shows a short message on its card.

How do I show a page other than the first one?

Add #page=N to the link, for example [[Manual.pdf#page=3]]. Wikilinks, Markdown links, embeds and plain paths all work.

Network use

PDF Cover Cards makes no network requests until you select Sign in with GitHub. Sign in uses the GitHub device flow with the read-only scope read:user. After that, one query checks your sponsorship at most once every 7 days, and it sends no vault data.

Read the full network disclosure

PDF Cover Cards 1.0.1, MIT license