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Last year, Google introduced the ability for Gemini in Drive to interact with PDF files, summarizing a long document into digestible paragraphs. Gemini now has some new tricks related to PDFs stored in Drive, going beyond just a basic summary.
Google introduced PDF summary cards for Gemini, Thursday. When you open a PDF stored in Drive, Gemini will proactively summarize the file's contents and suggest next actions like "Draft a sample proposal" or "List interview questions based on this resume." If you choose one of the preselected options, Gemini will open a side panel with your request.
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Prior to this update, you had to manually ask for a summary, and Gemini's assistance went no further.
"PDF summary cards save you time by giving you the gist of your files," Google said in a blog post, "and help you get started using Gemini faster by surfacing relevant clickable action options."
I tested the feature myself with a bulky 120-page document related to a grant I'm helping a local organization apply for. Gemini condensed it into a 500-word, eight-bullet point explanation that made the information easier to understand and showed follow-up prompts related to the purpose of the grant and what it covers.
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The functionality is available now in 20 languages.
To use this feature, double-click on a PDF from your Google Drive file list. The summary card will appear alongside the file's content (like you would usually see comments).
When Gemini initially launched in Workspace, Google said, PDFs viewed in Drive opened in a new browser so you could still use Gemini on the side panel of Drive. Now, the default is for PDFs to open a file in the overlay preview. If you still want PDFs to open in a new tab, you can update this in Drive settings.
The updates will be available for Business Standard Plus, Enterprise Standard Plus, Google AI Pro, and Ultra subscribers, those with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on, or anyone who has already bought the Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-ons.
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