Last updated on 12 May 2026
ActiveTextbook is an online CTBT tool that makes it possible toinsert interactive multimedia elements in a PDF.
ActiveTextbook also offers an online reader that will allow your students or readers to comment and discuss the shared PDF document. A tool that can find its full place in your exchanges with a class or students. The initial idea of the designers is to offer you to upload a PDF to the platform so that you can simply enrich it with multimedia elements before sharing it.
Once uploaded to the platform in your personal account, you are most easily able to add images, links and videos to the document that students will be able to see when viewing the PDF with the reader provided by the application. With one click, they will be able to launch a video or follow a link that you have previously inserted in the doc.
More interestingly, the reader provided by ActoiveTextbook allows readers to highlight passages in the PDF, draw on them with a simple mouse tool or comment on this or that point of the doc. Clearly geared towards use in the education mode, the tool also allows online quizzes to be inserted into PDFs. Perfect for example to propose a knowledge test at the end of a chapter. ActiveTextbook also offers you the creation of a railway or a plan of your PDF that will facilitate the organisation of chapters or lessons.
Another strong point of ActiveTextbook is its compatibility with all systems and terminals. Your readers or students will be able to view your enriched PDF on their computers, but also on their smartphone or tablet.
In the classroom.
ActiveTextbook is a successful tool perfectly adapted to the creation of lessons or online course materials. By allowing you to insert multimedia content elements and dialogue tools, ActiveTextbook will also allow you to give a boost to your old course materials. Simple to use and set up, this tool will provide you with dialogue options with your students through feedback. ActiveTextbooks also offers an online bookshop for courses taught by other teachers. It is almost exclusively in English, but this database in which you can participate can also be an interesting resource for your courses and a source of inspiration.
A free version is offered to allow you to test the service. The limit is the number of documents kept in your account and the number of readers, but this is more than enough for normal use in a class. A paid version will increase the quotas to which you are entitled if necessary.
Link: ActiveTextbook
English