# Convert a PDF to Smart Score Start a conversion from any of its entry points, follow the job while it runs, and know what the result — or the fallback — means. > Type: How-to · Status: Beta · Platforms: iPadOS 17+ · Last reviewed: 2026-07-18 ## What conversion does `Convert to Smart Score` reads a PDF and produces a structured notation version of the same piece. When it finishes, the new version becomes the active one, so the reader switches from the PDF pages to the engraved score; the PDF stays attached to the piece as a version you can switch back to at any time. The PDF pages are uploaded to the conversion service to be read. Do not convert a score you are not allowed to process through an online service. See [Data and audio](/docs/privacy/data-and-audio). ## Start a conversion 1. Open the PDF version of the piece in the reader. 2. Open `Toolbox` (the wrench) and select `Convert to Smart Score`. 3. Keep using the app. The job runs in the background and continues if you close the panel or switch pieces. 4. When the job finishes, the piece reopens as an engraved score. If you allowed notifications, a `Smart Score ready` notification also arrives. If `Convert to Smart Score` is greyed out, the row itself says why: the piece is already converted (use `Fix a Wrong Conversion` instead — the two rows are a pair, and only the applicable one is active) or the piece has no PDF version to convert. ### Other places the same action appears - **Reader top bar** — while the open piece is a PDF with no Smart Score yet, a convert button (viewfinder icon) sits in the top bar. It opens a short explanation ending in the same `Convert to Smart Score` button. - **Trainer** — step 1 of the Trainer checklist, `Create Smart Score Layer`, starts the same job. Follow calibration needs this layer, so the Trainer offers it first. - **Import** — the import review sheet has a `Convert to MusicXML for follow tracking` toggle. It applies only to that import; conversion never starts on its own without it. - **Follow** — while Follow is running on a PDF that has no Smart Score, the Follow pill shows a `Convert this PDF` button. It submits the PDF to a different conversion service than the three entry points above. The result still arrives as a Smart Score, but this button is not counted against the free conversion quota below and still runs once that quota is reached. > **Note** If the catalog already contains a verified engraved edition of the score you submitted, that edition is delivered instead of a fresh transcription. This is why some conversions come back almost immediately. ## While it runs A progress ring appears in the reader top bar; tap it for status. The time shown is an estimate — plan on about 25 seconds per page, and no less than a minute overall — and the ring holds near the end until the server actually finishes. Long scores can take several minutes. If the app loses contact with the server mid-job, it says so and the job may still complete server-side; check again after a minute before restarting it. A job the app declares timed out (after 15 minutes) or `no longer available on the server` has to be started again. ## When it finishes The converted score is stored as a new version of the same piece and activated. Notation-aware tools — `Analysis`, `Auto-fingering`, `Transpose`, Follow preparation — now work on this piece. Conversion can return readable notation that is still musically wrong in places. Before rehearsing or analysing from it, read the engraved score against the PDF page by page, and repair misread passages with [Fix a wrong conversion](/docs/smart-score/fix-conversion). ## If the score can't be read as notation When the service cannot produce usable notation from the PDF, the job still completes — with a visual follow map instead of a Smart Score. The app tells you this happened. With a follow map, you can record a take, calibrate, and use Follow with page turning, but tools that need real notation (`Analysis`, `Auto-fingering`, `Transpose`) remain unavailable for that piece. Resubmitting the same unreadable source does not improve the result. A cleaner scan of the same pages is what changes the outcome. What reduces conversion quality is listed in [Smart Score overview](/docs/smart-score/overview). ## Limits > **Limit** Conversion is designed for scores up to **30 pages**. The import toggle skips longer PDFs, and a longer score started from `Toolbox`, the Trainer, or the reader top bar stops with a `Conversion failed` message. Only the `Convert this PDF` button in Follow asks for confirmation instead (`Large score` → `Convert anyway` / `Cancel`). Split a long score into movements with `Rearrange pages` in `Toolbox`, then convert each part. > **Limit** A PDF over **50 MB** is rejected before conversion starts. > **Limit** A free account includes **10 conversions** in total — not per month. When the quota is reached, conversions started from `Toolbox`, the Trainer, the reader top bar, or import are blocked (`Conversion quota reached on this account.`); the `Convert this PDF` button in Follow is not counted against this quota. Every score you already converted keeps working. There is currently no way to raise the cap. > **Important** Conversion requires a network connection. If the app answers `Sign in required`, sign in to your account and start the conversion again.