AI Tools
Digital Library
A digital library that turns static PDFs into page-flipping books, with categories, search, favourites and AI-generated summaries.
Year
2025
Role
Front-end Developer
Client
Lifewood Data Technology
Stack
React 19, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind CSS, PDF.js, react-pageflip, Supabase, Gemini AI, React Router DOM
Internal Lifewood tool, no public demo.
01
The problem
Managing and reading PDFs in a digital library feels clunky. Users bounce between file managers, struggle with poor reading experiences, and lose track of what they've read. Static PDF viewers don't encourage engagement, and organising large document collections becomes tedious. People wanted a modern way to browse and read their collections that felt native and intuitive.
02
What I built
The app converts PDFs into interactive flipbooks with smooth page-turning animations, making reading feel natural. Users organise books into categories, mark favourites, search content, and generate AI summaries using Gemini.
What made the reader worth using
Smooth page-flipping experience
react-pageflip with configurable animations creates the tactile book-turning feel that standard PDF viewers don't offer.
Smart organisation
Category management and favourites let users build a personal library without friction, and Supabase keeps everything synced across devices.
AI summaries
Gemini integration generates instant book summaries, so people can decide what to read without skimming page by page.
React handles the interactive UI, PDF.js extracts content and pages, react-pageflip delivers the page-turn animation, and Supabase manages storage and user data. Vite keeps the build fast and Tailwind carries the clean, Apple-inspired aesthetic.
03
What I learned
This project taught me how much UX matters in a reading experience. Small interactions like smooth animations and thoughtful navigation transform how people engage with content. Working with PDF manipulation was trickier than expected, especially handling different file formats and maintaining performance at scale. If I built it again, I'd add real-time collaboration so teams could share and annotate documents together.