Debate card cutter
Cut it is a free browser extension that turns text you highlight on any webpage into a formatted debate card, with the citation filled in for you.
How it works
- Highlight the passage. Open an article, report or journal page and select the text you want to cut.
- Open Cut it. The popup takes your selection and pulls the author, title, publisher and date from the page.
- Check the cite. Read the citation, fix anything the page got wrong, and add the tag that states the claim.
- Paste into your file. Cut it copies rich text plus plain text, so Google Docs and Word keep the card formatting.
What a card cutter does
A debate card is a quoted passage of evidence with a tag (your claim) and a citation. Cutting cards by hand means copying the text, hunting for the author and date, and formatting the cite every time. A card cutter automates the repetitive parts.
Cut it reads the page for structured data (JSON-LD), meta tags and bylines to find the citation details, so you spend your time on choosing evidence instead of formatting.
Cut it vs cutting by hand
- Auto citations: author, title, publisher and date are pulled from the page.
- One-click cutting: your highlighted selection becomes a formatted card when you open the popup.
- Rich-text copy: formatted HTML and plain text are both copied.
- You still decide what to underline, tag and read. Always verify the cite before you use a card.
Find cards that already exist
Before cutting from scratch, search existing evidence. Card it is a debate card search engine covering public case archives, and works well alongside Cut it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cut it free?
Yes. Cut it is one of the free Debate it tools.
Which debate events can I use it for?
Any event that uses evidence cards, including Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas and policy. Follow your league’s evidence rules for how cards must be cut and cited.
Does Cut it replace Word templates like Verbatim?
No. Cut it prepares the card text and citation. You still paste it into the Word or Google Docs file you use for prep.
How accurate are the automatic citations?
They come from what the page publishes, so some pages will need corrections. Check every citation before a round.
Related
Last updated September 26, 2026.