diff --git a/gui/previewgenerator.cpp b/gui/previewgenerator.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d4c891
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/previewgenerator.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#include "previewgenerator.h"
diff --git a/gui/previewgenerator.h b/gui/previewgenerator.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51019a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/previewgenerator.h
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#ifndef PREVIEWGENERATOR_H
+#define PREVIEWGENERATOR_H
+#include <QVector>
+#include <QSharedPointer>
+#include "previewresult.h"
+#include "renderconfig.h"
+
+class PreviewGenerator
+{
+  public:
+	virtual PreviewResult *generate(RenderConfig config, QString documentPath, unsigned int page) = 0;
+	virtual ~PreviewGenerator()
+	{
+	}
+};
+
+#endif // PREVIEWGENERATOR_H
diff --git a/gui/previewgeneratormapfunctor.cpp b/gui/previewgeneratormapfunctor.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef08e8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/previewgeneratormapfunctor.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#include "previewgeneratormapfunctor.h"
+#include "previewgeneratorpdf.h"
+
+PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor::PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor()
+{
+	generator[GeneratorIndex::PDF] = new PreviewGeneratorPdf();
+}
+
+PreviewGenerator *PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor::getGenerator(QString filePath)
+{
+	/* Dirty, but that's all we have at this point */
+	if(filePath.endsWith(".pdf"))
+	{
+		return generator[GeneratorIndex::PDF];
+	}
+	return nullptr;
+}
+
+PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor::~PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor()
+{
+	for(int i = GeneratorIndex::PDF; i < GeneratorIndex::LAST_DUMMY; i++)
+	{
+		// delete generator[i];
+		generator[i] = nullptr;
+	}
+}
+
+void PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor::setRenderConfig(RenderConfig config)
+{
+	this->renderConfig = config;
+}
+
+QSharedPointer<PreviewResult> PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor::operator()(const QSharedPointer<PreviewResult> &renderResult)
+{
+	PreviewGenerator *previewGenerator = getGenerator(renderResult->getDocumentPath());
+	if(previewGenerator == nullptr)
+	{
+		return QSharedPointer<PreviewResult>();
+	}
+	auto preview =
+		previewGenerator->generate(this->renderConfig, renderResult->getDocumentPath(), renderResult->getPage());
+
+	return QSharedPointer<PreviewResult>(preview);
+}
diff --git a/gui/previewgeneratormapfunctor.h b/gui/previewgeneratormapfunctor.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9097b8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/previewgeneratormapfunctor.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#ifndef PREVIEWGENERATORMAPFUNCTOR_H
+#define PREVIEWGENERATORMAPFUNCTOR_H
+
+#include "renderconfig.h"
+#include "previewgenerator.h"
+
+class PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor
+{
+
+  private:
+	enum GeneratorIndex
+	{
+		PDF = 0,
+		LAST_DUMMY
+	};
+	RenderConfig renderConfig;
+	PreviewGenerator *generator[LAST_DUMMY];
+	PreviewGenerator *getGenerator(QString filePath);
+
+  public:
+	typedef QSharedPointer<PreviewResult> result_type;
+
+	PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor();
+
+	~PreviewGeneratorMapFunctor();
+
+	void setRenderConfig(RenderConfig config);
+
+	QSharedPointer<PreviewResult> operator()(const QSharedPointer<PreviewResult> &renderResult);
+};
+
+#endif // PREVIEWGENERATORMAPFUNCTOR_H
diff --git a/gui/previewgeneratorpdf.cpp b/gui/previewgeneratorpdf.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..092d5c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/previewgeneratorpdf.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#include <QMutexLocker>
+#include <QPainter>
+
+#include "previewgeneratorpdf.h"
+
+static QMutex cacheMutex;
+
+Poppler::Document *PreviewGeneratorPdf::document(QString path)
+{
+	if(documentcache.contains(path))
+	{
+		return documentcache.value(path);
+	}
+	Poppler::Document *result = Poppler::Document::load(path);
+	if(result == nullptr)
+	{
+		// TODO: some kind of user feedback would be nice
+		return nullptr;
+	}
+	result->setRenderHint(Poppler::Document::TextAntialiasing);
+	QMutexLocker locker(&cacheMutex);
+	documentcache.insert(path, result);
+	locker.unlock();
+	return result;
+}
+
+PreviewResult *PreviewGeneratorPdf::generate(RenderConfig config, QString documentPath, unsigned int page)
+{
+	PreviewResultPdf *result = new PreviewResultPdf(documentPath, page);
+
+	Poppler::Document *doc = document(documentPath);
+	if(doc == nullptr)
+	{
+		return result;
+	}
+	if(doc->isLocked())
+	{
+		return result;
+	}
+	int p = (int)page - 1;
+	if(p < 0)
+	{
+		p = 0;
+	}
+	Poppler::Page *pdfPage = doc->page(p);
+	QImage img = pdfPage->renderToImage(config.scaleX, config.scaleY);
+	for(QString &word : config.wordsToHighlight)
+	{
+		QList<QRectF> rects = pdfPage->search(word, Poppler::Page::SearchFlag::IgnoreCase);
+		for(QRectF &rect : rects)
+		{
+			QPainter painter(&img);
+			painter.scale(config.scaleX / 72.0, config.scaleY / 72.0);
+			painter.fillRect(rect, QColor(255, 255, 0, 64));
+		}
+	}
+	result->previewImage = img;
+	return result;
+}
diff --git a/gui/previewgeneratorpdf.h b/gui/previewgeneratorpdf.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29bd586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/previewgeneratorpdf.h
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#ifndef PREVIEWGENERATORPDF_H
+#define PREVIEWGENERATORPDF_H
+#include <poppler-qt5.h>
+#include "previewgenerator.h"
+#include "previewresultpdf.h"
+
+class PreviewGeneratorPdf : public PreviewGenerator
+{
+  protected:
+	QHash<QString, Poppler::Document *> documentcache;
+	Poppler::Document *document(QString path);
+
+  public:
+	using PreviewGenerator::PreviewGenerator;
+
+	PreviewResult *generate(RenderConfig config, QString documentPath, unsigned int page);
+
+	~PreviewGeneratorPdf()
+	{
+		qDeleteAll(documentcache);
+	}
+};
+
+#endif // PREVIEWGENERATORPDF_H