Systems and methods for generating a visually enhanced image of a digital document are disclosed. In one example, a method includes receiving, by a computing device, a selection of an original document to be viewed by a user; obtaining, by the computing device, visual annotations for the original document from a remote computing device, wherein the visual annotations indicate one or more visual effects parameters associated with one or more pages of the original document; determining, by the computing device, visual effects to be applied to one or more pages of the original document based on the visual annotations; and applying the visual effects to render, by the computing device, a visually enhanced version of the original document for viewing by the user.