PDF to Markdown
What PDF to Markdown actually does
Most browser converters bucket every text run by its vertical position, which turns a two-column page into sentences spliced across the gutter. This workbench detects the column bands first, reads each band top to bottom, and shows the per-page line and column count it used, so a wrong guess is visible rather than silent. Headings come from the relative text size ladder, detected tables become pipe tables, and the Markdown stays in an editable pane until it is downloaded.
How to use it
- Choose a PDF up to 60 MB and 200 pages; text extraction and assembly run in this tab.
- Pick whether to follow the detected columns or read straight across, set a page range, and choose whether headings are inferred from text size.
- Correct anything the detector got wrong in the editable pane, then copy or download; the file carries the edited text, not a regenerated one.
Useful for
- Turn a two-column report or paper into Markdown that reads in the right order.
- Prepare document text as Markdown for a notes app, a static site, or a language model prompt.
- Pull a table out of a report as a pipe table without retyping it.
Limits worth knowing
- Headings are inferred from relative text size, so a document that styles headings by weight or color alone produces flat Markdown.
- Tables are detected from cell alignment; merged cells and multi-row headers are flattened to a single header row.
- Image-only pages produce nothing here. The page names them and the OCR workbench handles them first.
Questions people ask
Why does Markdown from other converters mix up my columns?
They group text by vertical position across the whole page width, so the first line of the left column and the first line of the right column land in the same row. This tool detects the vertical gutter no text crosses and reads each column band separately.
Can I fix the result before downloading?
Yes. The Markdown pane is editable and the download uses whatever it currently contains. A revert control restores the converted text.
Is the PDF uploaded?
No. After the page loads, reading, assembly, editing and download all happen in this browser tab with locally bundled code.