Cristallo

Guide

How to convert PDF to Markdown on a Mac

Copying text out of a PDF gives you broken lines, page numbers in the middle of sentences and tables flattened into a jumble. Cristallo rebuilds the document's structure first, then writes it as Markdown.

Steps

  1. Add your files. Drag PDFs, scans or a whole folder into the window, or choose File › Add Files… (⌘O).
  2. Choose Markdown as the output format in the toolbar.
  3. Set the language for scanned pages: Automatic, English or Spanish. Born-digital PDFs don't need it.
  4. Click Convert (⌘R). Each page shows its progress.
  5. Check the preview. The original page sits next to the result; hover over a region to see what it became.
  6. Click Export… (⌘E) and pick a folder. You get one .md file per document.

What the Markdown looks like

  • Headings become # headings, and bulleted or numbered lists become Markdown lists, with their original numbering.
  • Tables are written as HTML tables inside the Markdown, so merged header cells and spanning rows survive. Common Markdown renderers (GitHub, Obsidian, most static site generators) display them.
  • Pictures are saved as PNG files in a -images folder next to the document and linked from the text.
  • Reading order follows the page: a two-column paper reads down the first column, then the second.
  • Running headers, footers and page numbers are left out, so paragraphs that cross a page break stay whole.

Tips

  • Scans work too: tilted pages are straightened before they're read.
  • Converting a folder keeps its subfolders when you export.
  • Changed your mind about the format? Switch to Word or CSV and export again; nothing is converted twice.

Try it on your own documents: the first 10 pages are free.

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