Prepare PDFs

PDF Preparation converts a PDF to Markdown through a chosen route (cloud service or local converter): source, pages, route, conversion stages and the result. The converted data sheet is used in a new project and imported; a scanned PDF is converted by OCR; several PDFs are converted in a batch; and pandoc is suggested for getting a Word document back.

1. Why prepare a PDF: it is converted to text first, and sent unmasked

   AV translates text files. A PDF is first converted into one, such as Markdown, and the converted file is then imported into a project. PDF Preparation does the conversion, through a route: a cloud service or a converter server. The PDF goes to that route as it is: no privacy profile applies.

   

2. Open PDF Preparation

   Open PDF Preparation. Choose the files at the top, then a conversion route. Each card says whether its route is ready and whether it sends the PDF to the cloud or keeps it on your network. Your list will look different: it shows the routes set up on your computer.

   

3. Click Browse… for the PDF, choose the output folder and Pages

   Choose the PDF with Browse… and the folder for the converted file. Pages blank converts every page; 1-5, 2,4,6 or 10- (page 10 to the end) converts only those, and only those are sent. The range is checked when the job starts. Retain inline image data keeps pictures inside the output file, for routes that return them.

   

4. Choose a ready route and its output format

   Choose a ready route. Its card says whether the PDF is uploaded to the cloud, and offers the output formats the route can write: Markdown here. A route that is not ready links to Integrations, where it is set up.

   

5. Click Convert

   Click Convert. The dialog shows each stage: upload, preparation, the reading of the pages (OCR), writing the output. Cancel stops waiting at once and writes nothing. What the provider already received is not taken back, and work it has done may still be charged.

   

6. Conversion complete: Open file, Reveal in folder, Use in new project…

   When the job ends, Conversion complete shows where the file was written. Open file opens it in its usual app, Reveal in folder shows it in Explorer, and Use in new project… starts a project for it. The file is named after the PDF and the route.

   

7. Check what survives the conversion

   The data sheet became 41 segments once imported. Headings, lists, the table and bold and italic come through. The running header and footer become text to translate or leave, the picture is dropped, and two superscripts came out in maths notation: fix those before you deliver.

   

8. Click Use in new project… and create the project

   Use in new project… opens the New Project dialog with the name taken from the PDF. Make the confidentiality choice and create the project as usual: the converted file is then imported into it. Cancel, and nothing is imported.

   

9. Check the imported file in the project

   The new project opens and imports the file with its own import: the languages, the options, and the sections, as in the video on creating a project. The data sheet arrives as 231 words. The 8 repeated words are the running header, which appears on both pages.

   

10. A scanned PDF converts the same way

    A scan is a picture of a page, with no text in it: its words exist only once the page is read (OCR). The route used here reads every page as an image, so a scan is converted like any other PDF. Some local routes have OCR options on their card.

    

11. Check the scan's headings

    Every word of the notice was read. Its title kept its heading mark, but the second heading came out as a plain paragraph: the structure of a scan is a guess. Check the headings before you import it.

    

12. Open Batch and click Add files…

    For several PDFs, open Batch and add them with Add files…. They go to one output folder, through the route chosen on the cards, and the same Pages apply to every file: a file the range does not fit is marked failed.

    

13. Click Start batch

    Click Start batch. The files are converted one after another, and the table shows each one's time and pages. Cancel batch keeps the files already done. AV shows no price: what a route charges is set by its provider.

    

14. Getting a Word document back with pandoc

    A translated PDF exports as Markdown, and Word opens a Markdown file as plain text, marks and all. pandoc, a free converter you install yourself, turns it into Word in one command; AV neither ships it nor calls it. Headings, lists, bold, italic and tables come through. The PDF's layout and pictures do not, and ^{3} stays as typed: type ² and ³ in the target, and delete the running header and footer lines before converting.

    

15. Recorded on 20/10/2026

    Video recorded on 5 November 2026 with AV 0.2.11; the conversions on 20 October 2026. The routes, their output and their prices change: check a converted file before you import it.