Blog

Convert documents to Markdown: guides and insights

Practical articles on document conversion, Markdown workflows and local-first tooling.

A confidential document converted locally on a machine, with the note no file sent to the cloud
Privacy

Converting confidential documents without the cloud: the 100% local method

Legal, accounting, healthcare: your documents shouldn't go to the cloud. Here's how to convert them to Markdown and JSON, 100% locally, and where the real limits are.

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A scanned PDF turned into clean Markdown, with Sygal's token counter shown next to it
Guides

Convert a scanned PDF to Markdown for AI: cost and method

A scanned PDF or an image is expensive for an AI to read. Here's why, and how to convert it to clean Markdown to cut tokens on those specific cases.

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Various formats (PDF, Word, web page) normalized into a single Markdown and JSON output for a RAG pipeline
RAG & AI

Preparing your documents for a RAG pipeline: clean Markdown and JSON

A RAG pipeline is only as good as the documents you feed it. Here's how to normalize any format into usable Markdown and JSON, locally.

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Sygal logo and portrait of Cyrill Semah, with the title Convert your documents to Markdown for AI in French and English
Guides

Why convert your documents to Markdown before feeding them to an AI

A raw PDF, Word file or scan is expensive for an AI to read and breaks the content's structure. Here's why converting to Markdown changes everything, and how to do it without the cloud.

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