MD Creator

A Next.js application that converts PDF files to Markdown format with a clean, monochrome user interface.

Features

• PDF to Markdown conversion with advanced formatting support
• Real-time progress tracking showing pages processed
• Support for headings, lists, tables, and text formatting
• Clean black and white UI with typewriter-style font
• File validation (max 10MB, PDF only)
• Download converted Markdown files
• Built with Next.js 15, TypeScript, and shadcn/ui

Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js 15 with App Router
• Language: TypeScript
• UI Components: shadcn/ui
• Styling: Tailwind CSS (black/white theme)
• PDF Processing: pdf-parse
• Font: Monospace/Typewriter style

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed
• npm or yarn package manager

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd md-creator

2. Install dependencies (this will automatically copy the PDF worker file):

npm install

Note: The postinstall script automatically copies the pdf-parse worker file to the public directory.

3. Run the development server:

npm run dev

4. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser

Building for Production

npm run build
npm start

Usage

1. Click "Choose PDF File" to select a PDF from your device
2. Verify the file details shown
3. Click "Convert to Markdown" to start the conversion
4. Watch the progress as pages are processed
5. Click "Download Markdown" to save the converted file
6. Click "Convert Another File" to start over

File Structure

md-creator/
├── app/
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── convert/          # PDF conversion endpoint
│   │   └── download/         # File download endpoint
│   ├── globals.css           # Global styles with black/white theme
│   ├── layout.tsx            # Root layout
│   └── page.tsx              # Main page with conversion flow
├── components/
│   ├── ui/                   # shadcn/ui components
│   ├── file-upload.tsx       # File selection component
│   ├── progress-display.tsx  # Progress tracking component
│   └── download-interface.tsx # Download component
├── lib/
│   ├── pdf-to-markdown.ts    # PDF conversion logic
│   └── utils.ts              # Utility functions
├── completed/                # Output directory for converted files
└── public/                   # Static assets

Conversion Features

The PDF to Markdown conversion includes:

• Headings: Automatically detects and formats document headings
• Lists: Preserves bullet points and numbered lists
• Tables: Converts tabular data to Markdown table format
• Text Formatting: Attempts to preserve bold and italic text
• Paragraphs: Proper paragraph spacing and line breaks

Limitations

• Maximum file size: 10MB
• Only PDF files are supported
• Images in PDFs are skipped (text-only conversion)
• Complex PDF layouts may not convert perfectly
• Text formatting detection is limited by PDF structure

Development Commands

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run development server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

# Run linter
npm run lint

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.