In today's digital world, PDFs are a staple across various domains, from enterprises and academics to personal use and transactions. Their consistent format makes them ideal for sharing information. However, extracting content from PDFs, especially those with complex structures like images, tables, formulas, and diverse data types, can be challenging. This is particularly true when preparing text for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) applications, where the content is passed to a large language model (LLM).
To streamline this process, converting PDF documents into plain text is crucial, making the data more accessible and easier for LLMs to process. This post introduces Marker, an open-source tool designed to convert PDFs to Markdown efficiently. We'll cover an overview of Marker, the installation process, and a demonstration of its capabilities.
Why Convert PDFs to Markdown?
Markdown is a lightweight markup language that makes the data more accessible for processing by LLMs.
Converting PDFs to Markdown helps in:
- Maintaining consistency and formatting.
- Ensuring all relevant information is preserved.
- Enhancing the LLM's ability to accurately interpret and utilize the content.
Introducing Marker
Marker is a powerful, open-source tool that converts PDF files to Markdown quickly and accurately. It transforms documents into plain text while preserving all the relevant information and formatting. This ensures that LLMs can accurately interpret and utilize the content.
Key Features of Marker:
- Supports a wide range of documents, including books and scientific papers.
- Removes headers, footers, and other artifacts.
- Format tables and code blocks.
- Extracts and saves images along with the Markdown.
- Converts most equations to LaTeX.
- Works on CPU, GPU, or Multi-Processor Services (MPS).
How Marker Works
Marker uses a pipeline of deep learning models to extract text, utilize OCR, detect page layout, and find reading orders. It cleans and formats each block, combines them, and post-processes the complete text, ensuring speed and accuracy.
Performance Comparison:
Marker outperforms other tools like GROBID in terms of speed and accuracy. It handles a broader range of document types and optimizes the conversion process effectively.
Installation
To start with Marker, you'll need Python 3.9+ and some dependencies. Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting it up:
1. Create a Virtual Environment:
python -m venv env
source env/bin/activate # On Windows, use `env\Scripts\activate`
2. Install Marker and Dependencies:
pip install marker-pdf
3. Install PyTorch:
Visit the PyTorch website to get the appropriate installation command for your system.
Using Marker
Here's how you can use Marker to convert single and multiple PDF files to Markdown.
Converting a Single PDF:
marker_single /path/to/file.pdf /path/to/output/folder --batch_multiplier 2 --max_pages 10 --langs English
Converting Multiple PDFs:
marker /path/to/input/folder /path/to/output/folder --workers 10 --max 10 --metadata_file /path/to/metadata.json --min_length 10000
Final Thought
Using Marker, you can effectively convert your PDF documents into Markdown, ensuring that all essential information is preserved and formatted for optimal processing by LLMs. This not only streamlines the data extraction process but also enhances the overall efficiency and accuracy of your RAG applications.