---
name: mistral-pdf-to-markdown
description: Convert PDFs to Markdown using Mistral OCR API with image extraction. Use when you need to extract structured text and images from PDFs, especially for scanned documents or documents with complex formatting. Outputs Markdown with embedded images.
---

# Mistral PDF to Markdown Converter

Convert PDF documents to Markdown format using Mistral's OCR API. Automatically extracts text, formatting, and images.

## When to Use

- Converting research papers or documents to Markdown
- Extracting text from scanned PDFs (OCR capability)
- Preserving document structure with headers and formatting
- Extracting embedded images from PDFs

## Quick Start

Use the conversion script from this skill's directory:

```bash
# Convert entire PDF
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py input.pdf output.md

# Convert specific pages
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py input.pdf output.md --pages "1-5"
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py input.pdf output.md --pages "1,3,5"
```

## Output Structure

```
Output/PDFConversions/
├── document.md          # Markdown with text and image references
└── images/
    ├── img-0.jpeg      # Extracted images
    ├── img-1.jpeg
    └── ...
```

## Usage in Code

```python
from pathlib import Path
import subprocess

# Run conversion script
result = subprocess.run([
    "python",
    ".claude/skills/mistral-pdf-to-markdown/scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py",
    "input.pdf",
    "Output/PDFConversions/output.md",
    "--pages", "1-10"
], capture_output=True, text=True)

print(result.stdout)
```

## Key Features

- **Markdown formatting**: Preserves headers, lists, and structure
- **Image extraction**: Saves images to `images/` subfolder automatically
- **Page selection**: Extract specific pages or ranges
- **Scanned PDF support**: True OCR capability for image-based PDFs
- **Relative paths**: Image references use `![...](images/img-X.jpeg)`

## Requirements

The script requires:
- Mistral API key in `Notes/.env` (line 2: `mistral_api_key=...`)
- Python packages: `mistralai`, `python-dotenv`, `pypdf`

## Common Use Cases

### Convert Research Paper
```bash
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py \
  "Data/papers/research.pdf" \
  "Notes/Paper Markdown/research.md"
```

### Extract Specific Sections
```bash
# Extract pages 10-20 (introduction and methods)
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py \
  "paper.pdf" \
  "Notes/Paper Markdown/intro_methods.md" \
  --pages "10-20"
```

### Extract Figures Only
```bash
# Extract pages with figures
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_markdown.py \
  "paper.pdf" \
  "Notes/Paper Markdown/figures.md" \
  --pages "25,27,30,35"
```

## Error Handling

**API Key Not Found:**
```
Error: Mistral API key not found in Notes/.env
```
→ Add `mistral_api_key=YOUR_KEY` to line 2 of `Notes/.env`

**Page Out of Range:**
```
Warning: Page 100 out of range, skipping
```
→ Check PDF page count and adjust page selection

**API Rate Limit:**
→ Wait a moment and retry, or reduce page count per request

## Notes

- Images are saved as JPEG files in `images/` subfolder
- Markdown image references are automatically updated to `images/img-X.jpeg`
- Large PDFs may take longer to process due to API limits
- For simple text extraction without OCR, consider using the `pdf` skill instead
- Scanned PDFs benefit most from this skill's OCR capability

## See Also

- `pdf` skill - For local PDF manipulation without API calls
- `reference.md` - Additional details about the Mistral OCR API