---
name: document-conversion
description: Convert academic documents among LaTeX, word-processing, Markdown, HTML, and PDF workflows while tracking semantic, structural, and visual fidelity.
---

# Document conversion

Use this method when academic content must move between formats or be recovered from an existing artifact. Apply the [research contract](../../docs/RESEARCH-CONTRACT.md). Conversion quality has several dimensions: content, meaning, document structure, editability, references, and visual layout. Agree which dimensions matter for the requested destination.

## Inspect source and destination

Identify source files, target format, intended editor, required template, accessibility needs, and whether the source or a rendered output is authoritative. Prefer editable source when available. A PDF is a presentation format and may omit the logical structure needed for faithful reconstruction.

Inventory headings, lists, equations, tables, figures, captions, citations, footnotes, cross-references, comments, tracked changes, metadata, and supplementary material. Record features the destination may not support. Determine whether active comments or deletions should be preserved, accepted, or reported separately; do not silently discard meaningful revision history.

Check the actual conversion tools available before choosing a workflow. Use a direct converter where it preserves the needed structure, or a staged conversion with explicit intermediate checks. Do not promise exact layout preservation when moving between fundamentally different page and flow systems.

## Preserve meaning during conversion

Map semantic structures before styling. A heading should remain a heading, a table should retain its cells and headers, and an equation should remain editable mathematics when feasible. Avoid representing all content as page images unless the task explicitly values appearance over editability. Keep language, names, units, and numerical precision intact.

For LaTeX to word-processing formats, inspect custom macros, mathematical environments, bibliography commands, and floats that may require special handling. Expand or map semantic macros carefully and retain the original source. Check that citation relationships survive even if bibliography styling changes.

For word-processing formats to LaTeX, map heading styles, lists, emphasis, tables, and equations into a consistent source structure. Inspect equations that arrive as images or embedded objects. Do not claim editable mathematical recovery until symbols and structure have been verified.

For Markdown or HTML, preserve hierarchy, links, code, math delimiters, and references supported by the target system. Recognize that platform-specific extensions may render differently. Use portable syntax when practical and document required extensions.

For scanned PDFs or images, separate optical recognition from correction. Flag uncertain characters, negative signs, decimals, superscripts, subscripts, and reference identifiers. Reconstruct tables by rows and columns, then reconcile values with the visible source. Never silently invent text hidden by cropping or illegibility.

## Rebuild and compare

Produce a trial conversion and inspect representative difficult content before processing a long document. Revise the mapping if equations, citations, or tables fail. Preserve asset files with portable relative paths and meaningful names. Keep captions attached to the correct figures and references.

Compare the converted text with the source using a structure inventory and targeted checks. Count sections, equations, tables, figures, and reference entries when useful. Treat differences as questions to inspect rather than assuming every difference is an error. A visual converter may change line breaks legitimately while losing a minus sign impermissibly.

Use [mathematics notation](../mathematics-notation/SKILL.md) for formula reconstruction, [figures and tables](../tex-figures-tables/SKILL.md) for complex displays, and [build repair](../tex-build-repair/SKILL.md) for a LaTeX destination.

## Deliver and verify

Deliver editable target files, required assets, retained original source when appropriate, and a concise conversion report. List unsupported or manually reconstructed features and unresolved ambiguities. Preserve source credits and required licensing information attached to retained material.

Open or render the destination through an available tool and inspect the actual result. For paginated final delivery, inspect every page, with special attention to mathematical symbols, citations, tables, captions, footnotes, and page boundaries. Verify searchable or selectable text and link behavior when relevant. Report whether the destination was produced, opened, rendered, compiled, or visually inspected; these are separate facts. Do not label a conversion lossless merely because a converter exited successfully.