Documents
How to extract text from a contract PDF
Contracts arrive as PDFs, but your workflow needs editable text. The Brainiall pdf-to-markdown tool converts the entire document into clean Markdown, preserving the hierarchy of clauses, headings, and paragraphs exactly as they appear in the original.
How the extraction works
The tool analyses the visual and logical structure of the PDF, identifying section headings, clause numbering, lists, and body text blocks. The result is a Markdown file you can open in any editor, paste into document management systems, or process with other tools in the Brainiall catalogue.
- Go to /tools/pdf-to-markdown and upload your contract file.
- Wait for processing and preview the generated Markdown on screen.
- Copy the output or download the file to continue your workflow.
Important limitations
PDFs where text is embedded as an image — scanned documents without a text layer — may yield lower extraction quality. In those cases, running an optical recognition step before uploading is recommended.
Complex tables with merged cells and multi-column layouts are converted with reasonable fidelity, but may require manual review to ensure column order matches the original document.
API integration
The pdf-to-markdown tool is available as a REST endpoint within the documentos-json package. You can submit the PDF in a request and receive the Markdown as a structured response, ready to be stored or chained with other calls.
To access the API and explore the full package, visit /ofertas and discover the documentos-json hub, which brings together complementary tools for document extraction, conversion, and analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Does the tool preserve clause numbering from the contract?
Yes. The numbering structure present in the PDF is retained in the generated Markdown, including sub-clauses and lettered items, as long as the original document contains selectable text.
Can I use the tool with contracts that have a digital signature?
The digital signature does not interfere with text extraction. The written content of the contract is converted normally; only graphical signature elements are omitted from the Markdown output.
Is the generated Markdown compatible with editors like Notion or Obsidian?
Yes. The output follows standard Markdown syntax, recognised by the vast majority of modern editors, wiki systems, and documentation platforms.
What is the difference between using this tool and manually copying text from the PDF?
Manual copying loses heading hierarchy and list formatting. The pdf-to-markdown tool recognises the document structure and represents it in Markdown, saving significant formatting time downstream.