pdf

PDF Processing Tool

This tool provides PDF text and image extraction capabilities using the pdfcpu library. It processes PDF files to extract content while attempting to retain formatting and accurate layout, creating markdown files with embedded image references.

Features

• Text Extraction: Extracts text content from PDF pages using pdfcpu's content extraction
• Image Extraction: Extracts embedded images from PDFs with proper naming and organisation
• Markdown Output: Generates well-formatted markdown with preserved structure
• Multi-page Support: Process all pages or specific page ranges
• Automatic Linking: Links extracted images in the correct locations within the markdown
• Flexible Output: Choose output directory or use the same directory as the source PDF

Usage

Basic Usage

{
  "name": "pdf",
  "arguments": {
    "file_path": "/absolute/path/to/document.pdf"
  }
}

Advanced Usage

{
  "name": "pdf",
  "arguments": {
    "file_path": "/absolute/path/to/document.pdf",
    "output_dir": "/absolute/path/to/output",
    "extract_images": true,
    "pages": "1-5"
  }
}

Parameters

• file_path (required): Absolute file path to the PDF document to process
• output_dir (optional): Output directory for markdown and images (defaults to same directory as PDF)
• extract_images (optional): Whether to extract images from the PDF (default: true)
• pages (optional): Page range to process. Options:
  • "all" - Process all pages (default)
  • "1-5" - Process pages 1 through 5
  • "1,3,5" - Process pages 1, 3, and 5
  • "1-3,7,10-12" - Process pages 1-3, 7, and 10-12

Output

The tool creates:

1. Markdown File: {basename}.md in the output directory containing:

   • Document title and metadata
   • Page-by-page content with headers
   • Embedded image references where appropriate

2. Image Directory: {basename}_images/ containing:

   • All extracted images with descriptive names
   • Images organised by page number

3. JSON Response: Contains:

   • Path to generated markdown file
   • List of extracted image paths
   • Processing statistics

Example Output Structure

/output/directory/
├── document.md                 # Generated markdown
└── document_images/           # Extracted images
    ├── document_page_1_img_1.jpg
    ├── document_page_1_img_2.png
    ├── document_page_2_img_1.jpg
    └── ...

Limitations

• Text Quality: Text extraction quality depends on the PDF structure. Complex layouts may not be perfectly preserved.
• Font Dependencies: Some text rendering may be affected by missing font information.
• Table Extraction: Tables are extracted as raw text without structure preservation.
• Scanned PDFs: This tool does not perform OCR on scanned documents.

Technical Details

The tool uses pdfcpu's content extraction capabilities:

• api.ExtractContentFile() for raw page content
• api.ExtractImagesFile() for image extraction
• api.PageCountFile() for page counting

The extracted content is processed to:

1. Remove PDF-specific commands and directives
2. Extract readable text from PDF text operations
3. Format content as markdown with appropriate headers
4. Link extracted images in context

Error Handling

The tool provides detailed error messages for:

• Invalid file paths or missing files
• Unsupported file formats
• Invalid page ranges
• Extraction failures

Failed pages are noted in the output with appropriate error messages, allowing partial processing to continue.

Dependencies

• pdfcpu v0.11.0+
• Go standard library packages for file operations and text processing