Math & formulas

Convert PDF formulas and LaTeX to Markdown

Most PDF extractors turn equations into nonsense. This one keeps the math: inline and block formulas are preserved as LaTeX-style notation, so scientific and technical documents stay readable for people and LLMs.

Short answer

Equations survive the conversion

A formula in a PDF is drawn, not stored as math, which is why copy-paste and most converters reduce it to scrambled symbols. Here the equation is recognised and written back as LaTeX-style math notation, both for inline expressions and full display equations. Your derivations, variables and units stay intact, so a physics paper, a maths textbook or an engineering spec converts into Markdown you can actually read, search and feed to a model.

How to

Convert a math PDF in 4 steps

No account needed. The whole document is converted, equations included.

1

Open the converter

Install the Chrome extension or open the web app.

2

Add the math PDF

Drag in the file or paste a direct PDF URL, including a paper from a journal or preprint server.

3

Wait for the job

Status goes queued, processing, ready. Inline and block math are kept as notation, not flattened.

4

Copy or download

Preview the rendered Markdown and the raw source, then copy the equations or download a .md file.

What is kept

From rendered equation to usable math

Inline and block math

Expressions in a sentence and full display equations are both preserved as math notation, not pictures.

Scanned equations

Math on a scanned page goes through OCR like the rest of the document.

Math around tables

Formulas in or beside a table survive while the table is rebuilt into Markdown.

Ready for LLMs

Clean math notation is far more useful in a prompt or a RAG pipeline than scrambled symbols.

Very dense or hand-written math converts too, but as with any tool a quick visual check is worth it for the trickiest pages. Typeset equations come through cleanly.

Before and after

What a converted equation looks like

A typical PDF extractor flattens a quadratic formula into broken symbols. Here the same equation comes back as math notation you can read and render.

Plain extraction

x =  b  b2  4ac
        2a
(symbols dropped, layout lost)

PDF to Markdown

$$x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$$

The Markdown keeps the structure of the expression, fractions, roots, subscripts and superscripts, as math notation. In a viewer that renders math (GitHub, Obsidian, many docs sites and notebook tools using KaTeX or MathJax), it displays as a proper typeset equation. In a plain-text context, an LLM still reads it as a coherent formula rather than a line of stray characters. Either way, the meaning survives the trip out of the PDF.

Mixed documents are fine. A page can hold prose, an inline expression mid-sentence, a display equation, a table and a figure; each is handled in place, so a worked example reads in the right order instead of having the math torn out and dumped at the end.

FAQ

Common questions

Does it keep mathematical formulas when converting a PDF?

Yes. Inline and block equations are preserved as math notation rather than flattened into garbled characters, so technical and scientific PDFs stay usable in Markdown.

Are formulas exported as LaTeX?

Mathematical notation is kept in a LaTeX-style form that renders as math, so equations survive into Markdown and downstream tools instead of becoming broken symbols. Very dense or hand-written math can need a quick visual check.

What about formulas in scanned PDFs?

Scanned equations go through OCR like the rest of the page, so a photographed or scanned formula becomes selectable math notation rather than an image. See scanned PDF to Markdown.

Does it handle formulas inside tables?

Yes. Math in or beside a table is preserved while the table itself is rebuilt into a real, aligned Markdown table.

Which engine is best for math-heavy PDFs?

MinerU is robust on dense, formula-rich pages; Docling is fast on cleaner documents. The converter uses a suitable engine for the document.

Is it free?

Yes. Convert anonymously in the browser on the free tier (3 slots, 10 MB files, a 15-minute time budget, 1-hour retention). Paid tiers raise every limit.