PDF conversion for lawyers, without uploading a single file
Contracts, pleadings and productions arrive as PDFs. Getting their text out usually means sending them to someone else's server — a problem when the document is privileged. Here, the conversion runs on your own computer.
Why “no upload” matters for legal work
Most online converters upload the file, process it on their servers and keep it for a while. For a client's contract or a production set, that is a disclosure to a third party you have not vetted — something protective orders, client agreements and professional guidance on cloud services often ask you to think about first.
This site works differently: the page loads the conversion code into your browser, and your PDF is read there, on your device. It is never sent anywhere. You can check it yourself: open the browser's developer tools on the Network tab while converting — the document never appears in an outgoing request.
What lawyers actually convert
Contracts to Markdown, to compare two versions word by word or to paste clauses into a drafting assistant without the formatting debris. Scanned exhibits and old agreements, which need OCR before anything can be searched. Long productions, to search or summarise them in bulk. And court forms, whose tables of fees or deadlines are easier to work with as a spreadsheet.
A typical workflow
- 1
Convert the document
Text PDFs convert in seconds; scanned pages go through OCR, and every scanned page is flagged so you know which lines to proof-read against the original.
Open PDF to Markdown → - 2
Compare two versions
Paste the old and new contract, or drop both PDFs, to see every changed word — useful when the other side sends a “clean” draft.
Open Compare PDF & Text → - 3
Make scans searchable
Add an invisible text layer to scanned exhibits so they can be searched and quoted, without changing how they look.
Open OCR a PDF → - 4
Strip metadata before sending
See the author, software and dates a PDF carries, and remove them before it leaves the firm.
Open PDF Metadata Viewer & Editor →
Frequently asked questions
Still stuck? Ask us.
Is anything sent to your servers during conversion?
No. The PDF is processed by your browser. The site serves the code and, for OCR, the language data — never your document. Analytics record that a conversion happened and its rough size bucket, not the file name or content.
Can I use the Markdown with an AI assistant?
Yes — “Copy for AI” wraps the text in a tagged block with the file name, which assistants handle well. Whether a given AI service is appropriate for privileged material is your firm's call: the conversion step itself stays local.
How accurate is OCR on old scanned agreements?
Good on clean typed pages, weaker on faint copies, stamps and handwriting. Scanned pages are flagged in the result so you can check them against the original side by side before relying on the text.
Tools for this job
- PDF to MarkdownClean Markdown from any PDF, with OCR for scanned pages.
- Compare PDF & TextSee what changed between two versions — text, PDF or Word, word by word.
- OCR a PDFMake a scanned PDF searchable, without changing how it looks.
- PDF Metadata Viewer & EditorSee what a PDF reveals about you, then remove it for good.
- PDF Tables to CSVEvery table in a PDF, spreadsheet-ready — one CSV per table.
Other use cases: Researchers & academics · Finance & accounting · Students