Convert Document

Convert Document

What it's for: convert between PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, TXT, EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, and (fully offline, no external tools needed) Markdown, HTML, JSON, and structure-preserving DOCX.

How to convert a document

1. Pick: open a document file.
2. Configure: choose the output format and any format-specific options; for long documents, optionally split the output by chapter into a .zip, one file per chapter.
3. Compare: review the result.
4. Save: write the converted file (or the chapter .zip) to disk.

How PaperOtter picks which tool actually does the conversion

This is the part that surprises people, so it's worth explaining directly: PaperOtter never asks you to install anything. Instead, it silently uses the best tool it can already find on your machine, trying engines in this priority order for each output format:

1. Built-in: an in-process engine with no external dependency at all. Handles Markdown, HTML, and JSON output (from PDF or DOCX input), and structure-preserving DOCX output. This is what powers the "structure-preserving conversion" feature: headings, paragraphs, and lists are detected and preserved, and long documents can be split by chapter using the PDF's own bookmarks/outline when available, falling back to detected headings.
2. Browser export (HTML source only): renders HTML through the OS's own web engine, the same way a browser would, to produce a PDF.
3. textutil (macOS built-in): always available on a Mac, handles plain conversions like TXT/RTF/DOC/DOCX/ODT.
4. Microsoft Word: used if installed, for its native format support.
5. LibreOffice: used if installed, broad format coverage.
6. Calibre: used if installed, specifically for ebook formats (EPUB, MOBI, AZW3).

For each conversion, PaperOtter checks both that an engine can produce your target format and that it can actually read your source format: an engine that can write DOCX but can't parse EPUB won't be offered for an EPUB→DOCX conversion, even though it can write DOCX from other inputs.

Why a conversion option might not be available

If a format pairing you expect isn't offered, it's because no engine currently available on your machine can do that specific input→output combination:

• Markdown, HTML, JSON, and structure-preserving DOCX always work, from PDF or DOCX input: no installation needed.
• EPUB, MOBI, AZW3 need Calibre: these formats only have one engine that handles them.
• DOC, ODT, RTF, and PDF-output conversions need LibreOffice (or Microsoft Word, or, on Mac, textutil for simpler cases): without any of those, those specific pairings aren't offered.

PaperOtter only ever shows you output formats it can actually produce right now: there's no "install X to unlock this" dead end, the option just won't appear until a capable tool is present.

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See also: Required Dependencies · Troubleshooting