Hi everyone, I’m a self-taught developer exploring the path of indie hacking.
Last year, I built my first real-world tool: an all-in-one KET (Cambridge English) study assistant for my daughter. It wasn’t just for vocabulary—I integrated reading, listening, and grammar into a single platform. Watching her use it every day gave me the courage to keep building.
After months of hard work, my second project, PDF2Markdown, is finally here.
Why PDF2Markdown?
I needed a way to convert research papers into Markdown for my Obsidian notes. Most tools failed at scanned documents or made a mess of the layout. I thought: "I've built a learning platform—I can build a better converter."
✨ Key Features:
- More than just a converter: It features smart detection to identify scanned PDFs and suggests OCR Mode to ensure high-quality output.
- Dual-Mode Efficiency: Lightning-fast for native PDFs and deep recognition for complex scans.
- A Full SaaS Experience: This is my first time building a complete credit and subscription loop from scratch.
🛠 Behind the Scenes:
To keep it lean, the backend is hosted on Modal, using their $5 monthly free credits. It’s perfect for the early stages. I’m currently focused on optimizing the architecture so that one day I can migrate to my own server, reducing costs even further for my users.
This is my second "child." It might still be a bit rough around the edges, but I’ve poured my heart into it. If it saves you even a few minutes of tedious formatting, it was worth the effort.
Check it out here: PDF2Markdown
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