# Scan to Markdown > Turn photographed pages into clean, searchable Markdown text. The same deskew and shadow-removal cleanup as Scan to PDF, then OCR extracts the text into a .md file, page by page. - Page: https://acepdfmd.com/tool/scan-to-markdown/ - Updated: 2026-09-12 - Runs at: https://acepdfmd.com (Uploaded files are deleted within 60 minutes. No signup for light use.) - Also in 29 languages: https://acepdfmd.com//tool/scan-to-markdown/ ## Turn photographed pages into searchable Markdown text A student photographs handwritten class notes, a researcher shoots pages from an old book, or someone gets sent a photo of a printed form and needs to actually work with the words on it, not just look at a picture. Scan to Markdown runs the same page cleanup as Scan to PDF and then reads the text out of your photos into a plain Markdown file you can search, copy from, and edit. Upload your images and pick a cleanup mode before the text is read: black and white, grayscale, or color, with black and white as the default since it usually gives the sharpest text. The tool straightens crooked shots, removes shadows and uneven lighting, and orders pages by the numbers in each filename, all switchable if you prefer the raw photo. Choose the language to read too, letting the tool auto-detect it page by page for a mixed-language stack, or picking one or more languages yourself from a long list when you know what is on the page. Text recognition works best on clear, well-lit photos of printed pages; handwriting, tiny fonts, and heavy background patterns are harder to read accurately, so always check the output against the original. If an exact visual copy matters more than editable text, Scan to PDF is the better choice, since it skips text extraction and just cleans up the image. ## How to use the Scan to Markdown tool 1. Add your JPG, JPEG, PNG files: drag & drop or click to browse; you can add several. 2. Set your options: Cleanup mode before OCR, Auto-straighten crooked photos, Remove shadows / even out lighting, Auto-order pages by number in filename. 3. Click “Process Scan to Markdown” and download your result. ## Common questions ### Is Scan to Markdown free? Yes. Scan to Markdown is free for light use with no signup needed. Anonymous visitors get 10 free tasks per day, and creating a free account makes daily use unlimited. A paid Pro plan removes ads and raises file-size limits for heavier work. ### Is my file safe? Yes. Your file is sent over HTTPS, processed by self-hosted open-source software on our servers (no third-party AI or cloud APIs), and deleted within 60 minutes at the latest, usually right after your result is ready. ### What file formats does Scan to Markdown accept? Scan to Markdown accepts JPG, JPEG, PNG files. Convert other formats to a supported one first; the related tools below can usually do it. ## Related tools - [OCR PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/ocr-pdf/): Make scanned PDFs searchable by adding a text layer. - [Image to Text (OCR)](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/image-to-text/): Extract text from images using OCR. Supports 95+ languages. - [PDF to Markdown](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-markdown/): Convert PDF content into clean Markdown (great for docs/LLMs). - [Markdown Linter and Formatter](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/markdown-lint/): Fix spacing, headings, lists and tables to a consistent style and get a report of what changed. - [Markdown Editor & Preview](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/markdown-editor/): Open, write, and edit Markdown with a live rich preview (tables, images, task lists), then export to .md, PDF, Word, or HTML. - [Markdown to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/markdown-to-pdf/): Convert a .md file into a formatted PDF. Read the guide: [PDF to Markdown: How It Works and How to Use It for AI](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/pdf-to-markdown-guide/)