Show HN: Sygal – Convert PDFs, scans and web pages to Markdown, locally

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NewLaunch offer: €25 one-time, no subscriptionTurn any document into clean, AI-ready Markdown, right on your machine.

PDF, Word, Excel, images, scans, web pages, even YouTube links: Sygal converts them locally into clean Markdown and structured JSON, ready to drop into a prompt, a knowledge base or a pipeline. On scans, images and web pages in particular, that also means far fewer tokens for your AI.

14-day free trial · macOS 12+ · Windows 10+

One-time purchase · no subscription · no account

Sygal

Converted in 1.7s

100% on-device

Reads everything you throw at it

Drop a dense PDF, a spreadsheet or a screenshot. Sygal returns clean Markdown you can read, or JSON your pipeline can parse.

report.mdreport.jsonReading

PDFQ3_Financial_Report_2024.pdfReading

PDFQ3_Financial_Report_2024.pdf

3 pages · 2.4 MB

Or paste a screenshot⌘V

Why the output mattersA raw file and clean Markdown aren't the same to an AI.

Sygal normalizes every document into one clean, structured output your AI can actually work with. What that changes depends on where the file comes from.

2 to 7x lighter, where it counts

Images, scans, PDFs, web & YouTube

A scan, a screenshot, a scanned PDF or a web page carries a lot your AI pays to read but never uses: pixels, layout, markup. Converted to text, the same content can run roughly 2 to 7x lighter on tokens, and the model reads what matters. YouTube links come in as clean transcripts, ready to summarize or search.

The gain is largest on visual and web content; exact figures vary with each file.

One clean, consistent output

Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Already-structured files get a different win: Sygal standardizes them into the same clean Markdown and JSON as everything else. One predictable output for your whole pipeline, ready to parse, search and reuse, with no format-by-format handling.

Whatever a document starts as, it ends the same way: clean, structured, and ready for your AI.

From a raw file to something usable, in seconds.

A file, a URL, or a screenshot with Cmd+V. Sygal detects the format automatically.

Fully local processing. For OCR on an image or scan, the provider of your choice, with your own key.

Native preview of the original file right next to the result. Edit the Markdown or JSON directly before exporting, nothing is locked.

before export

04

Export

Markdown, JSON, or both at once. Export right away, and the result also stays in your local library, searchable anytime.

Three groups of features: the essentials, what few tools offer, and what you need for daily use and volume.

29 supported formats (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, email, EPUB...)

Clean Markdown output and structured JSON

Native preview of the original document, next to the result

OCR of your choice: OpenAI, Claude, Mistral, NVIDIA, Gemini or a custom provider, with your own API key

Direct import from a URL

A persistent local library, with full-text search

Token count shown on every document, so you see exactly what a model reads

For daily use and volume

Batch conversion

Filters and search in the library

Simple retry if a file fails

Direct copy-paste (Cmd+V) for screenshots

Who it's forThree ways to use Sygal.

Three profiles, one conversion engine.

Developers and AI builders

Prepare your documents for a RAG pipeline, a vector store, or an agent, Markdown and JSON ready to use directly, with no extra cleanup step.

Professions handling sensitive documents

Legal, accounting, HR, healthcare. Your contracts, payslips or case files never leave your machine, except the images you choose to send to OCR.

Everyday document use

Meeting notes, internal documentation, research. A local, searchable library of everything you've converted.

Images run through the OCR provider you pick, with your own API key. Pick on cost and volume, and switch whenever you like.

Flat price per page, with an even cheaper async batch mode.

Billed per token; the priciest at volume.

NVIDIA NIM and Gemini are also available, along with a custom provider. NVIDIA offers a free option to get started with no API budget.

OCR runs through your own API key and the engine you choose: no markup, swap anytime. Your documents are converted 100% locally and never leave your machine; only OCR on an image and importing a URL you choose reach the network.

Two columns, no ambiguity: what stays, what can leave.

Stays on your machine

Your files (Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, email...)

The text converted to Markdown and JSON

Your local library and its history

Your API keys, encrypted locally

Can go over the network, on your request

An image or a scan, sent to the OCR provider you choose, with your own key

A URL, if you import one

No account to create. No telemetry. Sygal never sees your documents.

The same conversion engine exists on the command line. One-command install, strict JSON output for your scripts, compatible with orchestrators like Hermes or OpenClaw.

Explore Sygal CLI

TestimonialsWhat the people using it have to say.

Three reviews, three different uses.

Privacy isn't negotiable in my line of work. Sygal converts my files locally, no cloud, no account. I can finally get AI-ready documents without compromising my clients' data.

I feed Sygal's JSON output straight into my AI pipelines. The structure is consistent every time, exactly what I needed.

Fast and efficient. It saves half a day of processing, for me and for the teams. Easy to use and genuinely useful.

Licence for 2 seats, usable on the desktop app or the CLI, your choice

All features: conversion, OCR (BYOK), library, batch export

Updates included for the major version

14-day free trial before purchase

Refund available within 14 days

Start free trialNo card required for the trial. No subscription, ever.

Need several licences for your team? See the team offer

Everything you might want to know before you try Sygal.

Yes. Documents are converted locally with MarkItDown, so they never leave your machine and there's no account to create. Only images you send through OCR, and URLs you choose to import, reach the network. You choose from built-in providers (OpenAI, Claude, Mistral, NVIDIA NIM) or add any custom provider with your own API key.

“I'm an independent developer in Paris. I built Sygal for two reasons: to stop using tools that upload everything, lock you into a subscription, and still hand back messy text; and to stop burning through my AI credits. A raw document drags along a lot of noise an AI has to read without needing it. Sygal is the tool I wanted for myself: local, paid once, built to hand my AIs clean text. If it spares you the same hassle, that's the whole point.”

14-day free trial. No card required. One-time purchase after that, no subscription.

macOS 12+Windows 10+No account

Convert any document to clean Markdown and JSON, locally, on your Mac, PC, or from the command line. No cloud, no subscription.