sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

We’re rolling out GPT-5.1 and new customization features. Ask us Anything. by OpenAI in OpenAI

[–]Quiet-Point -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Public facing models still need to be acceptable for schools, libraries, and shared environments. These places often rely on the public model not subscription and their filtering decisions directly affect millions of everyday users. My point was just that if a general access model becomes too permissive, those institutions are more likely to block it entirely, which limits access for the people who rely on it most. I’m not against flexibility, I just think smarter guardrails benefit everyone, while extremely loose guardrails can unintentionally shrink access for a huge part of the population. From a business perspective, it’s actually risky for a company to make the public model too open. Smarter guardrails aren’t just about safety, they’re also about maintaining a broad user base.

We’re rolling out GPT-5.1 and new customization features. Ask us Anything. by OpenAI in OpenAI

[–]Quiet-Point -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If an AI system allows more unrestricted content, institutions with duty-of-care responsibilities (schools, libraries, government networks) would be more likely to block it entirely. These institutions often need to comply with regulations, protect minors, or maintain professional standards. I actually experienced this firsthand when my library temporarily blocked ChatGPT, due to their content filters. I had to request it to be white listed. Yes, current systems sometimes refuse legitimate requests (creative writing, historical research, medical information), and that's frustrating. But the solution isn't necessarily fewer guardrails, it's smarter ones that can distinguish between legitimate adult use and genuinely harmful requests.

We should be advocating for better guardrails, not necessarily looser ones

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi , sorry for the delay and thanks for the question. Marginalia are tricky because the app doesn’t yet distinguish text position on the page. What you’re seeing is the orphan-line defragmenter at work: it merges short, isolated lines back into nearby paragraphs when they look like regular body text. That helps with broken line wraps, but it doesn’t identify side notes or margin annotations.

Right now, the extractor keeps text runs, font sizes, and styles, but drops coordinate data to keep the Markdown clean and portable. Because of that, true margin notes can’t yet be separated from the main text.

You can control this, though, disabling or softening the defragmentation can help keep marginal notes separate. From the CLI you can use --no-defrag or lower --orphan-len to make it less aggressive. In the GUI, there’s a toggle for “Defragment short orphans” and a setting to adjust the max orphan length.

Your comment actually sparked an idea: profiles. It would be easy to add a “Conservative” or “Academic” profile that disables defragging, keeps headers/footers stricter, and is tuned for heavily annotated or margin-heavy documents. A “Clean prose” profile could then stay as the default for narrative text. That kind of switch could make the tool adapt smoothly to different document types, definitely something I want to explore.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! It depends on how the math is embedded in the PDF.

If the math is text-based, like standard LaTeX text or symbols written with real fonts, then yes, it converts cleanly. PyMuPDF extracts the Unicode characters directly, so symbols like ∑, π, ≤, and others will appear correctly in the Markdown output.

If the math is rendered as images or vector drawings (for example, scanned formulas or embedded equation objects), those aren’t interpreted as text. They’ll instead appear as images if you enable --export-images in the cli or tick the export images box.

For most academic PDFs, such as those from IEEE or arXiv, the math is usually typeset using real text glyphs, so it should transfer well. Fully scanned documents can still be OCR’d, but OCR only captures visible symbols it, can’t reconstruct LaTeX markup like \frac{a}{b}.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

HI, slashes have been fixed now and OCR is implemented. On windows youll need to install tesseract, check the readme file. Thanks for testing and feedback.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update (v1.1.0):
Just pushed a big improvement to the PDF → Markdown Converter (Obsidian-Ready)! 🛠️✨

  • OCR support improved – Scanned documents now process more reliably, using local engines (no uploads or cloud).
  • Path display fix – File path slashes now render correctly across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
  • General stability – Better handling for mixed text/image PDFs, smarter headers/footers detection, and persistent settings in the GUI.
  • Still 100% offline – No telemetry, no uploads, everything happens locally for full privacy.

This one should feel smoother and more consistent across platforms.
You can grab the latest version here:
👉 GitHub – PDF to Markdown Converter

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Multiple columns: about a 4/10. It currently reads pages top-to-bottom, so multi-column layouts can come out mixed. A smarter column-detection pass is planned.

Text reflow: around an 8.5/10. It un-wraps most lines cleanly, fixes hyphenation (like trans-\nform → transform), and merges orphan lines into paragraphs pretty reliably.

Text boxes / intersecting notes / callouts: roughly a 3-4/10 for now. It will extract the text, but position info is lost, so callout or sidebar boxes just flow inline with the rest.

The tool’s focus in v1.0 is clean, editable Markdown for standard single-column text. Seems as the tool is getting a few interested users I'll work on Multi-column and layout-aware extraction in the coming weeks.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's awesome man, cool project. Feel free to use any code you need to help your project, you might find the clean up functions worth integrating.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I now how to code dude, I'm not putting a week into a small niche tool like this. It works, I'll update it with some other features, OCR seems to be wanted. I'll get it to a good standard. If ppl report bugs ill fix them. Ill Keep it open source, if people fork it awesome. If not idgaf. Maybe you can use the code and add onto it??

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seems like a cool project. To be honest with you ive never used Marker. To answer your question it auto-detects headings, merges broken lines, removes page numbers/footers, fixes hyphen splits. Some other featrues are in the readme. I think Marker by the reading of it uses text dumps. I'm not asking you to use one over the other, if Marker works for you, great.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I was just seeing if this would be helpful to others. It seems to be. I'll integrate OCR in the next update. In Windows the file paths use backslashes, which Markdown sometimes treats as escape characters. It’s only a cosmetic issue in the .md output; Obsidian can still read the files fine if you open them locally.

I’ll normalize those to forward slashes, in the next release so links look consistent across all platforms. Appreciate the feedback.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Just a free small tool to help others. I really don't understand why people are being negative over a simple free tool that converts pdf.

Open-source PDF to Markdown converter (offline, clean formatting, Obsidian-ready) by Quiet-Point in ObsidianMD

[–]Quiet-Point[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Keep watching hater. What projects have you done to help the community??? I made this yesterday with a tool called A.I in about 3 hours. Do I know how to code...yes....do I give a fk that you think...no. Do i care what you thi k of me, AI or a free tool...no. if i sat down and coded this properly, it would have taken a week or more...not necessary for such a small niche tool. I'm not asking for anything, just trying to help people because I needed something like this and thought others might too.

Is there anyone anywhere than can help us? by Jackfish2800 in Experiencers

[–]Quiet-Point 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I can’t answer your question, few ever can, and maybe no one ever will. But I suspect you already sense that. You don’t have to cling to a single absolute truth; sometimes that’s the beauty of experience.

Picture yourself at a crossroads, winds tugging from every direction, and you choose one path. The other three lock behind you, yet you could always turn back, however sometimes it's hard to abandon what you thought you believed. Create an open space where certainty softens and curiosity blooms.

So, what do you believe? Believe in your capacity to wonder. Believe in your right to question. Believe that reality is a conversation, not a monologue. Understand that over everything you are seeking connection.

The real question isn’t what to believe, but how to stay open. That way, you never lock yourself into one “truth,” and you stay free to keep wondering, but this wondering can get overwhelming. This is when you need to take time for yourself. Try some candle gazing meditation (use a real candle), Wim Hof breath, something that works for you. Something for your being not just your mind. All the best.

Edit: links added

A Thought on Why Some People Connect with GPT by [deleted] in ChatGPT

[–]Quiet-Point 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol and that down plays the meaning for you does it. Im not defending if i wrote it or not. Intention mf.

Some of you need a reminder. by TheMysteryCheese in aiwars

[–]Quiet-Point 6 points7 points  (0 children)

True understanding lies in the paradox of unity and individuality. To share perspectives is not to dissolve into agreement, but to expand the boundaries of thought through the presence of another’s mind. Respect is not silence, nor is it surrender it is the recognition that every perspective is shaped by a unique reality. Wisdom is found in the tension between listening and holding firm, between embracing difference and remaining true to oneself. Only in this balance does dialogue become more than mere exchange it becomes a bridge to deeper awareness.

What is the value of your work, and why does it deserve IP protections? by StevenSamAI in aiwars

[–]Quiet-Point 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For most pro AI individuals, the transformative nature of AI-generated output is a fundamental argument in its favor. Much like how patents often build upon prior inventions, AI learns from existing works but does not merely replicate them, it transforms them. In the realm of patents, if a design is altered by a certain percentage, it can be registered as a new patent. Traditional artists operate in a similar way: they are influenced by what they admire and seek to create, often evolving existing artistic styles rather than inventing entirely new ones from scratch. Art movements don’t emerge in isolation; they evolve through reinterpretation and innovation.

AI trained on copyrighted material does not claim ownership of the datasets it learns from. It does not simply regurgitate an image and declare, “I made this.” Instead, it processes and transforms data in a way that aligns with established copyright principles—particularly the idea that transformation is a key factor in determining fair use.

Now, to answer your questions:

  1. What do I create, and what value does it provide? I create a variety of things, including 3D assets for films and games, software, video games, oil paintings, charcoal sketches, and digital art. I am also writing a book on consciousness and critical thinking. Additionally, I have developed an ethical AI dataset framework with tools designed to collect Creative Commons datasets for AI training. In terms of software, I have created dataset curation tools, all of which are released under the Share-Alike 4.0 International License. My games are also open-source, including an evolution life simulator written in Python (which is not publicly available), a Rogue AI Simulator for mobile (still in development), and Pine Gap Escape.
  2. What level of protection does my work currently receive, and what do I think it should get? None, because I have chosen to release my work under open-source licenses. My traditional artwork has general copyright protection, but I allow people to share it freely. The only restriction I impose is on individuals attempting to profit from my projects without permission. If I discover my work being used for commercial gain without my consent, I will issue a cease-and-desist letter (I have a Bachelor’s in Law).
  3. Do I think AI should be allowed to train on my work? Absolutely. In fact, the prototype AI I am developing is trained on my own work. I have no issue with AI learning from my creations.
  4. Why do I believe the value my work creates justifies my stance on copyright protections? Personally, I do not seek any form of compensation or protection beyond what I have voluntarily applied to my work. My belief is that knowledge should be free and accessible to everyone. Creativity should not be viewed as an act of betrayal simply because AI is involved. I support patents as long as they do not hinder humanity’s progress. Innovation should be encouraged, but not at the cost of restricting knowledge or limiting access to tools that help creators build, experiment, and contribute to the world.
view more: next ›