#Windows prerequisites

This page is for optional Windows tools that improve conversion quality.

Make Markdown Library itself is installed with the .whl file. These tools are separate system programs. You do not need all of them to start.

#What should I install?

If you mainly use normal PDFs, Word documents, Markdown, and text files, install the tool first and run doctor. Add the optional tools only when you need them.

#1. Check the environment

Run:

py -m make_markdown_library doctor

The important idea is that doctor is advisory. Missing optional tools do not necessarily mean the tool is broken.

#2. Install Tesseract OCR

Install Tesseract if you want OCR for scanned PDFs or images containing text.

Run:

winget install -e --id UB-Mannheim.TesseractOCR

Close PowerShell, open a new PowerShell window, then check:

tesseract --version

Then run:

py -m make_markdown_library doctor

If tesseract is not found after installation, check whether this file exists:

Test-Path "C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tesseract.exe"

If that returns True, add the folder to your user PATH:

$tesseractPath = "C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR"
$currentPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")

if ($currentPath -notlike "*$tesseractPath*") {
    [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$currentPath;$tesseractPath", "User")
    Write-Host "Added to User PATH: $tesseractPath"
} else {
    Write-Host "Already in User PATH: $tesseractPath"
}

Close PowerShell and open a new one before checking again.

#3. Install LibreOffice

Install LibreOffice if you want better LiteParse coverage for Office/OpenDocument conversion.

Run:

winget install -e --id TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice

Close PowerShell, open a new PowerShell window, then check:

soffice --version

If that command does not work but LibreOffice is installed, Make Markdown Library also checks the common Windows install location:

C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\soffice.com

So a full LibreOffice desktop install can still be detected even when the folder is not on PATH.

#4. Install ImageMagick

Install ImageMagick only if you process image formats or image-heavy documents.

Run:

winget install -e --id ImageMagick.ImageMagick

Close PowerShell, open a new PowerShell window, then check:

magick -version

Important: Windows also has a built-in convert.exe. That is not ImageMagick. Make Markdown Library checks for magick, not Windows convert.exe.

#5. Check the LiteParse lit CLI

The LiteParse Python package may install a lit command. It is useful for manual debugging and some CLI-based complexity checks, but it is not required for normal conversion through Python.

Check:

lit --help

If lit is missing but LiteParse is installed, check the user Scripts folder:

Get-ChildItem "$env:APPDATA\Python\Python313\Scripts\lit*"

If lit.exe is there but PowerShell cannot find it, add the folder to your user PATH:

$userScripts = "$env:APPDATA\Python\Python313\Scripts"
$currentPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")

if ($currentPath -notlike "*$userScripts*") {
    [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$currentPath;$userScripts", "User")
    Write-Host "Added to User PATH: $userScripts"
} else {
    Write-Host "Already in User PATH: $userScripts"
}

Close PowerShell and open a new one before checking again.

#Recommended setup

For most Windows users, the practical setup is:

1. Install Python.
2. Install Make Markdown Library from the .whl file.
3. Install Tesseract if you need OCR.
4. Install LibreOffice only if Office/OpenDocument conversion through LiteParse matters.
5. Install ImageMagick only if image conversion matters.

Use doctor after each change:

py -m make_markdown_library doctor