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Adobe API

Hosted PDF-to-Markdown extraction for complex documents, with strong tables, charts, and OCR but some structure gaps.

Markdown exportFinancial tablesScanned OCRCharts retained
TL;DR — our verdictUpdated September 2026 · 14 test artifacts

Strong at mixed PDF extraction, but not lossless on every structure type.

Where it wins
  • You need a hosted API that returns Markdown from complex PDFs.
  • Your documents mix tables, charts, and scanned pages.
  • You want most regular financial tables to stay readable without manual cleanup.
Main limitation
  • You need handwritten signature recognition.

Our take

Adobe API is a solid hosted PDF-to-Markdown extractor for hybrid financial and scanned documents: it keeps many tables, charts, and scanned pages usable in output. The main caveats in this research were lost handwritten signatures, flattened TOC hierarchy, and weaker handling of dual-header tables or tables with intervening text.

Download video: Demo video
Web-based Adobe PDF Extract demo showing upload, JSON/Markdown tabs, and structured extraction from a financial report.

In-Depth Review

Our detailed analysis of Adobe API — features, performance, and real-world testing.

AD
AI Demos Team
Expert Reviewer
Verified Review

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

PDF-to-Markdown Extraction
▾
Test Summary
Feature tested: PDF-to-Markdown Extraction
Result: Passed

Feature tested: PDF-to-Markdown Extraction

Result: Passed

Expected behavior: Converts uploaded PDFs into downloadable markdown, including complex reports and scanned pages. The hybrid earnings report, the table-heavy financial report, and both halves of the split scanned research paper all produced markdown outputs, with reading order preserved well enough to keep narrative text usable.

Test case: PDF document → Text/code file

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Hybrid-Earnings-PDF.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Text/code file): Markdown output for the 84-page hybrid earnings report, showing the API returns a downloadable .md file for a mixed digital/scanned document. — Adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_output.md

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Hybrid-Earnings-PDF.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Text/code file): Markdown output for the 84-page hybrid earnings report, showing the API returns a downloadable .md file for a mixed digital/scanned document. — Adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_output.md

What changed: PDF document transformed into Text/code file

Test case: PDF document → Text/code file

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Sumitomo Financial PDF.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Text/code file): Markdown output for the table-heavy 18-page financial report, also returned as a downloadable .md file. — adobe_financialpdf_output.md

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Sumitomo Financial PDF.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Text/code file): Markdown output for the table-heavy 18-page financial report, also returned as a downloadable .md file. — adobe_financialpdf_output.md

What changed: PDF document transformed into Text/code file

Test case: PDF document → Text/code file

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Scanned PDF 1-6.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Text/code file): The scanned research paper is converted into usable markdown text rather than being skipped or left blank. — scanned_research_pdf_pages_1_to_6_output.md

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Scanned PDF 1-6.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Text/code file): The scanned research paper is converted into usable markdown text rather than being skipped or left blank. — scanned_research_pdf_pages_1_to_6_output.md

What changed: PDF document transformed into Text/code file

Test case: PDF document → Text/code file

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Scanned PDF 7-12.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Text/code file): The second half of the scanned research paper also converts into usable markdown text. — scanned_research_pdf_pages_7_to_12_output.md

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Scanned PDF 7-12.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Text/code file): The second half of the scanned research paper also converts into usable markdown text. — scanned_research_pdf_pages_7_to_12_output.md

What changed: PDF document transformed into Text/code file

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_document_page_6.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The operating-performance narrative keeps its section flow and readable page-level structure in the extracted output. — adobe_financialpdf_hierarchy.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_document_page_6.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The operating-performance narrative keeps its section flow and readable page-level structure in the extracted output. — adobe_financialpdf_hierarchy.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Test case: PDF document → Image

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): INPUT: Supplementary Materials – Table of Contents page from Sumitomo Financial PDF — Sumitomo Financial PDF.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The parsed table of contents flattens nested entries into a simple list instead of preserving indentation-based hierarchy. — adobe_financialpdf_toc_parsed.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): INPUT: Supplementary Materials – Table of Contents page from Sumitomo Financial PDF — Sumitomo Financial PDF.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The parsed table of contents flattens nested entries into a simple list instead of preserving indentation-based hierarchy. — adobe_financialpdf_toc_parsed.png

What changed: PDF document transformed into Image

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — hybrid_earningspdf_signatures.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The printed signature-page text remains, but the handwritten signatures are not recovered. — adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_signs.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — hybrid_earningspdf_signatures.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The printed signature-page text remains, but the handwritten signatures are not recovered. — adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_signs.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Why it matters / Conclusion: A clean end-to-end export path for complex PDFs; the only workflow wrinkle was the web-demo size limit that forced the scanned paper to be split into two uploads.

Converts uploaded PDFs into downloadable markdown, including complex reports and scanned pages. The hybrid earnings report, the table-heavy financial report, and both halves of the split scanned research paper all produced markdown outputs, with reading order preserved well enough to keep narrative text usable.

INPUT
Hybrid-Earnings-PDF.pdf
↓
OUTPUT
Adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_output.md
Loading file...
Markdown output for the 84-page hybrid earnings report, showing the API returns a downloadable .md file for a mixed digital/scanned document.
INPUT
Sumitomo Financial PDF.pdf
↓
OUTPUT
adobe_financialpdf_output.md
Loading file...
Markdown output for the table-heavy 18-page financial report, also returned as a downloadable .md file.
INPUT
Scanned PDF 1-6.pdf
↓
OUTPUT
scanned_research_pdf_pages_1_to_6_output.md
Loading file...
The scanned research paper is converted into usable markdown text rather than being skipped or left blank.
INPUT
Scanned PDF 7-12.pdf
↓
OUTPUT
scanned_research_pdf_pages_7_to_12_output.md
Loading file...
The second half of the scanned research paper also converts into usable markdown text.
INPUT
Input artifact for "PDF-to-Markdown Extraction" test: Input, financial_pdf_document_page_6.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "PDF-to-Markdown Extraction" test: The operating-performance narrative keeps its section flow and readable page-level structure in the extracted output., adobe_financialpdf_hierarchy.png
The operating-performance narrative keeps its section flow and readable page-level structure in the extracted output.
file
Sumitomo Financial PDF.pdf
INPUT: Supplementary Materials – Table of Contents page from Sumitomo Financial PDF
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "PDF-to-Markdown Extraction" test: The parsed table of contents flattens nested entries into a simple list instead of preserving indentation-based hierarchy., adobe_financialpdf_toc_parsed.png
The parsed table of contents flattens nested entries into a simple list instead of preserving indentation-based hierarchy.
INPUT
Input artifact for "PDF-to-Markdown Extraction" test: Input, hybrid_earningspdf_signatures.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "PDF-to-Markdown Extraction" test: The printed signature-page text remains, but the handwritten signatures are not recovered., adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_signs.png
The printed signature-page text remains, but the handwritten signatures are not recovered.
Bottom Line
A clean end-to-end export path for complex PDFs; the only workflow wrinkle was the web-demo size limit that forced the scanned paper to be split into two uploads.
Table Reconstruction from PDFs
▾
Test Summary
Feature tested: Table Reconstruction from PDFs
Result: Passed

Feature tested: Table Reconstruction from PDFs

Result: Passed

Expected behavior: Rebuilds table structure into readable markdown, preserving rows, columns, values, and grouped financial summaries. It worked on the financial summary, quarterly balance sheet, and multilevel segment table, while also being tested on dual-header and vertically interrupted tables where alignment became less reliable.

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — earnings_hybridInput_table.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The financial summary table keeps the row and column structure intact in the extracted output. — adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_table.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — earnings_hybridInput_table.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The financial summary table keeps the row and column structure intact in the extracted output. — adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_table.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_balance_sheet.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The quarterly consolidated balance sheet remains readable, with asset rows and the two date columns preserved. — adobe_financialpdf_parsed_balancesheet_table.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_balance_sheet.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The quarterly consolidated balance sheet remains readable, with asset rows and the two date columns preserved. — adobe_financialpdf_parsed_balancesheet_table.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_multilevel_table.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The multilevel segment table keeps grouped headers and year-over-year values together in the extracted output. — adobe_financialpdf_parsed_multicolumn_table.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_multilevel_table.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The multilevel segment table keeps grouped headers and year-over-year values together in the extracted output. — adobe_financialpdf_parsed_multicolumn_table.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_complex_table.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The dual-header table is flattened in the extracted version, with row and column header roles no longer cleanly separated. — adobe_financialpsd_parsed_multiheader_table.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — financial_pdf_complex_table.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The dual-header table is flattened in the extracted version, with row and column header roles no longer cleanly separated. — adobe_financialpsd_parsed_multiheader_table.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Test case: Image → Image

Input type: Image

Input used: Input artifact (Image): Input — scanned_pdf_multicolmn-table_with_intervening_text.png

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The scanned grouped-column table breaks apart when intervening text splits the grid, disrupting alignment between columns. — adobe_scannedpdf_parsed_mutlicolumn_table_with_intervening_text.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (Image): Input — scanned_pdf_multicolmn-table_with_intervening_text.png

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The scanned grouped-column table breaks apart when intervening text splits the grid, disrupting alignment between columns. — adobe_scannedpdf_parsed_mutlicolumn_table_with_intervening_text.png

What changed: Image transformed into Image

Why it matters / Conclusion: Good on conventional financial tables and grouped columns.

Rebuilds table structure into readable markdown, preserving rows, columns, values, and grouped financial summaries. It worked on the financial summary, quarterly balance sheet, and multilevel segment table, while also being tested on dual-header and vertically interrupted tables where alignment became less reliable.

INPUT
Input artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: Input, earnings_hybridInput_table.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: The financial summary table keeps the row and column structure intact in the extracted output., adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_table.png
The financial summary table keeps the row and column structure intact in the extracted output.
INPUT
Input artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: Input, financial_pdf_balance_sheet.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: The quarterly consolidated balance sheet remains readable, with asset rows and the two date columns preserved., adobe_financialpdf_parsed_balancesheet_table.png
The quarterly consolidated balance sheet remains readable, with asset rows and the two date columns preserved.
INPUT
Input artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: Input, financial_pdf_multilevel_table.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: The multilevel segment table keeps grouped headers and year-over-year values together in the extracted output., adobe_financialpdf_parsed_multicolumn_table.png
The multilevel segment table keeps grouped headers and year-over-year values together in the extracted output.
INPUT
Input artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: Input, financial_pdf_complex_table.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: The dual-header table is flattened in the extracted version, with row and column header roles no longer cleanly separated., adobe_financialpsd_parsed_multiheader_table.png
The dual-header table is flattened in the extracted version, with row and column header roles no longer cleanly separated.
INPUT
Input artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: Input, scanned_pdf_multicolmn-table_with_intervening_text.png
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Table Reconstruction from PDFs" test: The scanned grouped-column table breaks apart when intervening text splits the grid, disrupting alignment between columns., adobe_scannedpdf_parsed_mutlicolumn_table_with_intervening_text.png
The scanned grouped-column table breaks apart when intervening text splits the grid, disrupting alignment between columns.
Bottom Line
Good on conventional financial tables and grouped columns.
Embedded Visual Preservation
▾
Test Summary
Feature tested: Embedded Visual Preservation
Result: Passed

Feature tested: Embedded Visual Preservation

Result: Passed

Expected behavior: Keeps charts and embedded images in the exported document instead of dropping them. In the hybrid earnings report, the financial highlights chart and segment-share graphics stayed embedded, and the scanned report output also preserved figure content.

Test case: PDF document → Image

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Hybrid-Earnings-PDF.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The output keeps the financial highlights chart and segment-share graphics embedded in the document flow rather than dropping them. — adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_embedded_assets.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Hybrid-Earnings-PDF.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The output keeps the financial highlights chart and segment-share graphics embedded in the document flow rather than dropping them. — adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_embedded_assets.png

What changed: PDF document transformed into Image

Test case: PDF document → Image

Input type: PDF document

Input used: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Scanned PDF 1-6.pdf

Observed output: Output artifact (Image): The scanned report output preserves a chart/figure element alongside extracted text instead of dropping the visual asset. — adobe_scannedpdf_parsed_embedded_assets.png

Input artifact: Input artifact (PDF document): Input — Scanned PDF 1-6.pdf

Output artifact: Output artifact (Image): The scanned report output preserves a chart/figure element alongside extracted text instead of dropping the visual asset. — adobe_scannedpdf_parsed_embedded_assets.png

What changed: PDF document transformed into Image

Why it matters / Conclusion: A clear strength: visuals stay with the document and are not silently lost.

Keeps charts and embedded images in the exported document instead of dropping them. In the hybrid earnings report, the financial highlights chart and segment-share graphics stayed embedded, and the scanned report output also preserved figure content.

INPUT
Hybrid-Earnings-PDF.pdf
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Embedded Visual Preservation" test: The output keeps the financial highlights chart and segment-share graphics embedded in the document flow rather than dropping them., adobe_hybrid_earningspdf_parsed_embedded_assets.png
The output keeps the financial highlights chart and segment-share graphics embedded in the document flow rather than dropping them.
INPUT
Scanned PDF 1-6.pdf
↓
OUTPUT
Output artifact for "Embedded Visual Preservation" test: The scanned report output preserves a chart/figure element alongside extracted text instead of dropping the visual asset., adobe_scannedpdf_parsed_embedded_assets.png
The scanned report output preserves a chart/figure element alongside extracted text instead of dropping the visual asset.
Bottom Line
A clear strength: visuals stay with the document and are not silently lost.

How it scored on the research's own criteria

The 7 evaluation dimensions from our hands-on research on Adobe API, each judged from recorded runs on 3 test inputs — the same verdicts the ranking page ranks on.

held up  partial  failed  not exercised by this input

CriterionVerdictWhat the runs showedPer inputProof
Advanced Features (Bonus)MixedI don’t have a run that shows separate table/chart extraction or any low-confidence OCR or ambiguous-region flags, so there isn’t enough to score this feature honestly.—
Complex Document HandlingStrong4/5It handles long, mixed-content reports well and finishes them automatically, which is a strong sign for endurance on real documents. The only real penalty is the scanned-paper size limit in the web flow, so it’s strong overall but not flawless.open proof ↗
Markdown QualityStrong4/5It produces markdown that is usable enough to inspect and download, rather than just dumping plain text. I’m not giving it a 5 because I only saw proof of the markdown mode and output files, not a deeper test of how clean or consistently well-formed the markdown stays across harder pages.open proof ↗
Reading Order & StructureWeak2/5It can keep a clean section structure in some narrative pages, but that breaks down in the table of contents and in scanned pages where the organization disappears. Because the failures hit the core of reading order and hierarchy, this lands low despite one good example.open proof ↗
Table PreservationMixed3/5It handles straightforward and moderately complex tables well, including balance sheets and grouped financial columns, but it loses ground when the table structure gets trickier or a second header layer appears. That mix of several strong recoveries and several clear breakages lands it in the middle of the scale.open proof ↗
Text & OCR CompletenessStrong4/5It reads the scanned paper well enough to recover the main front-matter and opening text in one piece, which is strong OCR behavior. I’m stopping at 4 rather than 5 because I only saw one representative scanned-document run, so I can’t confirm that it stays equally complete on longer or messier pages.open proof ↗
Visual Content RetentionStrong4/5It does a good job keeping charts and embedded figures in the right place, which is the core of this criterion. The main drag is that it completely misses handwritten signature content, so this is strong but not perfect.open proof ↗

Verdicts come verbatim from the study's recorded observations, never re-derived at render; a criterion with no recorded run shows Not exercised — this section cannot invent a score.

✓ Use This If
●You need a hosted API that returns Markdown from complex PDFs.
●Your documents mix tables, charts, and scanned pages.
●You want most regular financial tables to stay readable without manual cleanup.
✕ Skip This If
●You need handwritten signature recognition.
●You need guaranteed TOC nesting in every document.
●Your tables rely on dual headers or intervening text and must be parsed flawlessly.
developer-toolsapistextOther
Yes. In this research, the hybrid earnings report, the table-heavy financial report, and both halves of the scanned research paper each produced downloadable markdown output files.
It kept standard financial tables readable, including the financial summary table, a quarterly balance sheet, and a grouped segment table. It was less reliable on a dual-header table, where header roles flattened.
Yes. The hybrid earnings report retained embedded chart and image content, and the scanned report output also preserved a figure/chart element rather than dropping it.
Yes. The scanned research paper was converted into markdown, but the web demo rejected uploads over 1 MB, so the source had to be split into two files for testing.
No. On the scanned signature page, the printed filing text remained, but the handwritten signatures were not recovered.
Not reliably in this research. The parsed table of contents flattened the nested entries into a simpler list instead of preserving the original indentation-based hierarchy.

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