How to convert a PDF file to HTML efficiently. I encountered this requirement when looking to convert my own resume from PDF to HTML without compromising the visual layout.
I discovered pdf2htmlEX. However, since it hasn't seen updates since 2015, building it natively introduces dependency issues.
It relies heavily on poppler-utils and the Poppler library.
While poppler-utils provides conversion tools like
We can use Docker instead, as a prebuilt container image has been maintained by community member bwits.
1 - Installing Docker
You can install Docker via Snap or your distribution's native package manager.
To ensure stability and proper socket permissions, I recommend the system package manager:
To execute Docker commands without invoking
Log out and log back in (or restart the docker service) for group membership to take effect.
Verify your setup with:
2 - Pulling the pdf2htmlEX Docker Image
To convert your PDF document:
Command flags explained:
docker run: Runs a command in a new container
-ti: Shorthand for
--rm: Automatically removes the container when it exits
-v: Bind mounts a local directory inside the container (here, mounting the current directory
To make this command reusable, define an alias in your
Now convert documents directly:
The
References:
https://www.wild-inter.net/posts/pdf2htmlEX-on-docker
https://github.com/coolwanglu/pdf2htmlEX
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler
https://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/poppler-utils
I discovered pdf2htmlEX. However, since it hasn't seen updates since 2015, building it natively introduces dependency issues.
It relies heavily on poppler-utils and the Poppler library.
While poppler-utils provides conversion tools like
pdftohtml and pdftotext, the layout quality is rarely acceptable for pixel-accurate resumes.We can use Docker instead, as a prebuilt container image has been maintained by community member bwits.
1 - Installing Docker
You can install Docker via Snap or your distribution's native package manager.
To ensure stability and proper socket permissions, I recommend the system package manager:
sudo apt install docker.io.To execute Docker commands without invoking
sudo every time, create a docker group and add your user:sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USERLog out and log back in (or restart the docker service) for group membership to take effect.
Verify your setup with:
docker run hello-world2 - Pulling the pdf2htmlEX Docker Image
sudo docker pull bwits/pdf2htmlexTo convert your PDF document:
docker run -ti --rm -v $(pwd):/pdf bwits/pdf2htmlex pdf2htmlEX [args] myfile.pdfCommand flags explained:
docker run: Runs a command in a new container
-ti: Shorthand for
--interactive + --tty, keeping STDIN open and allocating a pseudo-TTY--rm: Automatically removes the container when it exits
-v: Bind mounts a local directory inside the container (here, mounting the current directory
$(pwd) to /pdf)To make this command reusable, define an alias in your
~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:alias pdf2htmlEX="docker run -ti --rm -v $(pwd):/pdf bwits/pdf2htmlex pdf2htmlEX"Now convert documents directly:
pdf2htmlEX --zoom=2 myfile.pdfThe
--zoom flag scales rendering quality. View all options via:pdf2htmlEX --helpReferences:
https://www.wild-inter.net/posts/pdf2htmlEX-on-docker
https://github.com/coolwanglu/pdf2htmlEX
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler
https://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/poppler-utils
juniko
2 min