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Process multiple file formats (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, images, etc.) with customized handling per format.

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Overview

This example shows how to:
  • Convert a mixed list of file formats
  • Restrict allowed formats with an explicit whitelist
  • Override pipeline and backend settings per format
  • Export results to Markdown, JSON, and YAML

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Basic Multi-Format Conversion

run_with_formats.py
from pathlib import Path
import json
import yaml
from docling.datamodel.base_models import InputFormat
from docling.backend.pypdfium2_backend import PyPdfiumDocumentBackend
from docling.document_converter import (
    DocumentConverter,
    PdfFormatOption,
    WordFormatOption,
)
from docling.pipeline.simple_pipeline import SimplePipeline
from docling.pipeline.standard_pdf_pipeline import StandardPdfPipeline

input_paths = [
    Path("README.md"),
    Path("tests/data/html/wiki_duck.html"),
    Path("tests/data/docx/word_sample.docx"),
    Path("tests/data/pptx/powerpoint_sample.pptx"),
    Path("tests/data/2305.03393v1-pg9-img.png"),
    Path("tests/data/pdf/2206.01062.pdf"),
]

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Configure Format-Specific Options

1

Whitelist Formats

Specify which formats to process. Non-matching files are ignored.
2

Override Per-Format Settings

Customize pipeline and backend for specific formats.
3

Convert All Documents

Process the mixed document list.
doc_converter = DocumentConverter(
    allowed_formats=[
        InputFormat.PDF,
        InputFormat.IMAGE,
        InputFormat.DOCX,
        InputFormat.HTML,
        InputFormat.PPTX,
        InputFormat.ASCIIDOC,
        InputFormat.CSV,
        InputFormat.MD,
    ],
    format_options={
        InputFormat.PDF: PdfFormatOption(
            pipeline_cls=StandardPdfPipeline,
            backend=PyPdfiumDocumentBackend
        ),
        InputFormat.DOCX: WordFormatOption(
            pipeline_cls=SimplePipeline
        ),
    },
)

conv_results = doc_converter.convert_all(input_paths)
Files not in allowed_formats are silently skipped during conversion.

​
Export Results

output_dir = Path("scratch")
output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

for res in conv_results:
    doc_filename = res.input.file.stem
    
    # Export to Markdown
    with (output_dir / f"{doc_filename}.md").open("w") as fp:
        fp.write(res.document.export_to_markdown())
    
    # Export to JSON
    with (output_dir / f"{doc_filename}.json").open("w") as fp:
        fp.write(json.dumps(res.document.export_to_dict()))
    
    # Export to YAML
    with (output_dir / f"{doc_filename}.yaml").open("w") as fp:
        fp.write(yaml.safe_dump(res.document.export_to_dict()))
    
    print(f"Converted {res.input.file.name}")

​
Format Options

from docling.backend.pypdfium2_backend import PyPdfiumDocumentBackend
from docling.pipeline.standard_pdf_pipeline import StandardPdfPipeline

InputFormat.PDF: PdfFormatOption(
    pipeline_cls=StandardPdfPipeline,
    backend=PyPdfiumDocumentBackend
)

​
Supported Formats

Docling supports:
  • PDF: Native and scanned PDFs
  • DOCX: Microsoft Word documents
  • PPTX: PowerPoint presentations
  • HTML: Web pages
  • Images: PNG, JPG, TIFF
  • Markdown: MD files
  • AsciiDoc: ASCIIDOC files
  • CSV: Comma-separated values

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Default vs Custom Configuration

# Default: No explicit configuration needed
doc_converter = DocumentConverter()

# Custom: Override specific formats
doc_converter = DocumentConverter(
    allowed_formats=[InputFormat.PDF, InputFormat.DOCX],
    format_options={
        InputFormat.PDF: PdfFormatOption(...),
    },
)

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