Marked 2 does a decent job of converting a Markdown document to a Word document. It exports Markdown files to several other formats as well, and does a good job. I use it for Markdown conversions all the time. From the user guide:
The Export Drawer allows you to save your document as HTML, single-page PDF, paginated PDF, RTF package, or a Microsoft Word DOC or DOCX file. You can also save to a new Markdown file (Marked-specific features will be rendered and their results included), an Open Document (ODT), or as OPML for use in other applications.
Iāve been using it to get stuff into Libre Office files if required.I don;t recall any issues setting it up but Iām also not using other than to get something quickly into LO and I edit it there. My recent discovery of Collabora solved the edit on iPad issues so Iām now keeping most of the things that need to eventually be .odt docs as that in Obsdian directly.
@Cindy I do have Pandoc, but as you say itās a bit fiddly.
@krocnyc It had not occurred to me to use Marked. Thanks!
What I really want is a tool to easily send Obsidian documents to Google Drive and convert to the native Google Drive format in a single step, because that seems to be what my clients currently prefer.
I havenāt thought through the details, but if you do, you should be able to put together an automation in Shortcuts or Keyboard Maestro that would work. It should simply be a matter of:
Locate the .md file to be converted in the Obsidian directory
Run pandoc (probably from the command line, I think), outputting to the desired format
Move the newly created file from the Obsidian directory to the Google Drive directory
Assuming youāve set Google Drive to automatically convert files to native format, that should work.
You could use Hazel. Create a watched folder in your obsidian vault. When you place a file in the watched folder configure Hazel to convert it to an intermediary format (ie docx) using Pandoc and then place the intermediary format file into your google drive folder.
Iām not sure if google drive will automatically convert the file as Iāve not tested this out. However, if I remember rightly google drive will convert the file when you open it in google drive.
I am not keen on the command line (I know, I should learn!). My workaround tends to involve either converting an .md file in DEVONthink (mostly to plain text or RTF); or for a much more light-weight solution and more output options, via Typora. Typora also uses the Pandoc transformations but they have included a variety of menu options in the UI. So Pandoc does the heavy lifting in the background without having to engage the command line.
Thanks, @acavender for suggesting using the Google Drive app on the Mac. I was just using the Web interface, and the Google Docs web interface makes it hard to navigate folders. Much easier with the Google Drive app.
I had uninstalled the Google Drive app years ago (because I was having problems with it? Because I read that others were having problems with it? Donāt remember why) and it never occurred to me to reinstall it.
The app doesnāt help with the process of converting from Markdown to the native Google Docs format. But it makes the overall process of sending files from the Mac to Google Drive easier.
Iād really hoped that Markdown ā DOCX via Pandoc ā Google Drive would take care of everything.
But just out of curiosity, I just now tried dropping a DOCX file into the Google Drive directory on my Mac. Though Iāve selected the āConvert uploads to Google Docs editor formatā setting, it remained a DOCX.
My guess is that since I just dropped the file in the directory, Drive doesnāt see it as an upload; it thinks itās just another file. Sigh.
EDITED for clarity/typos, and to add:
Yes! What @svsmailus said above! Opening the file in Drive wonāt automatically convert it, but youāll get an option in the File menu that allows you to save it in native format:
I use Obsidian for notes that I write, and Devonthink for documents that other people write. Itās working well so far. What gets frustrating is that I spend 9 - 10 hours a day on a corporate computer where cloud sync is disabled , so I donāt get much time on my own computer to work on my vault.
I make that time count with note organization system of folders , tags, and backlinks . Templates help, and I have a list of ones that I want to make stored in Omnifocus tasks that (one day?) Iāll get to make.
I think that Obsidian is a great tool, better than the Evernote, Apple Notes, and Joplin tools that I used before it.
Do you happen to use devonthink to go with obsidian?
I do think that obsidian is a superior note taking app on mobile but I find it difficult to use with devonthink to go (on mac works fine, but I am 99% mobile). The indexed obsidian folder on Mac has to be completely copied to DTTG, and a Mac has to be on for this to even work. My experience has been itās too difficult to keep this in sync to make search worthwhile from just devonthink. And if I need to search obsidian for some notes and DTTG for others, I just gave up and use the clunky DTTG for more work/permanent notes and Apple notes for quick notes and then just back them up monthly to DT.
Would love to come back and try obsidian as I like the built in templates and itās so easy for iOS shortcuts (have them set up to add to daily note filed by date in a folder, addend if made, and weekly work notes), but always end up with duplicates in DTTG and couldnāt trust what data was going where.
The Mac doesnāt have to be on for DEVONThink to sync. You can configure multiple sync methods for the same database. I use the local sync via Bonjour and WebDAV for years. Works fine. You need a WebDAV storage server somewhere. My DSL provider gives me one included in my connectivity contract (Deutsche Telekom).
I do use WebDAV with Synology. I must not have explained myself correctly.
If I use obsidian is from iPhone only. There is no way for this to show up on devonthink to go without using a Mac (obsidian needs to be indexed, therefore to get it to my WebDAV sync store requires a mac to look at the indexed folder, this requires always on Mac or to load up and sync obsidian folder to Mac, and DT on the Mac must then send the indexed files to the sync store for it to populate to DTTG.
No. I have barely used DTTG and Obsidian on mobile. To be honest, I mostly only use them on weekends and then while on my Macbook, and not every weekend. ie I maybe not use either app for weeks at a time.
Iām curious how you keep/organize your case notesā¦do you log your day through the daily note and refactor into smaller notes, or write directly into a note for a case/client/matter? Are you using dataview or templates?
Would be interested to hear more about your workflow!
Iām hoping @MacSparky course has a tutorial on managing his legal work through Obsidian, even though heās now āretiredā from practicing law.
