PPSX to MD API
POST /v2/convert/ppsx/to/md returns the words on a show's slides as Markdown, one ## heading per slide title. Our museum loop gave 669 bytes: five headings, the hours table as bullets, and nothing from the hidden staff slide.
- Endpoint
- POST /v2/
convert/ ppsx/ to/ md - Accepts
- ppsx
- Sample timing
- 0.723 s median of 5 runsHow we measure
- Request size
- Up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files together
Request and response
Every sample below ran against the API before this page was published. Set PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY to your key and run it as is.
curl -sS -X POST \
https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/ppsx/to/md \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY" \
-F File=@pilot-house-welcome.ppsx \
-o response.json
# FileData is base64. Save the first file in converted/,
# or print the JSON error.
if jq -e '.Files' response.json > /dev/null; then
mkdir -p converted
name=$(jq -r '.Files[0].FileName' response.json)
jq -r '.Files[0].FileData' response.json \
| base64 --decode > "converted/$name"
else
cat response.json
fiimport base64
import os
import requests
key = os.environ["PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY"]
response = requests.post(
"https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/ppsx/to/md",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {key}"},
files=[("File", open("pilot-house-welcome.ppsx", "rb"))],
timeout=180,
)
result = response.json()
if not response.ok:
raise SystemExit(f"{result['Code']}: {result['Message']}")
os.makedirs("converted", exist_ok=True)
for file in result["Files"]:
path = os.path.join("converted", file["FileName"])
with open(path, "wb") as out:
out.write(base64.b64decode(file["FileData"]))
print(path, file["FileSize"], "bytes")
import { mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
import { join } from "node:path";
const form = new FormData();
const file = "pilot-house-welcome.ppsx";
form.append("File", new Blob([await readFile(file)]), file);
const url = "https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/ppsx/to/md";
const key = process.env.PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY;
const response = await fetch(url, {
method: "POST",
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}` },
body: form,
});
const result = await response.json();
if (!response.ok) {
throw new Error(`${result.Code}: ${result.Message}`);
}
await mkdir("converted", { recursive: true });
for (const file of result.Files) {
const path = join("converted", file.FileName);
await writeFile(path, Buffer.from(file.FileData, "base64"));
console.log(path, file.FileSize, "bytes");
}
{
"ConversionCost": 1,
"ConversionTime": 0.723,
"Files": [
{
"FileName": "pilot-house-welcome.md",
"FileExt": "md",
"FileSize": 669,
"FileData": "IyMgV2VsY29tZSB0byB0aGUg…"
}
]
}Response from our test run on 2026-11-03. ConversionTime shows the median of 5 runs. FileData is shortened here; the real response carries the whole file as base64.
The sample, converted
The same file the code sends. Download the input and the output and compare them yourself.
pilot-house-welcome.md, 27 lines
## Welcome to the Old Pilot House- Harbor museum visitor screen, winter 2026- The Old Pilot House is a fictional museum. Sample slide show for pdfconversionapi.com, released under CC0 1.0.## Opening hours- Day Open Close Last entry- Monday Closed- Tuesday to Friday 10:00 16:30 16:00- Saturday 9:30 18:00 17:15- Sunday 11:00 16:00 15:30- Holiday hours: closed December 25 and January 1.## Visitors by month, 2026## Lamp room tours- Every hour on the hour from 10:00- 54 steps to the top, no lift- Ages 8 and up, with an adult under 14- Tickets at the front desk: $6## Thank you for visiting- The gift shop closes 15 minutes before the museum.
- Input
- pilot-house-welcome.ppsx (46 KB)
- Output
- pilot-house-welcome.md (669 bytes)
- Source
- A six-slide welcome loop for a fictional harbor museum, set to advance by itself, with one hidden staff slide. We made it for this page. (CC0-1.0). How it was made
- Made by
- 2026-11-04, API build
9eeeb0640aba
Parameters
Send these as form fields next to the file. Names are case-insensitive. If you set one of the documented options below that we don't support yet, the request fails with a 400 that names it instead of returning a file made without it.
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
ConvertHiddenSlidesboolean, default false | Include hidden slides in their place. Here that adds "## Staff only: closing checklist" with its three bullets after the chart slide. |
Passwordstring | For a show saved with a password. The locked copy of the sample gave the outline only with it. |
FileNamestring | Name of the Markdown file; by default pilot-house-welcome.md. |
StoreFileboolean, default false | Return a 3-hour link to the file instead of its contents. |
Not supported yet
Setting one of these to anything but its default returns 400.
| Option | What to do instead |
|---|---|
PageRange | The whole show is outlined; a range returns 400 "PageRange is not supported yet for PPSX → MD". |
IncludeSpeakerNotes | Notes are left out; true returns 400. |
Images | Pictures are never written; any value but embed returns 400. |
SlideHeadings | Titles always become ## headings; false returns 400. |
ListBulletChar | Bullets are always -. |
What carries over, and what doesn't
Kept
- Slide titles as
##headings, in the order the show plays - Subtitles and body lines as
-bullets - Table rows as one bullet each, cells split by tabs, so Saturday, 9:30, 18:00 and 17:15 share one line
- Text boxes outside placeholders, such as the holiday-hours line
Lost or not yet supported
- Charts: "Visitors by month, 2026" arrives as a heading with nothing under it, no months or numbers.
- Pictures, with no image link or description for the lighthouse.
- Speaker notes and the hidden staff slide, by default.
- Bold, colors and font sizes.
Limits
- One .ppsx per request, up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans.
- A conversion may take up to 120 seconds before the API returns 504.
Where teams use it
Search and translation of what screens show
Index the text of every lobby loop, or hand it to translators, without opening PowerPoint. The museum's 46,987-byte show comes down to 669 bytes of text.
Text for a model or a website
Feed slide text to a language model or paste it into a web page. Headings mark where each slide starts, so answers can point to a slide.
Questions
Why is there an empty section in the output?
The chart slide has a title and a chart but no text, and chart data isn't outlined. If you need the numbers, read them from the chart in the deck, or convert the slide to an image.
Are tables turned into Markdown tables?
No. Each row becomes one bullet with tab characters between the cells. Split on tabs to rebuild a table.
Can I get the speaker notes?
Not yet. IncludeSpeakerNotes=true returns 400, and the desk note on slide 2 is missing from the output.
Convert your first PPSX file in a minute.