Document conversion
DocentraX document conversion services turn technical documentation into DITA: authoring-tool projects, Word files, web exports and PDFs, including scanned ones, become topic-based DITA that validates and imports into a CCMS. The same service publishes DITA out to DocBook, Markdown and PowerPoint. This page is the catalogue: every format we read, what each conversion produces, and the guide that covers it.
Which documents we convert, and into what
We do one thing: move technical documentation, structured or unstructured, into clean, topic-based DITA that a team can maintain, reuse and publish without the tool it was written in.
Into DITA
| Conversion | What the converter reads | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| MadCap Flare to DITA conversion | The Flare project: table of contents, variables, snippets, conditions, glossary | DITA topics, a map or bookmap and the collected assets |
| RoboHelp to DITA conversion | The help project; its contents file sets the reading order | DITA topics and a map, with images collected |
| FrameMaker to DITA conversion | Published FrameMaker help, read as the book it came from | DITA topics and bookmaps, with images collected |
| Structured FrameMaker to DITA conversion | The HTML export of a structured book; its contents page gives the chapter order | Topics and a map or bookmap |
| Word to DITA conversion | Heading styles, Word's numbering, tables, footnotes, images | One composite DITA document per manual, or split topics with a bookmap and key map |
| PDF to DITA conversion | The PDF, rebuilt into a structured document first; a scan needs OCR before that | Editable, structured content carried into DITA |
| InDesign to DITA conversion | The HTML export; headings are rebuilt from styling where the export has none | DITA topics with a map |
| Drupal to DITA conversion | The site export; site furniture is left behind, every published word is kept | One composite DITA document per title, or split topics |
| Sphinx to DITA conversion | The built Sphinx site; its navigation defines the reading order | One composite DITA document per documentation set, or split topics |
| HTML to DITA conversion | HTML from no recognised authoring tool; folder layout gives the reading order, heading levels the nesting | One composite DITA document per title, or split topics |
| Markdown to DITA conversion | A Markdown docs site; its navigation sets the reading order | A composite DITA document, or split topics |
| DocBook to DITA conversion | DocBook XML, converted to typed topics rather than a generic wrapper | A composite DITA document, or split topics |
| PowerPoint to DITA conversion | Slide decks: titles, bullets, tables, pictures and speaker notes | A DITA map with one topic per slide |
Out of DITA, and between DITA shapes
| Conversion | What goes in | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Split DITA into topics | One large composite DITA document | Individual concept, task, reference and glossary topics, with a bookmap and a key map |
| Merge DITA topics into one file | A map and its split topics | One self-contained composite per publication, keys resolved |
| DITA to DocBook conversion | DITA documents | DocBook articles, with images collected and variables mapped |
| DITA to Markdown conversion | A composite DITA document | Markdown for a docs site, a wiki or a Git repository |
| DITA map to Markdown docs site | A DITA map with its topics | A Markdown documentation tree with a generated contents file |
| DITA to PowerPoint | DITA topics | A PowerPoint deck |
Where the output is a composite document, the splitting step produces topic-per-file with a bookmap and key map. Legacy XML is on our source list as well, without a guide of its own so far. If your format is not listed, ask: each converter is a separate module, so a new source is added without touching the others.
Managed service or self-service
There are two ways to use these conversions. In a managed migration we run the work as a project: analysis, a reviewed pilot, conversion at scale, validation and delivery into your CCMS. See DITA migration services. In self-service, your team runs its own conversions on the same platform, the conversion portal at convert.docentrax.com.
Both routes use the same converters. Each one is a versioned module with job logs, validation reports and repeatable results. The platform is multi-tenant with strict per-organisation isolation, role-based access and audit logging.
How a conversion runs
Every conversion goes through the same five stages. For a conversion into DITA they are:
- Analyse. Each source is opened the way the tool that produced it would open it, and every topic, asset, style, variable, condition and link is inventoried.
- Transform. Structure and styles are mapped to DITA by rule: headings become a topic hierarchy, numbered procedures become tasks, tables become CALS tables.
- Enrich. Variables resolve to real values, reused snippets land in place, conditions carry across, and your metadata, keys, IDs and naming conventions are applied.
- Validate. The DITA completeness check runs across the whole output, not a sample of it.
- Deliver. Topic-per-file or composite, a map or bookmap, your folder layout, assets in folders, every reference intact.
Conversions out of DITA keep the same five stages. What the Validate stage checks there depends on the target format, and each guide describes it.
Rules do most of the work, so the same input gives the same output on every run; AI is used only where rules cannot decide (see AI + deterministic conversion). A conversion can be generic or tailored to your styles, profiling scheme and DTD; DITA conversion services compares the two.
What "valid" means here
Valid means that each topic conforms to the DITA DTDs, or to your own specialization if you use one. Well-formed XML is not enough. Links, cross-references, conrefs and keyrefs resolve, tables and images are preserved, ids and keys are unique, and the validation report is part of every delivery.
Content conservation is a zero-tolerance rule: structure may degrade gracefully where it cannot be determined, and is then flagged for review, but text is never dropped.
What this service is not
"Document conversion" is a broad term. Here it has one meaning: technical documentation moved into DITA, or published out of DITA. Every row in the two tables above starts or ends in DITA. OCR, for example, appears on this site as a step on the way from a scanned manual to DITA topics, which is covered in scanned PDF to DITA conversion. For a mixed archive, legacy content migration explains what converts cleanly and what has to be rebuilt.
Frequently asked questions
What are document conversion services for technical documentation?
They convert documentation from the format it was written or published in into a structured format a team can maintain and reuse. At DocentraX that format is DITA: authoring-tool projects, Word files, web exports and PDFs become valid, topic-based DITA.
Which document formats can you convert?
Into DITA: MadCap Flare, Adobe RoboHelp, FrameMaker (published help and structured books), Word, PDF (born-digital and scanned), InDesign, Drupal and Sphinx exports, plain HTML, Markdown, DocBook, PowerPoint and legacy XML. Out of DITA: DocBook, Markdown, a Markdown docs site and PowerPoint. Between DITA shapes: one composite document split into topics, or topics merged into one composite.
Can you convert scanned documents?
Yes. Image-only pages go through OCR first, the document structure is rebuilt, scan damage is repaired by rule, and a reviewer checks every deliverable. Scanned material needs more review than content from an authoring tool, so we scope it separately. See scanned PDF to DITA conversion.
How much do document conversion services cost?
We do not publish a per-page rate card, because the drivers differ too much between bodies of content. Start with the free DITA conversion sample: up to 25 pages converted at no charge, then a pricing model agreed one-to-one. The guide to DITA conversion cost explains the variables.
Related guides
- DITA conversion services: convert any legacy source to clean, valid DITA
- DITA migration services: legacy documentation into your CCMS
- DITA transformation services: into, out of, and between DITA
- All conversion guides
- See the output on your own content: free 25-page sample
Send us 25 pages. The messier, the better.
We'll convert them to DITA free of charge — through the real pipeline, not a demo — and review the output with you. Then we'll discuss pricing one-to-one.
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