Docling can fail on large documents, so free parsers matter
Docling works well for a RAG app when it turns structured documents into while keeping tables, headings, and similar layout details. The problem appears with large files, especially files that contain high-quality images and many tables. Some pages can fail during preprocessing with a memory-related error, and can return no text at all.
The needed tool should handle several file types, including PPTX, PDF, HTML, and DOCX, in a clean way. Free alternatives are the priority, and documents that contain images with little or no text need a separate handling plan.
Key points
- Docling can preserve tables and headings when converting documents to .
- Large files with high-quality images and tables can cause failures.
- may return no text for some pages.
- The desired parser should support PPTX, PDF, HTML, DOCX, and similar formats.
- Free alternatives are preferred.