Mktero

Mktero is an open-source plugin for Zotero 7 through 10, distributed under the MIT license. Its purpose is narrow and practical: take the PDFs already sitting in a Zotero library and present them as continuous Markdown rather than fixed page images. The project targets academic reading specifically, where two-column layouts, inline formulas, tables, and figures routinely break the flow of extraction tools.

The core capability is reflow. A default Mktero account converts two-column layouts into a single continuous Markdown stream without requiring a separate OCR key, and the same PDF is cached locally. Text, formulas, tables, and figures remain mapped to their original PDF pages and regions, so each excerpt has a route back to the source. When a match is uncertain, the plugin declines to guess. Highlights, underlines, and comments stay in the reading tab and sync to Zotero PDF annotations.

The reader also supports translation switching and annotation opening directly in the PDF, and citations remain previewable without leaving the current reading position. A browser-based sample lets prospective users try the reader on a demo paper before installing anything; that preview has no Zotero library attached, so it shows annotations but no notes column and sends nothing externally.

This is aimed at researchers, graduate students, and anyone who already does literature work inside Zotero and wants readable Markdown without abandoning source verification. It is less relevant for pe