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Format Conversion Anti-Patterns
Purpose: Use this reference when the main risk is wrong tool choice, hidden loss, unsupported source features, or false assumptions about conversion fidelity.
Contents
- Anti-pattern catalog
- LaTeX and Markdown pitfalls
- PDF engine selection
- Morph review checklist
Anti-Pattern Catalog
| ID |
Anti-pattern |
Signal |
Correction |
FC-01 |
Treating PDF as a normal source format |
Structural recovery is poor |
Treat PDF as output-first; use PDF-specific ops only |
FC-02 |
Trusting the intermediate representation too much |
Complex layout disappears |
Document incompatible elements before conversion |
FC-03 |
Tool mismatch |
Wrong tool for the format pair |
Follow the conversion matrix |
FC-04 |
Hidden dependencies |
Missing fonts, engines, or packages |
Verify dependencies before conversion |
FC-05 |
Skipping verification |
Broken output ships |
Run VERIFY for structure, visual, content, and metadata |
FC-06 |
Assuming lossless conversion |
Structural/styling loss ignored |
Declare lossy vs lossless expectations explicitly |
FC-07 |
Single-tool absolutism |
Everything is forced through one tool |
Choose per format pair |
LaTeX And Markdown Pitfalls
- Bibliography often needs explicit
--citeproc --bibliography=refs.bib.
- Complex figures and tables may need pre-cleanup.
- Some LaTeX macros and numbering conventions will not survive direct conversion.
- Markdown cannot express every layout detail; template or HTML assist may be necessary.
PDF Engine Selection
| Engine |
Strength |
Risk |
Use it for |
xelatex / lualatex |
High-quality typesetting |
heavier dependencies |
Japanese or structured PDFs |
Chrome/Puppeteer |
Best modern CSS support |
limited paged-media features vs dedicated tools |
HTML-driven PDFs |
wkhtmltopdf |
— |
DO NOT USE — EOL since 2023, no security updates (see SKILL.md Critical Decision Rules) |
use weasyprint or Chrome/Puppeteer instead |
LibreOffice |
Layout fidelity for Office docs |
less scriptable than Pandoc-only flow |
Word/Excel to PDF |
Prince / WeasyPrint |
Better paged-media control |
licensing/support trade-offs |
print-grade HTML PDFs |
Morph Review Checklist
FC-01: reject PDF as a structural source conversion unless the task is PDF-native.FC-03: confirm the selected tool matches the format pair.FC-04: check fonts, engines, and packages before conversion.FC-05: never skip verification.FC-06: state expected feature loss before delivery.
