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Performance Tips

First run

  • Downloads ~4GB of models (Surya OCR, layout detection, table recognition)
  • Models cached in ${SKILL_PATH}/huggingface-cache (configured in .config)
  • Subsequent runs are much faster (no downloads)

Memory usage

  • Minimum: 4GB RAM for small documents
  • Recommended: 8GB+ RAM for typical documents
  • Large documents (100+ pages): 16GB+ RAM or use chunking
  • Each worker: ~2-4GB RAM

Processing speed

  • CPU: ~1-2 pages/second (depends on complexity)
  • GPU: ~3-5 pages/second (CUDA-enabled)
  • First page: Slower due to model loading

Optimization strategies

Large documents

  • Use chunk-convert.sh script
  • Use --page_range for manual chunking
  • Example: $SKILL_PATH/scripts/chunk-convert.sh document.pdf 20 ./output

Multiple files

  • Use --workers flag (default: CPU count)
  • Example: $SKILL_PATH/.venv/bin/marker ./pdfs --workers 4

Memory constrained

  • Reduce workers: --workers 1
  • Use chunking for large documents
  • Process smaller page ranges

Speed priority

  • Use GPU if available
  • Skip --use_llm and --force_ocr
  • Example: $SKILL_PATH/.venv/bin/marker_single document.pdf

Accuracy priority

  • Use --use_llm --force_ocr (slower but better quality)
  • Example: $SKILL_PATH/.venv/bin/marker_single document.pdf --use_llm --force_ocr

Disk space

  • Models: ~4GB
  • Output: Varies by document
  • Markdown: Smallest
  • JSON with images: Largest
  • Temp files: Cleaned automatically

GPU configuration

Enable GPU

Edit ${SKILL_PATH}/.config: 

export CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES="0"  # Use GPU 0

Multiple GPUs

export CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES="0,1"  # Use GPU 0 and 1

Force CPU

export CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=""  # Empty = CPU only

Cache management

Default locations

  • Marker data: ${SKILL_PATH}/cache
  • PyTorch: ${SKILL_PATH}/torch-cache
  • HuggingFace models: ${SKILL_PATH}/huggingface-cache

Use external drive

Edit ${SKILL_PATH}/.config: 

export HF_HOME=/Volumes/External/huggingface
export MARKER_CACHE_DIR=/Volumes/External/marker
export TORCH_HOME=/Volumes/External/torch

Clear cache

rm -rf ${SKILL_PATH}/cache
rm -rf ${SKILL_PATH}/torch-cache
rm -rf ${SKILL_PATH}/huggingface-cache