Hi evryone, I have years working with markdown (typora) and weeks working with Obsidian on macOS.
I am handling a lot of images and I like having an Image folder in order to be able to use the same image in various notes or .md document (presentation, article, etc.).
I will take the example of the integration of an image named “image.png” at the root of my Figure folder (path in my obsidian vault: “./Figure/image.png”). I tried these options:
The HTML and docx exports are not working if the Figure folder is located outside the vault (“enBinaryFile: does not exist (No such file or directory)” error). Thus, I included my figure folder in my Vault.
Wikkilinks do not allow to export image in HTML and docx and they are responsible of compatibility problems when sharing the .md file with non obsidian users or sofwares. I used the classicalcode.
I joined the image in my note using obsidian absolute path (with the code , and the option “absolute path in vault” in the “files & links” options) and export my note in html or docx (enhanced export plugin). This option is not working. It renders an error message: “Error: [WARNING] Could not fetch resource —”.
I joined the image using the system absolute path (with the code , using the path to URI plugin), and export my note in html or docx (enhanced export plugins). This option is not working. It renders an error message: “enBinaryFile: does not exist (No such file or directory)”.
I joined the image using a relative path (with the code), and the option “relative path to file” in the “files & links” options) and export my note in html or docx (pandoc or enhanced export plugins). This is working and is fully compatible with typora.
Note: If you are using the Obsidian converter link plugin, you have to specify: “Converted Link Format”>“Relative path”.
Synthesis: I had to use the following parameters to be able to keep my figure folder, be able to export my notes in different fornats and have compatibility with Typora:
Figure folder inside the vault
No Wikkilinks, use  code. Change the option “Use Wikkilinks” to FALSE, or use the Obsidian converter link plugin with the option “Converted Link Format”>“Relative path”.
Use “relative path to file” in the “files & links” options.
Use the Obsidian enhancing export plugin in order to export in docx or html.
Me too, I struggled with the problem of working with images AND writing in Markdown, because I’m a big fan and advocate of pure text. I tried different solutions.
The solution you’re presenting is perfect to interoperate with Typora. And as the export from Typora uses Pandoc, it can provide perfectly valid alternative formats. But there are some trade-offs :
With “standard markdown links” + “relative paths”, you lose the elegance and lightness of wikilinks. → Maybe it’s better to convert the links as a “final step” just before exporting ?
When producing a .docx via Pandoc with Typora, the images are resized and resampled and you’ll have to replace them one by one in the Word document in case you need the full resolution. Or maybe there’s something that I don’t know how to do ?
Of interest is the fact that DEVONthink too can handle images “pretty well”, à laObsidian. But in the end, if you have to produce a .docx or a PDF, the Obsidian workflow we’re talking about works better. Again : unless there’s something I haven’t discovered.
So, in the end, for people whose workflow absolutely requires a final .docx or a PDF, I’d rather recommend working with tools that handle images elegantly. According to my testing, they are :
Ulysses
Bear
Craft — not “pure Markdown”, but very close :
you can write using Markdown shortcuts
you can paste Markdown into Craft documents
you can copy Craft selections as Markdown
it can import and export Markdown documents
it can even export in Textbundle format
Scrivener — it can kind of work in Markdown, but you have to try very hard. And the learning curve of Scrivener itself is rather long… And you have to use it constantly or you forget your training after one or two months without touching it.
Unfortunately, these are pure writing environments, not really PKM environments, even if you can link documents inside them. It works, but not with the elegance of Obsidian, at least from my point of view. Maybe if you live inside these tools, it gets easier ?