Markdown to PDF
Turn a Markdown file into a tidy PDF with headings, tables and page numbers.
Checking that the servers are available…
Pro. Runs on our servers: encrypted in transit, deleted automatically.
Quick facts
- Takes
- Markdown files (.md, .markdown), up to twenty at a time, each up to 10 MB, in UTF-8, UTF-16 or Windows-1252.
- Gives
- A PDF on A4 or Letter in a sans serif or serif face, with numbered pages, bookmarks from the headings, links that work, and tags for screen readers.
- Runs
- On our servers: markdown-it turns the text into HTML, the same isolated Chromium as HTML to PDF prints it, and the job is deleted as soon as the result is fetched.
- Plan
- Pro: 200 tasks a day on our servers, and a task that fails is not counted. The tools that run in your browser stay free.
- Understood
- CommonMark with tables, strikethrough, task lists and bare links, YAML front matter (its title becomes the PDF’s), and HTML written in the file.
Typeset like a well-kept README
The text is set at 10.5 points with 18 mm margins and a page number at the foot of every page. Headings get the same anchors GitHub gives them, so a link written as [installation](#installation) leads to that section in the PDF. Code is set in a monospaced face on a shaded panel, and long lines wrap instead of running off the page; table rows are kept whole across page breaks.
A checklist keeps its ticks, and a front matter block at the top is taken off the page. Pictures inside the file are printed; pictures linked from the web are not fetched, and their description is shown in their place.
Measured on our sample file
| File | Markdown | Pages | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| collection-notes.md | 1.6 kB | 62 kB | 2 | 4.0 s |
A page of text weighs more as a PDF than as Markdown: the PDF carries the fonts, the page numbers and the bookmarks. The time is the browser starting, typesetting and printing.
What it cannot do
- Fetch pictures linked from the web. Pictures inside the file, as data addresses, are kept.
- Highlight code in color. Code blocks are set in a monospaced font on a shaded panel.
- Understand every Markdown flavour: footnotes, maths and diagrams are left as written.
If something goes wrong
- The document could not be converted. Check that it opens in its own program, then try again.
- Check that the file is plain text; a document saved by a word processor is not Markdown.
- Today's tasks are used up
- Pro runs 200 tasks a day on our servers, counted from midnight UTC, and a task that fails is not counted. The count starts again the next day.
About Markdown to PDF
Markdown to PDF typesets a Markdown file as a clean PDF: headings, lists, tables, task lists, code and links, with page numbers and bookmarks. It is made on our servers and deleted after.
How to use Markdown to PDF
Add the .md file.
Choose the paper and a sans serif or serif typeface.
Download the PDF.
Frequently asked questions
- Which Markdown is understood?
- CommonMark with the GitHub additions people use most: tables, strikethrough, task lists and bare links. HTML written in the file is kept too.
- Do headings become bookmarks?
- Yes. Every heading becomes a bookmark, and links to a heading lead to it in the PDF.
- What happens to front matter?
- The YAML block at the top is taken off the page; its title becomes the PDF's title.
- Can I include pictures?
- Pictures written into the file as data addresses are kept. Pictures linked from the web are not fetched; their description is shown instead.
- Is code highlighted?
- Code blocks are set in a monospaced font on a shaded panel, without color highlighting.
Related tools
- HTML to PDFTurn an HTML file into a PDF, with its styles, pictures and links.
- Word to PDFTurn Word documents into PDFs that look the same everywhere.
- PDF to MarkdownTurn a PDF into Markdown text with its headings, lists, tables and pictures.
- Merge PDFCombine several PDFs into one, in the order you want, or the front and back sides of a scan made one side at a time.