Why Convert Markdown to PDF
Markdown is a good format for writing: it's plain text, version-controllable, and readable without any rendering. PDF is a good format for sharing: it looks the same on every device, preserves formatting, and is widely expected for formal documents.
The problem is getting from one to the other. A few common scenarios where you'd want this:
- Technical reports or specs that need to be sent to non-technical stakeholders
- Resumes maintained in markdown for version control, exported to PDF when applying
- Documentation that needs to be distributed offline or archived
- Academic writing where the submission format is PDF
md0's markdown-to-PDF converter handles this entirely in the browser.
How It Works
- Write or paste your markdown into the editor
- See a preview of how it will look as a document
- Select a theme
- Click "Generate PDF"
- Download the file
The conversion uses html2pdf.js under the hood, which renders your markdown to HTML and then captures it as a PDF. This approach has some limitations (discussed below), but it's fast and requires nothing to install.
Themes
Four themes are available:
Clean is a neutral, professional layout. Works for most business documents.
Academic uses wider margins and a serif-influenced style. Works for papers and formal reports.
Modern uses larger, bolder headings. Works for proposals or presentations.
Minimal strips most decoration. Works when you want the content to speak for itself.
What Renders Well
Standard markdown renders predictably: headings, paragraphs, lists, blockquotes, and links. Code blocks maintain syntax highlighting in the output.
Tables render correctly as long as they're not excessively wide. A table with ten columns may overflow on A4 paper.
What Doesn't Render Well
A few things to know before you export:
Page breaks are automatic. The converter doesn't currently support manual page break hints. Long code blocks or tables may be split across pages.
Very long lines in code blocks may wrap unexpectedly. Keep code examples concise, or use horizontal scrolling if the code is viewed in a browser.
Complex inline HTML in your markdown may not render exactly as expected in the PDF output. Stick to standard markdown syntax for the most consistent results.
Custom fonts are not currently supported. The PDF uses system fonts based on the selected theme.
Command-Line Alternatives
If you need more control over the output, command-line tools give you more options:
Pandoc is the most widely used markdown converter. It can produce PDF via LaTeX, which gives you precise control over typography and layout. The trade-off is that it requires LaTeX to be installed.
pandoc document.md -o document.pdf
wkhtmltopdf renders HTML to PDF using WebKit. You convert markdown to HTML first, then to PDF.
Prince and WeasyPrint are CSS-based PDF renderers. They give you full CSS control over the PDF layout.
For most people doing occasional conversions, the browser tool is simpler. For automated pipelines or documents with exacting typographic requirements, a command-line tool is worth the setup time.
Privacy
All PDF generation runs in your browser. Your markdown content is never sent to md0's servers. This matters for documents containing client information, internal specs, or anything you'd rather keep off third-party infrastructure.
Tips for Better PDFs
Use a single h1 at the top. It becomes the document title and sets the visual hierarchy for the rest.
Use a table of contents if the document is long. You can generate one automatically with md0's TOC generator, then paste it into your document before converting.
Test different themes before finalizing. The same content can look quite different across themes, and picking the right one makes the PDF feel intentional rather than default.
Keep line lengths reasonable. The converter works better with normal prose paragraph widths than with very long single lines.
Convert Your Document
Open the markdown-to-PDF converter and export your first document. Free, no account required.