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Markdown PDF Swap

Markdown to PDF

Your file never leaves this device. Conversion runs in your browser. The document itself is not uploaded.

1 · Choose a Markdown file

…or drop a Markdown file here

.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd · stays in this tab

2 · Convert

3 · Download

Choose a file to convert. It is not uploaded.

FAQ and format details
Why convert Markdown to PDF?

Use Markdown→PDF when you need a frozen snapshot (a tagged release's documentation, a homework writeup, meeting notes) and you do not want to install pandoc or a LaTeX toolchain. If you already have a static site, printing that HTML from the browser may look nicer; this path is for the source file itself.

How this conversion runs

marked produces HTML. pdf-lib lays out headings and paragraphs in Times, wrapping to US Letter with 1-inch margins. Characters outside the built-in fonts are substituted. Images in the Markdown as remote URLs are not downloaded; they become placeholders.

Keep in mind for Markdown → PDF

You do not get syntax-highlighted code, page headers, or a table of contents with page numbers. Deeply nested lists and huge tables will look cramped. For a book, Markdown→EPUB is a better reading experience; for comments, Markdown→DOCX.

After you have a PDF file

Skim the PDF for '?' where emoji or CJK were. If it is unacceptable, print the Markdown preview from VS Code or a browser instead so fonts embed. Archive the .md alongside the PDF so you can regenerate.

Can I use a custom font?

Not in this converter. It uses pdf-lib standard Times. Browser print-to-PDF from an HTML preview is the workaround for webfonts.

Do Markdown page-break comments work?

No. There is no \pagebreak handling. Split files or insert extra headings if you need a hard break, or print from HTML with CSS break-before.

This pair at a glance
Accepts
.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd
Writes
.pdf · application/pdf
Read fidelity
high (Markdown → HTML)
Write fidelity
medium (HTML → PDF)
Source size
Plan for files under 3.8 MB

The file is read in this tab. It is not uploaded.

Something off with this pair? Send feedback.

About Markdown and PDF

Source file

Markdown

A lightweight plain-text syntax for structured writing that compiles to HTML. The lingua franca of README files, wikis, and note apps.

Markdown stores documents as readable plain text with a small set of punctuation conventions for headings, emphasis, lists, links, and code. GitHub-Flavored Markdown (GFM) adds tables, strikethrough, task lists, and fenced code blocks. Conversion through HTML is a natural fit because Markdown was designed as an HTML shorthand.

Extensions
.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd
MIME types
text/markdown, text/x-markdown
Kind
text · utf-8
Category
markup
Standard
Open format · since 2004
Comfortable size
Up to about 3.8 MB in this browser converter
Read into HTML
high fidelity · implemented — Parsed as GitHub-Flavored Markdown.

What this format can hold

  • headings
  • paragraphs
  • lists
  • tables
  • links
  • images
  • inline formatting
  • code blocks
  • blockquotes

Usually dropped on the way in

  • raw html passthrough is sanitized

Apps that consume Markdown

  • GitHub (GitHub) — creates and opens on Web
  • Obsidian (Dynalist) — creates and opens on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
  • VS Code (Microsoft) — creates on Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Typora — creates and opens on Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Notion — creates and opens on Web, Windows, macOS
  • Jupyter — creates and opens on Web
  • Discord — opens on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Catalog notes

  • Front matter (YAML between --- lines) is preserved as a prefix when converting from Markdown, and ignored when converting to Markdown.
  • Obsidian wikilinks and footnotes have no lossless HTML equivalent yet.

Destination file

PDF

A page-description format that paints glyphs and graphics onto fixed pages. Universal for print, archival, and sharing.

PDF (Portable Document Format) describes pages, not a flowing document tree. Incoming PDFs are reconstructed as HTML: designed pages keep positioned text, fonts, images, and vectors; simpler reading documents become flowing articles. Export to PDF paints HTML onto pages via pdf-lib. Pixel-perfect Word/InDesign layout is not the goal.

Extensions
.pdf
MIME types
application/pdf
Kind
binary · binary
Category
page description
Standard
Open format · since 1993
Spec
ISO 32000
Comfortable size
Up to about 38 MB in this browser converter
Written from HTML
medium fidelity · implemented — HTML is paginated onto US Letter pages via pdf-lib. Embedded PNG/JPEG data URLs are painted. Print-to-PDF from the preview remains the highest-fidelity path.

What this format can hold

  • page layout
  • paragraphs
  • images
  • links
  • embedded fonts

Usually dropped on the way out

  • css absolute layout
  • webfonts unless embedded
  • interactive forms

Apps that consume PDF

  • Adobe Acrobat / Reader (Adobe) — creates and opens on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
  • Chrome (Google) — opens on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
  • Edge (Microsoft) — opens on Windows, macOS
  • Preview (Apple) — opens on macOS, iOS
  • Foxit — creates and opens on Windows, macOS
  • Okular (KDE) — opens on Linux

Catalog notes

  • Encrypted PDFs cannot be opened in-browser without the password (not collected).
  • OCR for image-only scans is out of scope for v1.
Other conversions

Other conversions from Markdown: HTMLWordRTFOpenDocumentEPUB

Other ways to get PDF: HTMLWordRTFOpenDocumentEPUB