Markdown To PDF

Overview

Convert Markdown files to professionally styled PDFs using WeasyPrint with customizable templates and batch processing capabilities.

Quick Start

Basic Conversion

bash

python scripts/md_to_pdf.py README.md output.pdf

Using Templates

bash

# Professional template
python scripts/md_to_pdf.py README.md report.pdf --template professional

# Academic template  
python scripts/md_to_pdf.py thesis.md thesis.pdf --template academic

# Modern template
python scripts/md_to_pdf.py docs.md docs.pdf --template modern

# GitHub template
python scripts/md_to_pdf.py README.md readme.pdf --template github

Custom CSS

bash

python scripts/md_to_pdf.py README.md output.pdf --css custom.css

Batch Processing

bash

# Convert all markdown files
python scripts/batch_convert.py "*.md" output_dir --template professional

# Parallel processing
python scripts/batch_convert.py "*.md" output_dir --workers 8

Templates

Professional Template

Clean business design with:

•Liberation Sans font family
•Blue accent colors
•Formal typography
•Professional table styling

Best for: Business reports, presentations, corporate documents

Academic Template

Traditional scholarly format with:

•Times New Roman serif font
•Numbered sections
•Abstract and citation styling
•Formal academic layout

Best for: Research papers, theses, academic documents

Modern Template

Contemporary design with:

•Inter font family
•Gradient accents
•Rounded corners and shadows
•Callout components

Best for: Technical documentation, modern reports

GitHub Template

Authentic GitHub markdown styling with:

•GitHub's exact color scheme and typography
•System font stack matching GitHub
•Full syntax highlighting support
•GitHub-style alerts and callouts
•Authentic table and code block styling

Best for: README files, documentation, GitHub-style documents

Advanced Features

Custom CSS Templates

Create custom templates in assets/templates/:

css

@page {
    size: A4;
    margin: 2cm;
    @bottom-center {
        content: counter(page);
        font-size: 10pt;
    }
}

body {
    font-family: 'Your Font', sans-serif;
    line-height: 1.6;
}

Page Configuration

css

@page {
    size: Letter landscape;
    margin: 1in;
    
    @top-center {
        content: "Document Title";
        font-size: 10pt;
    }
}

Font Optimization

python

# Use FontConfiguration for custom fonts
font_config = FontConfiguration()
html.write_pdf('output.pdf', font_config=font_config)

Resources

scripts/

•md_to_pdf.py: Core conversion script with template support
•batch_convert.py: Parallel batch processing for multiple files

references/

•css-templates.md: Complete CSS template reference and customization guide
•weasyprint-options.md: WeasyPrint configuration and troubleshooting

assets/templates/

•professional.css: Business-friendly styling
•academic.css: Scholarly academic format
•modern.css: Contemporary design
•github.css: Authentic GitHub markdown styling

Dependencies

Install required packages:

bash

pip install weasyprint markdown

System dependencies may be required:

bash

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install python3-cffi libpango-1.0-0 libharfbuzz0b

# macOS
brew install pango

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

•Font not found: Install Liberation Sans or use system fonts
•Memory issues: Use optimize_size parameter for large documents
•CSS errors: Check WeasyPrint compatibility in reference docs

Debug Mode

bash

python scripts/md_to_pdf.py input.md output.pdf --debug

Best Practices

•Choose appropriate template based on document type
•Test with sample content before batch processing
•Use custom CSS for branding requirements
•Optimize for print with proper page breaks
•Validate fonts on target system