# Create PDF > Convert markdown files into a styled PDF. Use when creating a PDF from existing markdown files, combining markdown into a report, or converting .md to .pdf. - Skill: `kovrichard/create-pdf` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kovrichard/create-pdf` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kovrichard/create-pdf/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - License: MIT - Author: kovrichard (https://skillmd.com/u/kovrichard) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kovrichard/create-pdf --- ## Overview Combine one or more markdown files into a single styled PDF. Pipeline: Markdown → HTML → PDF via a headless browser. This skill handles concatenation, page breaks, styling, and conversion. It does NOT generate content — use the `research` skill or other content-generation workflows first, then pipe the resulting markdown files into this skill. ## Input The user provides one of: - **Explicit file paths**: `/path/to/file1.md /path/to/file2.md ...` - **A glob pattern**: `/path/to/report/*.md` - **A directory**: `/path/to/report/` (all `.md` files inside, sorted alphabetically) If no output filename is specified, derive it from the directory name or first file: `.pdf` in the same directory as the input files. ## Workflow ### Step 1: Resolve Input Files Determine the list of markdown files and their order: - If explicit paths: use as given - If glob/directory: list and sort alphabetically (files prefixed with `00_` come first naturally) - Confirm the file list and order with the user if more than 5 files ### Step 2: Combine (only if multiple files) For a single input file, skip this step and pass it directly to the tool in Step 3. For multiple files, concatenate with page break dividers between them into a single temp markdown: ```bash cat \ first_file.md \ <(echo -e '\n\n
\n\n---\n\n') \ second_file.md \ <(echo -e '\n\n
\n\n---\n\n') \ third_file.md \ > /tmp/combined.md ``` For many files, generate the cat command dynamically rather than typing each one. ### Step 3: Render to PDF Invoke the skill tool. Flags: - `--pdf ` — explicit output PDF path (default: `.pdf` next to the input) - `--html ` — explicit intermediate HTML path (default: `.html` next to the input; kept for inspection/re-printing) Single-file example: ```bash pal cli skill run create-pdf md-to-html-pdf.mjs /path/to/report.md --pdf /path/to/report.pdf ``` Multi-file example (after Step 2): ```bash pal cli skill run create-pdf md-to-html-pdf.mjs /tmp/combined.md --pdf /path/to/report.pdf --html /path/to/report.html ``` The tool writes the self-contained HTML (inline CSS, UTF-8) and the PDF, and prints both paths + sizes on stdout. ### Step 4: Verify and Report ```bash ls -lh .pdf ``` Report the file path and size to the user. ## Styling Default styling (A4, 25mm margins, GitHub-ish look, table-friendly, page-break-aware headings) is baked into the tool. Margins and header/footer are configurable per-render via flags — no source edits needed: - `--margin ` — page margin on all four sides (default `25mm`). E.g. `--margin 12mm` for a denser one-pager. - `--header ` / `--footer ` — running header/footer on every page. The value is either an inline HTML string or a path to an HTML file. Templates may use Playwright's injected classes: `pageNumber`, `totalPages`, `date`, `title`, `url`. ```bash pal cli skill run create-pdf md-to-html-pdf.mjs report.md --pdf report.pdf \ --margin 18mm \ --header '
CONFIDENTIAL
' \ --footer '
/
' ``` Header/footer templates **need an explicit `font-size`** (Playwright defaults them to 0) and render *inside* the page margin — widen `--margin` so they have room. Do NOT also add CSS `@page` margin-box rules; they duplicate. For deeper changes (fonts, base CSS), edit the `css` string in `tools/md-to-html-pdf.ts` (the `.mjs` is generated from it — never edit the `.mjs`). ## Translation Variant If the user asks to translate markdown files and then create a PDF: 1. Spawn **parallel subagents** to translate files — batch 2-4 files per agent, all agents in a **single message** (skip parallelism when there is only one file; a single coherent translator is faster and more consistent) 2. Each agent reads the source file, translates all text content to the target language, and writes to `_.md` 3. Rules for translation agents: - Keep all markdown formatting, links, and structure identical - Keep source/link titles in their original language; translate surrounding text - Translate naturally, not word-for-word; use proper domain terminology 4. After all agents complete, run Steps 2-4 above on the translated files 5. Output filename gets a `_` suffix (e.g., `report_hu.pdf`) **Batch sizing for translation agents:** | Files | Agents | Files per agent | |-------|--------|-----------------| | 1 | 0 | done inline | | 2-4 | 1-2 | 2 each | | 5-10 | 3-4 | 2-3 each | | 11+ | 5 | 3-4 each | ## Important - This skill only converts — it does not research or generate content - Individual markdown files are preserved alongside the PDF for future editing - The intermediate HTML is also preserved — open it in a browser to inspect or Print-to-PDF manually - Always verify the PDF exists before reporting success