# Md To PDF

> Markdown to PDF Converter

- Skill: `luochang212/md-to-pdf` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add luochang212/md-to-pdf`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/luochang212/md-to-pdf/raw
- Safety review: WARNING
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: luochang212 (https://skillmd.com/u/luochang212)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/luochang212/md-to-pdf

---


# Markdown to PDF Converter

Two cross-platform backends. Choose based on your situation:

| | Playwright (`convert_playwright.py`) | reportlab (`convert_reportlab.py`) |
|------|-----------|------------|
| Quality | Perfect — full browser rendering | Good — manual Flowable layout |
| CJK | Native — system fonts just work | Manual font registration per platform |
| Special chars | Native — box-drawing, arrows, emoji | Replaced with ASCII (see Fix 1 in script) |
| CSS theming | Full CSS | Hardcoded HexColor values |
| Images | Rendered | Placeholder text |
| Italic | Rendered | Intentionally skipped (conflicts with code tags) |
| Dependencies | ~150MB (Chromium) | ~10MB (pure Python) |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |

## Usage

```bash
# Playwright (best quality, needs Chromium)
python scripts/convert_playwright.py input.md [output.pdf]

# reportlab (pure Python, no Chromium needed)
python scripts/convert_reportlab.py input.md [output.pdf]
```

If no output path is given, replaces `.md` with `.pdf`.

## Playwright Backend (`convert_playwright.py`)

The recommended default. Pipeline:

```
.md → mdformat → markdown → HTML + CSS → Playwright/Chromium → PDF
```

- **Auto-detects platform** — selects appropriate CJK fonts for macOS, Windows, or Linux
- **CSS theme** — edit the `CSS` variable to change colors, fonts, spacing
- **Syntax highlighting** — Monokai dark theme via Pygments `codehilite` extension
- **LaTeX math** — via `mdx_math` + KaTeX CDN (falls back to LaTeX source if offline)
- **Zero CJK issues** — Chromium's text stack handles CJK, box-drawing, emoji, and mixed-language natively

### Dependencies

```bash
pip install playwright markdown mdformat pygments python-markdown-math
playwright install chromium
```

## Lightweight Backend (`convert_reportlab.py`)

Pure Python, no browser dependency. Pipeline:

```
.md → mdformat → sanitize_unicode() → markdown → BeautifulSoup → Flowables → reportlab → PDF
```

- **Auto-detects platform** — registers correct fonts for macOS or Windows
- **Linux** prints a warning with font path hints (you'll need to adjust `_FONTS`)
- Same Three Fixes as the original macOS version (Unicode→ASCII, CJK-in-code, skip italic)

### Dependencies

```bash
pip install reportlab markdown beautifulsoup4 mdformat
```

## Platform-Specific Details

When deeper platform guidance is needed, read the relevant reference:

- **macOS**: `references/macos.md` — font paths, TTC subfont indices, Apple Silicon notes
- **Windows**: `references/windows.md` — font paths, WeasyPrint caveat, wkhtmltopdf alternative

## Linux Notes

Playwright works on Linux if Chromium dependencies are installed (`playwright install-deps chromium`). The reportlab backend uses generic CJK font names by default — you may need to edit `_FONTS` in `convert_reportlab.py` to match your distribution's font paths.

## Dependencies in Mainland China

Add Tencent Cloud mirror:

```bash
pip install <packages> --index-url https://mirrors.cloud.tencent.com/pypi/simple/
```