What happens when you convert MD to PDF
- The Markdown is laid out on A4 pages with 2 cm margins: headings in larger type, paragraphs at 11 points, bulleted and numbered lists, indented quotes and code blocks, and horizontal rules.
- Bold, italic and links become plain text in the same font, and images are left out. DejaVu Sans covers Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew and many other alphabets, but not Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Indic scripts.
How to convert MD to PDF online
- Press "Choose MD files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. You can add files of any size your device can hold in memory.
- There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
- Press "Convert to PDF". A small document library loads the first time; documents then convert in a second or two.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert MD to PDF?
MD files usually come from documentation, README files, notes and blogging tools. People convert them to PDF because a PDF looks the same on every device and is what forms, portals and printers ask for.
In short, MD is good at what it was made for, and PDF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. MD shows as plain text in browsers; editors such as Obsidian, Typora and VS Code render it, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert MD to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your MD files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the MD files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PDF files land in Downloads.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose MD files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PDF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose MD files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PDF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for MD to PDF
The layout is fixed: DejaVu Sans at 11 points, A4 pages, 2 cm margins and automatic line wrapping. That suits notes, logs and letters. For designed documents, set the layout in a word processor and export PDF from there.
The output is UTF-8, so accented letters and other alphabets are kept exactly.
MD vs PDF: the differences
| MD | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Markdown | Portable Document Format |
| Type | document | document |
| Created by | John Gruber | Adobe |
| First released | 2004 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | n/a | No |
| Animation | n/a | No |
| Vector or raster | n/a | Vector |
| Colour | n/a | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| What it holds | plain text with simple symbols for headings, lists, links and emphasis | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | shows as plain text in browsers; editors such as Obsidian, Typora and VS Code render it | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | documentation, README files, notes and blogging tools | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | text/markdown | application/pdf |
About MD and PDF files
What is an MD file?
Markdown marks formatting with plain characters: # for headings, * for lists and emphasis. It reads naturally as text and converts cleanly to HTML, which is why developers and note apps use it.
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
MD to PDF not working? Common problems
- The result is empty. For PDFs, this means the pages are images without a text layer; use OCR through JPG to TXT instead.
- Some formatting is missing. Plain text and simple HTML have no place for page layout, fonts or colours; only structure and words are kept.
- Characters show as boxes in the PDF. The embedded font does not cover that script, such as Chinese or Hindi.
Convert MD to PDF from the command line
Pandoc converts between document formats on the command line:
pandoc input.md -o output.pdfThe converter on this page does the same job in your browser, without installing anything.
MD to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting MD to PDF?
Every character the embedded DejaVu Sans font covers is kept exactly. Characters outside it, such as Chinese or Hindi, cannot be shown.
Why is the PDF a different size from the MD?
The PDF includes the embedded font, so even a short text makes a file of a few hundred kilobytes.
Are my MD files uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs inside this browser tab using open-source document libraries (mammoth.js, PDF.js and pdf-lib), so your files stay on your device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page and converter engine have loaded and it still works.
Can I convert several MD files to PDF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a PDF file?
PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer. PDF is common for documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files.
Is this MD to PDF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many files you convert. The site is paid for by advertising, and because conversions run on your device there is no server cost per file.
Can I convert MD to PDF on my phone?
Yes. The converter works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. Converted files are saved to the Downloads folder.