What happens when you convert RST to PDF
- The reStructuredText is read by pandoc, the open-source document converter, on our conversion server: headings, lists, tables, links, emphasis, code blocks and footnotes are turned into a web page with pandoc's clean default style, and Chromium, the open-source browser behind Chrome, prints it to PDF on A4 pages with 1 cm margins. Text stays selectable and links keep working.
- The converter reads nothing but the file itself, so images linked from it are left out; only images embedded in the file as data URIs are kept. Raw HTML inside the file is dropped.
- Fonts come from the server: DejaVu, Liberation and Noto, which cover most alphabets, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
- This conversion runs on our server: the file is uploaded, converted, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result has been sent back to you. Nothing is kept. Files up to 25 MB are accepted.
How to convert RST to PDF online
- Press "Choose RST files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. Files up to 25 MB each can be converted.
- There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
- Press "Convert to PDF". The file is uploaded to our conversion server, converted in a few seconds, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result is sent back.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Our server has already deleted both your RST and the PDF by then.
Why convert RST to PDF?
RST files usually come from Python documentation, Sphinx sites and README files. 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, RST 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. RST shows as plain text in browsers; Sphinx, GitHub and many code editors render it, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert RST to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your RST 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 RST 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 RST 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 RST 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 RST to PDF
There are no settings: A4 pages with 1 cm margins, in pandoc's default style, with page breaks where the text runs out.
Embed any pictures in the RST as data URIs if they must appear; linked images are not fetched, by design.
RST vs PDF: the differences
| RST | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | reStructuredText | Portable Document Format |
| Type | document | document |
| Created by | David Goodger and the Docutils project | Adobe |
| First released | 2002 | 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 underlined headings, lists, tables and directives | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | shows as plain text in browsers; Sphinx, GitHub and many code editors render it | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | Python documentation, Sphinx sites and README files | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | text/x-rst | application/pdf |
About RST and PDF files
What is an RST file?
reStructuredText is the plain-text markup of the Python world: headings are underlined with = or - characters, and directives add notes, images and code. Sphinx builds the documentation of Python itself, and of thousands of other projects, from RST files.
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.
RST to PDF not working? Common problems
- "Files up to 25 MB can be converted." Server conversions have a size limit. Compress the images inside the file, or split it, and try again.
- "The conversion took too long and was stopped." Very long or complex files can pass the 90 second limit. Split the file and convert the parts.
- "This file is not really in RST format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .rst is refused. Choose the page for its real format.
Convert RST to PDF from the command line
pandoc and Chromium do the same on your own computer:
pandoc input.rst -s -o doc.html
chromium --headless --print-to-pdf=output.pdf doc.htmlConverting on your own computer keeps the file entirely local, which is worth it for very large or very sensitive documents. For everything else, the converter on this page does it without installing anything.
RST to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting RST to PDF?
Text stays sharp and selectable at any zoom, because Chromium prints it as text. The look is pandoc's default style, not a custom theme.
Why is the PDF a different size from the RST?
The PDF embeds the fonts it uses, so it is larger than the RST, typically tens to a few hundred kilobytes.
Are my RST files uploaded?
Yes, for this conversion. A faithful RST to PDF conversion needs pandoc and Chromium, two open-source tools, which cannot run in a browser. The file travels over an encrypted connection, is converted in a private temporary folder, and is deleted together with the PDF as soon as the result has been sent back to you. We do not keep, read or share it.
Can I convert several RST 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 RST to PDF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Because this conversion uses our server, there is a fair-use limit of 25 MB per file and a number of files per hour, which stops the service being overloaded.
Can I convert RST to PDF on my phone?
Yes. It works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. The conversion happens on our server, so it is as fast on a phone as on a computer; the PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.