PDFGym
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Turn Markdown into a PDF

Markdown

Paste text below or choose a .md file.

Paper
Layout
Margins
Text size
Page numbers

First page preview

Add Markdown to see the page.
Add Markdown first.

Notes and docs written in Markdown deserve better than a screenshot when somebody asks for a file. This page lays your text out on US Letter or A4 with the margins, text size, and page numbers you pick, shows the first page before you commit, and verifies the finished PDF by reopening it. The source never leaves your device.

The invoice written in a text editor

When the numbers already live in Markdown, rebuilding them in a word processor is pure waste. Lay them out and send the PDF.

A freelancer keeps invoice-2026-11.md in a plain editor: dates, line items in a table, payment terms, nothing fancy. She pastes it here, switches the paper to A4, keeps portrait with standard margins and text, leaves page numbers shown, and glances at the first-page preview.

Landscape and wide margins stay one click away in the preview when a table runs wide. Convert to PDF yields invoice-2026-11.pdf, every page rendered and the text compared in order before release. The client gets a clean two-pager, and the Markdown stays the archive that future invoices copy.

Four passes from Markdown to PDF

  1. Add the Markdown

    Paste text into the source panel or press Choose a Markdown file. The source stays on your device from the first character.

  2. Set the page options

    Pick Paper, Layout, Margins from half an inch to a full inch, Text size, and whether Page numbers show. US Letter, portrait, standard margins, and standard text are the starting point.

  3. Check the preview

    The first page renders from your real text at the chosen settings, with a line reporting the total page count. Every option change rebuilds it, so layout surprises cost one click instead of one download.

  4. Convert and verify

    Press Convert to PDF. The finished file is reopened, every page is drawn again, expected text is matched in order, and links are counted before Download PDF appears under the source name.

What the writer draws and how it checks

The writer covers headings, paragraphs, lists, quotes, code blocks, inline code, links, and tables. It runs no plugins, executes no HTML, fetches no remote media, and turns no diagrams into pictures. Images degrade honestly to their bracketed alt text, and bare URLs stay plain text unless wrapped as real links. Type sets in Helvetica, code in Courier, and whatever those standard fonts cannot draw becomes a question mark after smart quotes straighten, dashes flatten to hyphens, and ellipses expand. Body text starts at 10, 12, or 14 points to taste.

The receipt names what got laid out: blocks, headings, lists, tables, and code blocks counted separately. The proof then confirms every page reopened and rendered, the expected selectable text surviving in order, and the link count matching. Sources over 2 MB are refused before parsing, and results past 500 pages stop with a request to split the file.

Markdown that breaks the build

Links cause the sharpest failure. Only http, https, and mailto addresses survive the link count; a file, ftp, or script scheme writes its annotation but fails the reopen check, so the whole document yields no download. Fix the address and run again. An issue caught beside the preview blocks the run the same way, with its message naming the complaint.

Characters cause the quiet kind. Emoji and exotic scripts print as question marks, which at least shows where the fonts gave up. Diagrams, embedded HTML, and remote images never stood a chance: the writer skips what it cannot draw rather than fetching the internet mid-run.

When Markdown is not the source

Text flowing the other way belongs to PDF to Markdown, and grids inside PDFs to PDF to CSV or PDF to Excel. Page pictures come from PDF to images, and saved webpages become text-first PDFs through HTML to PDF.

Why drafts stay on your device

Server converters make your text commute: sent away, rendered elsewhere, sent back as a file. That round trip is where accounts, quotas, and retained copies breed.

Parsing, layout, rendering, and the reopen check all happen where the Markdown already sits. No account, no queue, and a failed check withholds the file instead of offering a broken PDF for download.

Short answers about Markdown to PDF

My bare URLs print as plain text. Why?
Auto-linking is off. Only addresses wrapped as real Markdown links become clickable, and only http, https, and mailto survive the check. Wrap the URL and run again.
Why did my emoji become question marks?
The standard fonts have no emoji glyphs. Anything unprintable degrades to a question mark after quotes, dashes, and ellipses normalize, so the gap shows instead of hiding.
The build failed on a file link. What happened?
Other address schemes fail the link count on purpose. Swap the file address for an https one, or drop the link wrapper and leave plain text.
Can I convert a 3 MB novel draft?
Not in one run. Sources stop at 2 MB and results at 500 pages, both with messages saying so. Split the draft into parts and convert each.
Does the preview show every page?
It shows the first page plus the total count, rebuilt on every option change. The full render of all pages happens during conversion and its check.
Where did my pasted images go?
Nowhere drawable. The writer never fetches remote media, so each image becomes its bracketed alt text in italics. Host the pictures and link them instead.

More tools that publish and convert

The tools below keep the same promise: everything runs on your device, outputs are verified before download, and no account is ever asked for.