Markdown to PDF

Convert markdown files to professionally styled PDF documents suitable for reports, financial summaries, presentations, and documentation for sharing.

When to Use This Skill

• User wants to create a PDF version of a markdown document
• User asks to "export to PDF" or "generate a PDF"
• User wants to share analysis or reports in PDF format
• User needs a printable version of documentation

Dependencies

Ensure pdfmake and marked are installed in the project:

npm list pdfmake marked || npm install pdfmake marked

Usage

Basic Conversion

# Convert with default output (same directory, .pdf extension)
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/markdown_to_pdf.cjs <input.md>

# Specify output location
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/markdown_to_pdf.cjs <input.md> <output.pdf>

Examples

# Basic conversion
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/markdown_to_pdf.cjs docs/report.md

# Custom output path
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/markdown_to_pdf.cjs docs/report.md output/report.pdf

# Show help
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/markdown_to_pdf.cjs --help

Supported Features

• Headings (h1-h4 with underlines for h1/h2)
• Bold, italic, inline code
• Links (clickable in PDF)
• Ordered and unordered lists (nested)
• Code blocks
• Blockquotes
• Tables
• Horizontal rules

PDF Styling

The tool applies professional styling automatically:

• Clean, readable Helvetica fonts
• Styled tables with header backgrounds
• Proper heading hierarchy with visual separation
• Code blocks with monospace font
• Blockquote styling with left border
• 1-inch page margins suitable for printing

Programmatic Usage

The tool can also be imported as a module:

const { convertMarkdownToPdf, convertMarkdownStringToPdf } = require('./.claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/markdown_to_pdf.cjs');

// Convert a file
await convertMarkdownToPdf('input.md', 'output.pdf');

// Convert markdown string content
await convertMarkdownStringToPdf('# My Report\n\nContent here...', 'output.pdf');

Error Handling

Common issues:

1. File not found - Verify the input path exists
2. Permission denied - Check write permissions on output directory
3. Dependencies missing - Run npm install pdfmake marked

Output Location

By default, PDFs are created in the same directory as the source markdown file with a .pdf extension.