md2pdf - Markdown to PDF Converter

A fast and elegant Markdown to PDF converter built with Rust, featuring syntax highlighting and beautiful typography.

Features

• 🎨 Beautiful Typography - Professional document styling with Crimson Text and Inter fonts
• 🌈 Syntax Highlighting - Code blocks with syntax highlighting using Syntect
• 📱 Responsive Design - Optimized for both screen and print
• ⚡ Fast Conversion - Built with Rust for maximum performance
• 🎯 Easy CLI - Simple command-line interface
• 📄 Rich Markdown Support - Tables, lists, blockquotes, images, and more

Installation

Prerequisites

• Rust: Install from https://rustup.rs/
• Chrome/Chromium: Required for PDF generation
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install chromium-browser
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install chromium
  • Arch: sudo pacman -S chromium
  • macOS: Install Chrome from official website
  • Windows: Install Chrome from official website

Build from Source

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd md2pdf

2. Build the project:

./build.sh

Or manually:

cargo build --release

3. The executable will be created at target/release/md2pdf

Install to System

Copy the executable to a directory in your PATH:

sudo cp target/release/md2pdf /usr/local/bin/

Usage

Basic Usage

# Convert markdown file to PDF
md2pdf -i document.md

# Specify output file
md2pdf -i document.md -o output.pdf

# Custom page margins (in pixels)
md2pdf -i document.md -m 75

Command Line Options

USAGE:
    md2pdf [OPTIONS] --input <INPUT>

OPTIONS:
    -i, --input <INPUT>      Input Markdown file
    -o, --output <OUTPUT>    Output PDF file (default: same name as input with .pdf)
    -m, --margin <MARGIN>    Page margin in pixels (default: 50)
    -h, --help              Print help information
    -V, --version           Print version information

Examples

# Convert README.md to README.pdf
md2pdf -i README.md

# Convert with custom output name
md2pdf -i documentation.md -o manual.pdf

# Convert with larger margins
md2pdf -i article.md -m 100

# Convert guide with custom name and margins
md2pdf -i guide.md -o user-guide.pdf -m 75

Supported Markdown Features

• Headers (H1-H6) with elegant typography
• Text formatting (bold, italic, strikethrough)
• Code blocks with syntax highlighting
• Inline code with distinct styling
• Lists (ordered and unordered)
• Tables with alternating row colors
• Blockquotes with left border styling
• Links with hover effects
• Images with rounded corners and shadows
• Horizontal rules
• Task lists
• Footnotes

Configuration

The converter uses a built-in CSS template optimized for PDF generation. The styling includes:

• Fonts: Crimson Text (serif) for body text, Inter (sans-serif) for headings
• Colors: Professional color scheme with good contrast
• Layout: Responsive design with proper spacing
• Code: Dark theme syntax highlighting
• Print: Optimized styles for PDF output

Dependencies

• pulldown-cmark - Markdown parsing
• syntect - Syntax highlighting
• headless_chrome - PDF generation
• tokio - Async runtime
• clap - Command line argument parsing
• anyhow - Error handling

Development

Project Structure

md2pdf/
├── src/
│   └── main.rs          # Main application code
├── md/                  # Example markdown files
├── Cargo.toml          # Rust dependencies
├── build.sh            # Build script
└── README.md           # This file

Building for Development

cargo build

Running Tests

cargo test

Creating a Release Build

cargo build --release

Example Output

The converter generates professional-looking PDFs with:

• Clean, readable typography
• Proper spacing and margins
• Syntax-highlighted code blocks
• Responsive tables
• Styled blockquotes and lists

Troubleshooting

Chrome/Chromium Not Found

If you get an error about Chrome/Chromium not being found:

1. Install Chrome or Chromium using your system's package manager
2. Make sure it's accessible in your PATH
3. On some systems, you may need to install additional dependencies

Permission Errors

If you encounter permission errors:

chmod +x target/release/md2pdf

Large Files

For very large markdown files, you may need to increase the timeout or process them in smaller chunks.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

v0.1.0

• Initial release
• Basic Markdown to PDF conversion
• Syntax highlighting support
• Professional typography
• Command line interface

Acknowledgments

• pulldown-cmark for Markdown parsing
• syntect for syntax highlighting
• headless_chrome for PDF generation
• Crimson Text and Inter fonts