md-2-pdf

A powerful CLI tool to convert Markdown files to PDF with built-in Mermaid diagram support.

It automatically handles:

• Mermaid Diagrams: Renders mermaid code blocks into high-quality vector graphics (PDF) for lossless scaling.
• PDF Generation: Uses xelatex (or weasyprint/wkhtmltopdf as fallbacks) for professional PDF output.
• Smart Formatting: Includes improved defaults for readability (margins, fonts, links) and prevents bad page breaks (widows/orphans).

Installation

Prerequisites

1. Node.js & npm (Installed automatically with the package)
2. Python 3 (Required for the core script)
3. PDF Engine (One of the following):
   • Recommended: xelatex (Install via MacTeX on macOS or texlive on Linux)
   • Fallback: weasyprint (pip install weasyprint)

Install via npm

npm install -g @joaodotwork/md-2-pdf

Usage

Convert a File

md-2-pdf input.md

This creates input.pdf in the same directory.

Convert a Directory

Process all .md files in a folder:

md-2-pdf ./docs

Options

# Specify output location
md-2-pdf input.md -o output.pdf

# Check dependencies
md-2-pdf --check-only

Features

• Mermaid Support:

  graph TD;
      A-->B;
      A-->C;
      B-->D;
      C-->D;

  Just use standard ````mermaid blocks in your markdown. Now renders as vector graphics (PDF) instead of bitmaps for perfect clarity in your PDF exports.

• Clean Layout:

  • Standardized font size (11pt) and line spacing (1.2).
  • Blue clickable links.
  • Horizontal rules (---) rendered as vertical space instead of lines.
  • Smart page breaking rules to keep headers with content.

License

ISC