How to use the text and markdown to pdf
- Type or paste your text, choose a .txt or .md file, or press Use a sample.
- Choose the text type. Markdown turns headings, lists, bold, quotes and code into formatting. Plain text keeps every line exactly as typed, including blank lines and indents.
- Set the font, font size, paper size, margins and line spacing. Add a title for the PDF properties and decide whether to print page numbers.
- Press Create PDF and download. The summary gives the page count, and a preview of page 1 appears below.
How many pages will it be
On Letter paper with 1 inch margins, the text area is 468 points wide and 648 points tall. In 12 point Courier every character is 0.6 times the size, which is 7.2 points, so a line holds 65 characters. With the Normal spacing of 1.25 each line is 15 points tall, so a page holds 648 / 15 = 43 lines. A plain text file of 100 short lines then makes three pages with 43, 43 and 14 lines.
A 130 character word without spaces breaks into two lines of 65 characters. Markdown headings are scaled from the base size: a first level heading is twice as large, then 1.6, 1.3, 1.15, 1.05 and 1 times for the six levels, so a heading at 12 point text is 24 points.
What Markdown is supported
The tool reads headings with hash signs, paragraphs, bold with two asterisks, italic with one asterisk or underscore, inline code in backticks, links, bulleted lists, numbered lists, block quotes, fenced and indented code blocks and horizontal rules. A link shows its text followed by the address in brackets. Pictures appear as their description in brackets. Tables are not drawn as grids and appear as plain lines of text.
Fonts and characters
The PDF uses the standard built-in fonts, so files stay small and the text stays selectable and searchable. These fonts cover letters, numbers and common punctuation, including accented Latin letters. Characters outside that set, such as Chinese characters or emoji, are replaced by a question mark, and the tool lists the characters it replaced so nothing changes silently.
To read text back out of a PDF use PDF to text, to turn pictures into pages use image to PDF, to count words before you print use the word counter, and to combine the result with other files use merge PDF.
Assumptions and limits
- Text up to 500,000 characters and 1,000 pages is accepted.
- In plain text mode long lines wrap at word boundaries, and words longer than a line break at the edge.
- Page numbers are simple numbers centered at the bottom. Headers, footers and tables of contents are not added.
- Right to left languages and complex scripts are not supported by the built-in fonts.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert a text file to PDF?
Choose the file or paste its text, pick Plain text, set the font and paper size, and press Create PDF. The result has selectable text and downloads at once.
Can I turn a Markdown README into a PDF?
Yes. Choose Markdown as the text type. Headings, lists, bold, quotes and code blocks are formatted, though tables and pictures are not drawn.
Why do some characters appear as question marks?
The built-in PDF fonts only draw Latin letters, numbers and common punctuation. Other characters are replaced with a question mark and named in the message so you know what changed.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. The PDF is built in your browser and downloaded from there. The text never leaves your device.