Html To Pdf Pandoc



17 Nov 2018

About

  1. Whereas Markdown was originally designed with HTML generation in mind, pandoc is designed for multiple output formats. Thus, while pandoc allows the embedding of raw HTML, it discourages it, and provides other, non-HTMLish ways of representing important document elements like definition lists, tables, mathematics, and footnotes.
  2. Eisvogel A clean pandoc LaTeX template to convert your markdown files to PDF or LaTeX. It is designed for lecture notes and exercises with a focus on computer science. The template is compatible with pandoc 2.
Both LaTeX and HTML are both markup languages. They both have standardized short-hand syntax to specify how content should be styled and formatted. Markdown

Example 2: Convert HTML to PDF from Local File. If your HTML file is stored locally, you can use fromfile function and convert the local HTML file to PDF. Import pdfkit pdfkit.fromfile('local.html', 'sample.pdf') Run Example 2: Convert HTML String to PDF. If your HTML data is stored in a Python variable, you can use fromstring function.

is another markup language with its own specific syntax, yet is far simpler and less verbose than either LaTeX or HTML.

The goal of markup languages is to provide simple styling rules and syntax so as to allow the author to concentrate on the content. To this end, the highly simplified syntax of the markdown languagemakes it one of the briefest and content rich formats.Unlike, many other markup languages (such as LaTeX and HTML), carriage returns and spaces form an important part of the language structure and thus influence the formatting of the final document.

Simplicity also makes markdown an ideal languagefor acting as a base source from which other formats (such as PDF, HTML, Presentations, Ebooks) can be created as well as a sort of conduit languagethrough which other formats are converted.

Pandoc is a universal document converter that converts between one markup language and another.Specifically, Pandoc can read markdown and subsets of the following formats:

  • HTML
  • LaTeX
  • Textile
  • reStructuredText
  • MediaWiki markup
  • DocBook XML
Pandoc can write the following formats:
  • plain text
  • markdown
  • HTML (XHTML, HTML5>)
  • LaTeX
  • PDF (when LaTeX installed)
  • Various HTML/Javascrip based slide shows (Slidy, Slideous, DZSlides, S5)
  • EPUB
  • Emacs org-mode
  • Rich Text Format (RTF)
  • OpenDocument XML
  • LibreOffice (Open Document Format, ODT)
  • Microsoft Word DOCX
  • MediaWiki markup
  • FictionBook2
  • Textile
  • groff man pages
  • AsciiDoc

Many of the above markup languages feature extensive definitions for styling and formattingrules that do not have direct equivalents within other languages. For example, Cascading Style Sheets and Javascriptwithin HTML provide advanced styling and dynamic presentation of content that cannot be easily translated into other languages. Similarly, there are many macros available for LaTeX that enhance the styling and formattingof content relevant to PDF. Consequently, not all of the more advanced features of each of the languages are supported by Pandoc for conversion.

Html css to pdf pandoc

Pandoc fully supports markdown as an input language, making markdown a popular base language to create content from which other formats can be generated.For example, contents authored in markdown can then be converted into PDF, HTML, HTML presentations, eBooks and others. There are currently numerous dialects of the markdown language. Pandoc has its own enhanced dialect of markdownwhich includes syntax for bibliographies and citations, footnotes, code blocks, tables, enhanced lists, tables of contents, embedded LaTeX math.

This tutorial will focus on markdown as a base source language from which PDF, HTML, presentations and eBooks are created.As a result, the tutorial will focus on Pandoc's enhanced markdown.

Using Pandoc

Pandoc is a command line application with the basic use of:where output.file is the name of the output file and input.file is the name of the input file or files (space separated).Pandoc uses the file extensions to determine the input and output formats. If multipleinput files are specified, Pandoc will first concatenate (join) them together before parsing the combined input file.

Before going through the specifics of the Pandoc markdown syntax and the Pandoc options, I will illustratea very basic example of Pandoc markdown conversion into a PDF, HTML and DZSlides presentation.Note, in the case of the PDF, the default is to produce a A4 size page, and therefore the font in theexample below is going to look small.

Markdown (*.md)PDF result (*.pdf)

HTML result (*.html)
DZSlides result (*.html)

Pandoc markdown

The basic philosophy of markdown is that a document formatted in markdown is completelyreadable in plain text without any obvious tags or formatting instructions. That is, the formatting rules are derived almost entirely from the structure of the plain text document.Furthermore, any additional 'markup' (such as underlined text) should not appear out of place in a plain text document.

Pandoc's dialect of markdown, whilst retaining some of this philosophy for most elements, is nevertheless guided by its aims to support multiple input and output formats (not just markdown -> HTML).

Paragraphs

Paragraphs of text are specified by separating sentences by one or more blank lines.Hard line breaks within paragraphs can be specified by placing two or more spaces at the end of a sentence followed by a line break.

Using Pandoc

Pandoc is a command line application with the basic use of:where output.file is the name of the output file and input.file is the name of the input file or files (space separated).Pandoc uses the file extensions to determine the input and output formats. If multipleinput files are specified, Pandoc will first concatenate (join) them together before parsing the combined input file.

Before going through the specifics of the Pandoc markdown syntax and the Pandoc options, I will illustratea very basic example of Pandoc markdown conversion into a PDF, HTML, presentation and eBook.

Markdown (*.md)
Show HTML output
Show PDF output
Pandoc

The metadata block

You may have noticed in the examples above, that at the start of the markdown there were a block of linesstarting with three hypens (---) and ending with three dots (...).When processed via pandoc, these linesdefine the document's meta data (such as the title, author and creation date).

The meta data are a set of key value pairs in YAML format. The list of useful metadata depends on theintended output.

Note however, the metadata block only appears in the output when the --standalone (or -s) switch is used.

The following rules can be applied to field different outcomes:

  • The three fields must be in order of title, author(s), date with each on a separate line
  • When omitting a field, the field must be left as a line just containing the % character
  • Multiple authors can be defined by either:
    • separating each author by a ; (semicolon) character
    • placing each author on a separate line (indented by a single space)

Text formatting

Brief changes to font styles within a block of text can be effective at emphasizing or applying different meanings to characters.Common text modifier styles are: italic, bold and strikethrough.

The following table indicates the mardown used to achieve these text formats.
MarkdownFont type
*Italic text* or _Italic text_Italic text
**bold text** or __bold text__bold text
~~strikethrough~~strikethrough text
`courier` or ``courier``courier or typewriter font shape.

Note, underlined text is not defined in any dialect of markdown (including pandoc markdown) as the developers believe that the underline style is a relic of the days of typewriters when there where fewalternatives for emphasizing words. Furthermore, underlining of regular words within a sentence tends to breakthe aesthetic spacing of lines.

Subscript and Superscript

  • subscripts are supported by surrounding the content to be lowered by ~ characters
  • superscripts are supported by surrounding the content to be raised by ^ characters
If the content to be raised or lowered contains spaces, then they must be escaped by proceeding the space with a character.
Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Additional mathematical and symbol notation will be illustrated in a later section.

Section headings

Pandoc markdown supports two heading formats (pandoc markdown headings must be proceeded by a blank line):

  • Setext-style headings. Level 1 headings are specified by underlining the heading with a row of = charactersand level 2 headings are specified by underlining with a row of - characters.
    Markdown (*.md)
    Show HTML output
    Show PDF output
    Setext-style headings only support level 1 and level 2 headings.
  • Atx-style headings. Levels 1-6 headings comprise one to six # characters followed by the heading text.by underlining the heading with a row of = characters.
    Markdown (*.md)
    Show HTML output
    Show PDF output

Table of contents

A table of contents can be included by issuing the --toc command line switch to pandoc.For some output formats (such as HTML), a block of links to section headings is created, whilst for others (such as LaTeX), an instruction (tableofcontentsfor the external driver to create the table of contents is generated.

Markdown (*.md)
Show HTML output
Show PDF output

Block quotations

Block quotations in pandoc markdown follows email conventions - that is, each line is proceeded by a > character.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Verbatim (code) blocks

Verbatim blocks are typically used to represent blocks of code syntax. The text within the verbatim block is rendered literally as it is typed (retaining all spaces and line breaks) and in monoscript font (typically courier). In pandoc markdown, verbatim text blocks are specified by indenting a block of text by either four spaces or a tab character.Within verbatim text, regular pandoc markdown formatting rules (due to spaces etc) are ignored.

Markdown (*.md)
Show HTML output
Show PDF output

Alternatively, verbatim blocks can be specified without indentation if the text block is surrounded by a row of three or more ~ characters. This format is often referred to as fenced code.

Markdown (*.md)
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Lists

There are three basic list environments available within pandoc markdown:

  • Bullet lists - un-numbered itemized lists
  • Ordered lists - enumerated lists
  • Definition lists - descriptive lists

Bullet lists

A bullet list item begins with either a *, + or - character followed by a single space. Bullets can also be indented.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Ordered lists

An ordered list item begins with a number followed by a space. The list enumerator can be a decimal number or a roman numeral. In addition to the enumerator, other formatting characters can be used to further define the format of the list numbering.Multiple
Markdown (*.md)
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Note that only the value of the number used for the first item is considered. For subsequent list items the value of the numbers themselves are ignored, they are merely used to confirm that the list items have the same sort of enumerator.

Definition lists

The term (word or phrase) must fit on a single line and the definition must start with either a colon (:) or tilde (~) and be indented by four or more spaces.

Markdown (*.md)
Show HTML output
Show PDF output

Nesting and the four space rule

To include multiple paragraphs (or other blocked content) within a list item or nested lists, the content must be indented by four or more spaces from the main list item.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

List ends

Normally, pandoc considers a list as complete when a blank line is followed by non-indented text (as markdown does not have starting and ending tags).However, if you wish to place indented text directly after a list, it is necessary to provide an explicit indication that the list is complete.This is done with the <!-- end of list --> marker.

Similarly, if you wish to place one list directly following on from another list, a <!-- --> markermust be used between the two lists so as to explicitly separate them.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Horizontal lines (rules)

Horizontal lines are indicated by a row of three or more *, - or _ characters (optionally separated by spaces) witha blank row either side.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Tables

As markdown is a very minimalist markup language that aims to be reasonably well formattedeven read as plain text, table formatting must be defined by layout features that have meaning in plain text

Simple tables

The number of columns as well as column alignment are determined by the relative positions of the table headings and dashed row underneath:
  • if the dashed line is flush with the end of the column header, yet extends to the left of the start of the header text, then the column will be right aligned
  • if the dashed line is flush with the start of the column header, yet extends to the right of the end of the header text, then the column will be left aligned
  • if the dashed line extends to the left of the start and right of the end of the header text, then the column will be center aligned
  • if the dashed line is flush with the start and end of the header text, then the column will follow the default justification (typically left justified)

The table must finish in either a blank line or a row of dashes mirroring those below the header followed by a blank row.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Multiline tables

Simple tables can be extended to allow cell contents to span multiple lines. This imposes the following additionallayout requirements:

  • The table must start with a row of dashes that spans the full width of the table
  • The table must end with a row of dashes that spans the full width of the table followed by a blank line
  • Each table row must be separated by a blank line
Markdown (*.md)
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Grid tables

Grid tables have a little more adornment in that they use characters to mark all the cell boundaries.However, by explicitly defining the bounds of a cell, grid tables permit more complex cell contents.A grid table for example, can contain a list or a code block etc.

Cell corners are marked by + characters and the table header and main body are separated by a row of = characters

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Although, grid tables require substantially more setup, emacs users will welcome that grid tables are compatible with emacs table mode.

Convert html to pdf pandoc

Pipe tables

Finally, there are also pipe tables. These are somewhat similar to grid tables in requiring a little more explicit specification of cell boundaries, however, unlike grid tables, they have a means to configure column alignment. Cell alignment is specified via the use of : characters (see example below)..Nor is it necessary to indicate cell corners.

Markdown (*.md)
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Show PDF output

Again, emacs users will appreciate that pipe tables are compatible with orgtbl-mode.

Math

Markdown leverages TeX math processing. Whilst this does technically break the rules that promote source documents that are readable in text only mode, the payoff is that math is rendered nicely in the various derivative documents (such as pdf or html). In fact, math are passed straight through to the derivative document allowing that document (or is reader) to handle TeX math as appropriate.

Inline math is defined as anything within a pair of $ characters and for math in its own environment (paragraph), use a pair of $$ characters.

Markdown (*.md)
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Referencing

Referencing is the linking of information and content between different parts of a document or even between documents. These are alternatively referred to as links (particularly in the context of web documents).

Internal links

Internal links make use of the section identifiers that are automatically generated. That is, section headings are automatically defined as labels for referencing. Therefore, to reference (link to) a section simply involves using the target section header as a reference label in the following The in text label is a word or phrase that should appear as the link in the text, and reference label is the title of the section you wish to link to. Note, there should not be any spaces between the square braces and the brackets.

Markdown (*.md)
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To link to arbitrary parts of the document (non sections), it is necessary toinclude a point marker with a reference label, so that there is something to link to.

Markdown (*.md)
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External links

Linking to external documents follows a similar format:
Markdown (*.md)
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Html To Pdf Pandas

Images

Images are not displayed in plain text (obviously). However, an image link in pandoc markdownwill insert the image into the various derivative document types (if appropriate), Image links aredefined in a similar manner to other links, yet preceded immediately by a ! character.

Markdown (*.md)
Show HTML output
Show PDF output

Footnotes

Footnotes consist of a placemarker and the footnote text

Markdown (*.md)
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Further reading

Markdown has become the de-facto standard for writing software documentation. This post documents my experience using Pandoc to convert Word documents (docx) to markdown.

To follow along, install Pandoc, if you haven’t done so already. Word documents need to be in the docx format. Legacy binary doc files are not supported.

Pandoc supports several flavors of markdown such as the popular GitHub flavored Markdown (GFM). To produce a standalone GFM document from docx, run

The --extract-media option tells Pandoc to extract media to a ./media folder.

Creating a PDF

To create a PDF, run

Pandoc requires (LaTeX) to produce the PDF. Remove --toc option if you don’t want Pandoc to create a table of contents (TOC). Remove -N option if you don’t want it to number sections automatically.

Markdown Editor

You’ll need a text editor to edit a markdown file. I use vscode. It has built-in support for editing and previewing markdown files. I use a few additional plugins to make editing markdown files more productive

HTML in Markdown

GFM allows HTML blocks in markdown. These get rendered when previewed in vscode, GitHub, or GitLab. Pandoc suppresses raw HTML output to PDF format and hence HTML blocks get rendered as plain text. For example, <sup>1</sup> gets rendered as (1) instead of (^1). You can use ^text^ in Pandoc’s markdown syntax to render superscript.

You can use HTML character entities to write out characters and symbols not available on the keyboard.

Tables

Pandoc converts docx tables whose cells contain a single line of text each, to the pipe table syntax. Column text alignment is not rendered—you can add that back using colons. Relative column widths can be specified using dashes. Pipe table cells with long text or images, may stretch beyond the page.

Tables in docx that have complex data in cells such as lists and multiple lines, are converted to HTML table syntax. That is highly unfortunate because Pandoc renders HTML tables to PDF as plain text.

It is not unusual for docx tables, with complex layouts such as merged cells, to be missing columns or rows. I suggest simplifying such tables, in the original docx, before conversion.

Review all tables very carefully!

Pandoc Multiple Html To Pdf

I’ve obtained nice results with Pandoc’s grid table syntax, but these tables cannot be previewed in vscode, GitHub, or GitLab.

Table of Contents

Pandoc Markdown To Pdf

Pandora converts TOC in docx as a sequence of lines, where each line corresponds to a topic or section. Section headings are generated without numbering. I suggest deleting the TOC, and using the command line options discussed earlier to number sections and to render TOC.

If you have cross-references in docx that use section numbers, you can generate a hyperlinked TOC using the Markdown TOC plugin of vscode. The plugin can also add, update, or remove section numbers.

I suggest avoiding section numbers for cross-referencing and using hyperlinked section references instead.

Images

Images are exported to their native format and size. They are rendered in GFM using the ![[caption]](path) syntax. Image sizes cannot be customized in GFM syntax, but Pandoc’s markdown syntax allows setting image attributes such as width using the ![[caption]](path){key1=value1 key2=value2} syntax.

Figures

Pandoc does not convert vector diagrams created using Word’s figures and shapes. You’ll need to screen grab, or copy and paste, the image rendered by Word.

You can use mermaid.js syntax to recreate diagrams such as flowcharts and message sequence charts. mermaid.js syntax can be embedded in markdown, and converted using mermaid-filter

GitHub doesn’t yet allow you to preview mermaid.js diagrams, but GitLab does. vscode is able to preview them using the Markdown Preview Mermaid Support plugin.

Captions

Pandoc converts captions in the docx as plain text positioned after an image or table. I suggest using Pandoc’s native markdown syntax for captions.

Cross-references

GFM does not natively support linking to figures and tables, and HTML anchors are not a viable option with Pandoc. Link to the section containing a figure or table when referencing it from other parts of the document.

Figure and table numbers in docx may sometimes go missing from cross-references.

I suggest reviewing captions and cross-references very carefully!

Large Documents

Pandoc can handle large documents that have hundreds of pages. You may want to maintain large documents in separate markdown files. This makes concurrent editing productive and allows for reuse. It also allows for faster previews on GitHub or GitLab. In fact, previewing may entirely fail to work for complex documents. You may want to pre-render such documents to HTML using Pandoc.

Convert Htm To Pdf Free

Pandoc is capable of converting multiple markdown files

Regular Expressions

Using regular expressions significantly speeds up your ability to search and replace text. Some examples follow

  • Empty heading

    ^#+s*$

  • Line with trailing spaces

    s+$

  • Repeated whitespace between words

    bss+b

  • Whitespace before , or .

    s+[,;.]

  • Paragraph starts with small case

    nn[a-z]

  • Word figure not followed by a number

    figures+(?!([d]){1,})

  • Word section not followed by a number

    sections+(?!(d+.*d*?){1,})