pdf-creator

PDF Creator

Create professional PDF documents from markdown with Chinese font support and theme system.

Quick Start

# Default theme (formal: Songti SC + black/grey)
uv run --with weasyprint scripts/md_to_pdf.py input.md output.pdf

# Warm theme (training: PingFang SC + terra cotta)
uv run --with weasyprint scripts/md_to_pdf.py input.md --theme warm-terra

# No weasyprint? Use Chrome backend (auto-detected if weasyprint unavailable)
python scripts/md_to_pdf.py input.md --theme warm-terra --backend chrome

# List available themes
python scripts/md_to_pdf.py --list-themes dummy.md

Themes

Stored in themes/*.css. Each theme is a standalone CSS file.

Theme	Font	Color	Best for
default	Songti SC + Heiti SC	Black/grey	Legal docs, contracts, formal reports
warm-terra	PingFang SC	Terra cotta (#d97756) + warm neutrals	Course outlines, training materials, workshops

To create a new theme: copy themes/default.css, modify, save as themes/your-theme.css.

Backends

The script auto-detects the best available backend:

Backend	Install	Pros	Cons
weasyprint	pip install weasyprint	Precise CSS rendering, no browser needed	Requires system libs (cairo, pango)
chrome	Google Chrome installed	Zero Python deps, great CJK support	Larger binary, slightly less CSS control

Override with --backend chrome or --backend weasyprint.

Batch Convert

uv run --with weasyprint scripts/batch_convert.py *.md --output-dir ./pdfs

Troubleshooting

Chinese characters display as boxes: Ensure Chinese fonts are installed (Songti SC, PingFang SC, etc.)

weasyprint import error: Run with uv run --with weasyprint or use --backend chrome instead.

CJK text in code blocks garbled (weasyprint): The script auto-detects code blocks containing Chinese/Japanese/Korean characters and converts them to styled divs with CJK-capable fonts. If you still see issues, use --backend chrome which has native CJK support. Alternatively, convert code blocks to markdown tables before generating the PDF.

Chrome header/footer appearing: The script passes --no-pdf-header-footer. If it still appears, your Chrome version may not support this flag — update Chrome.