Rust CLI that converts Markdown files to beautiful PDFs using Typst as the rendering engine.
em-dee-pdf transforms Markdown documents into styled PDFs. The conversion process follows this architecture: Markdown -> comrak parser -> AST -> Typst transpiler -> Typst renderer -> PDF.
- 18 built-in themes — from minimal to corporate, with container layouts for structured documents
- Syntax-highlighted code blocks — language-aware highlighting with monospace fonts across all themes
- LaTeX math support — inline
$E = mc^2$and display-mode equations with full symbol coverage - Tables — with optional column sorting (numeric or string, ascending or descending)
- Alerts & admonitions — GitHub-style
[!NOTE],[!TIP],[!WARNING]callout blocks - Table of contents — auto-generated with configurable depth
- Front matter — YAML metadata for title, author, date
- Mermaid diagrams — optional rendering via mermaid-cli
- PDF compression — reduce output size by ~30% with
--compress - Stdin/stdout piping — composable with other CLI tools
- Custom themes — pass any
.typfile for full control over styling
Install from source:
cargo install --path crates/em-dee-pdf-cliOr build the binary:
cargo build --release
# Binary at target/release/em-dee-pdf# Basic conversion
em-dee-pdf document.md
# Choose a theme
em-dee-pdf document.md --theme coral
# Multiple files
em-dee-pdf chapter1.md chapter2.md
# Pipe from stdin
cat document.md | em-dee-pdf - -o output.pdf
# See the generated Typst source
em-dee-pdf document.md --emit-typst
# Use a container theme with sections
em-dee-pdf document.md --theme cards --sections
# Sort a table before rendering
em-dee-pdf report.md --sort-table "0:2:desc:num"
# Print-friendly output (no background fills)
em-dee-pdf document.md --no-background
# Compress the output PDF
em-dee-pdf document.md --compress
em-dee-pdf [OPTIONS] <INPUT>...
Arguments:
<INPUT>... Input Markdown file(s). Use '-' for stdin.
Options:
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output file path. Defaults to input filename with .pdf extension.
-t, --theme <THEME> Theme name or path to custom .typ file [default: slate]
--toc Generate table of contents
--sections Wrap H2 sections in visual containers (for container themes)
--page-size <PAGE_SIZE> Page size [default: us-letter]
--emit-typst Output Typst source instead of PDF
-c, --config <CONFIG> Configuration file path (TOML)
-v, --verbose Verbose output
-q, --quiet Quiet mode
--sort-table <SORT_SPEC> Sort table by column. Format: "table_index:column_index:asc|desc[:num|str]"
--list-tables List tables in the markdown (useful for finding indices)
--mermaid Enable mermaid diagram rendering (requires mermaid-cli)
--no-background Remove background fills for print-friendly output
--compress Compress the resulting PDF (disables tagging, deflate-compresses streams)
-h, --help Print help
-V, --version Print version
The project includes 18 built-in themes:
- Special: corporate, tech, book, coral
- Container: cards, panels, boxed (use with --sections)
- Neutral: slate (default), zinc, stone
- Colors: emerald, teal, sky, indigo, violet, rose, amber, orange
Container themes wrap H2 sections in styled boxes when the --sections flag is used.
For custom themes, pass a path to a .typ file via the --theme option.
| Slate — Table of Contents |
Coral — Typography & Lists |
| Tech — Code & Tables |
Book — Alerts & Math |
| Cards — Section Containers |
Corporate — Code & Data |
Generate these samples yourself:
em-dee-pdf examples/showcase.md --theme slate --toc -o examples/showcase-slate.pdf
em-dee-pdf examples/showcase.md --theme coral --toc -o examples/showcase-coral.pdf
em-dee-pdf examples/showcase.md --theme tech --toc -o examples/showcase-tech.pdf
em-dee-pdf examples/showcase.md --theme book --toc -o examples/showcase-book.pdf
em-dee-pdf examples/showcase.md --theme cards --toc --sections -o examples/showcase-cards.pdf
em-dee-pdf examples/showcase.md --theme corporate --toc -o examples/showcase-corporate.pdfConfigure default behavior using a TOML file.
[theme]
name = "coral"
[output]
page_size = "us-letter"
toc = false
toc_depth = 3
page_numbers = true
no_background = false
compress = false
section_containers = false
[fonts]
search_paths = []
# default_family = "Arial"
# monospace_family = "Fira Code"
[extensions]
tables = true
task_lists = true
strikethrough = true
footnotes = true
math = true
autolinks = true
superscript = true
description_lists = true
front_matter = true
syntax_highlighting = true
mermaid = falseem-dee-pdf supports LaTeX math syntax via Typst's math engine. Enable math in your config (math = true, on by default) or just use dollar signs in your Markdown:
Inline math: Wrap expressions in single dollar signs.
The quadratic formula is $x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$.Display math: Wrap expressions in double dollar signs for centered, block-level equations.
$$
\int_0^\infty e^{-x^2} dx = \frac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}
$$Supported LaTeX features:
- Fractions (
\frac{a}{b}), square roots (\sqrt{x}), superscripts and subscripts - Greek letters (
\alpha,\beta,\pi,\omega, etc.) - Operators and symbols (
\pm,\times,\infty,\approx,\leq,\geq) - Integrals, summations, and limits with bounds
- Matrices and aligned equations
Fenced code blocks with language annotations get syntax highlighting across all themes:
```rust
fn main() {
println!("Hello, world!");
}
```All 18 themes include monospace font stacks that fall back gracefully across platforms (JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, SF Mono, Menlo, Courier New). Code blocks use non-justified text for proper character alignment.
Build the image:
./scripts/docker-build.shRun with Docker:
docker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/work" em-dee-pdf:latest input.md -o output.pdfOr use the wrapper script:
./scripts/em-dee-pdf-docker input.md -o output.pdfThe core conversion logic is available as a Rust library in the em-dee-pdf-core crate.
use em_dee_pdf_core::{Converter, Config};
let config = Config::default();
let converter = Converter::new(config)?;
let pdf_bytes = converter.convert("# Hello World")?;
std::fs::write("output.pdf", pdf_bytes)?;This project is licensed under either the MIT License or the Apache License, Version 2.0.