PDF Export

Export your notes to PDF with full equation rendering, customizable layouts, and live preview.

Opening the Export Dialog

Via Command Palette

1. Press Ctrl/Cmd + P
2. Search for "Export current file to PDF"
3. The export modal opens with a live preview

Via File Menu

Right-click a file or folder in the file explorer → Better Export PDF

Folder Export Options

For folders, you get additional options:

• Export each file to PDF: Creates separate PDFs for each file
• Generate TOC.md file: Creates a table of contents file

Export Modal

The export dialog has two panels:

Preview Features

• Real-time preview updates as you change settings
• Scales to fit the container
• Shows print dimensions for custom page sizes

Page Settings

Page Size

Choose from standard sizes or custom dimensions:

For custom sizes, enter width and height in millimeters.

Margins

Custom margins are specified in millimeters for top, bottom, left, and right.

Orientation

• Portrait: Standard vertical layout
• Landscape: Horizontal layout

Downscale Percent

Reduce content size (0-100%). Useful for fitting more content per page.

Header & Footer

Toggle Display

Enable/disable headers and footers separately.

Template Variables

Use these classes in your HTML templates:

Example Templates

Header (centered title):

<div style="width: 100vw; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">
  <span class="title"></span>
</div>

Footer (page numbers):

<div style="width: 100vw; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">
  <span class="pageNumber"></span> / <span class="totalPages"></span>
</div>

Additional Options

Include File Name as Title

Adds an <h1> with the file name at the top of the PDF.

Print Background

Include background colors and images in the PDF.

Generate Tagged PDF

Creates an accessible PDF with document structure tags. Note: This is experimental.

Open After Export

Automatically open the PDF after export completes.

CSS Snippets

Apply custom CSS to the exported PDF:

1. Create a CSS file in .obsidian/snippets/
2. Keep the snippet disabled in Obsidian settings
3. Select it in the export dialog dropdown

The snippet CSS will only apply to the PDF, not your regular Obsidian view.

Advanced Settings

Max Heading Level

Control which headings appear in the PDF outline/bookmarks (h1-h6).

PDF Metadata

Add frontmatter fields to PDF metadata:

---
title: My Document
author: John Doe
keywords: math, equations
subject: Academic Paper
---

Timestamp in Filename

Append export timestamp to the output filename.

Concurrent Renders

For batch exports, limit concurrent file processing (default: 5).

Batch Export

When exporting a folder:

1. Right-click the folder
2. Select Export to PDF... → Export each file to PDF
3. Choose output directory
4. All files export in parallel with progress indicator

Table of Contents

Generate a TOC file for folder exports:

1. Right-click a folder
2. Select Export to PDF... → Generate TOC.md file
3. A _TOC_.md file is created with links to all files

The TOC uses frontmatter toc: true to enable special processing during export.

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

Enable debug mode in settings to access the Debug button in the export modal, which opens browser DevTools for the preview webview.

Common Issues