DasMDF - Markdown to PDF Converter

DasMDF is a modern desktop GUI tool that converts Markdown (.md) files into beautifully formatted PDF documents using multiple rendering engines. Built using PyQt6 (with a legacy version in CustomTkinter), DasMDF is fast, flexible, and ready for open-source contribution.

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⬇️ Download

A ready-to-use Windows executable for the PyQt6 version is available—no setup required!
The .exe includes all dependencies, including wkhtmltopdf and Playwright (note: this increases the file size).

• Download the latest release from GitHub

Just download, extract, and run the executable.

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🧠 Why DasMDF?

• Convert Markdown to PDF in a click
• Supports multiple rendering engines
• PyQt6 UI for rich, responsive user experience
• Code highlighting, LaTeX, emoji & image rendering support (engine-dependent)
• Simple, elegant design for daily use

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📁 Project Structure

DasMDF/
├── pyqt6_version/
│   ├── dasmdf.py
│   ├── requirements.txt
│   └── icon/
│       └── icon.png
├── ctk\_version/   ← Legacy version (CustomTkinter)
│   ├── dasmdf.py
│   └── requirements.txt
├── assets/
│   └── \*.css
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

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🖥️ Current Version: PyQt6

The PyQt6 version is the primary and actively developed version of DasMDF.
We transitioned from CustomTkinter because:

• CTk lacks proper emoji rendering in text boxes
• PyQt6 provides more flexibility, better widget control, and cross-platform rendering consistency

To run:

cd pyqt6_version
pip install -r requirements.txt
python dasmdf.py

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🧪 Legacy Version: CustomTkinter

You can still use the legacy CTk GUI version (not actively maintained):

cd ctk_version
pip install -r requirements.txt
python dasmdf.py

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🧠 Rendering Engines

| Engine | Type | Quality | Speed | Supports | | --------------- | ----------------- | -------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | | Playwright | Headless browser | ⭐ Best | ⚡ Fastest | Full CSS, LaTeX (MathJax), code, images, emojis | | WeasyPrint | Pure Python | ⭐ Medium | 🐢 Slowest | CSS, code highlighting, limited image/emoji/LaTeX | | wkhtmltopdf | Native executable | ⭐ Low | 🚀 Faster | Basic CSS, poor LaTeX, partial image, no emoji support |

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📦 Installation

1. Install wkhtmltopdf

• Windows: Download and add to PATH

• Linux:

  sudo apt install wkhtmltopdf
  

2. Install Python dependencies

Use the relevant version's requirements file:

# For PyQt6 version
cd pyqt6_version
pip install -r requirements.txt

# For CTk version (legacy)
cd ctk_version
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Install Playwright Browsers (shared)

playwright install

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📌 Roadmap

• ✅ Switch to PyQt6
• ✅ Version-specific requirements.txt
• ✅ Executable build for PyQt6 (with all dependencies)
• 🔜 Markdown live preview
• 🔜 Settings and export options
• 🔜 CLI support (optional)

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome pull requests and issue reports! Please follow PEP8 guidelines and keep your commits clean and descriptive.

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgements

• PyQt6
• Playwright
• WeasyPrint
• wkhtmltopdf
• Python-Markdown