makesPDF — Markdown to PDF for VS Code
Turn the Markdown file you're editing into a cleanly typeset, accessible, archive-grade PDF with one command. Rendering runs on makesPDF.com — no Chromium, no LaTeX, no local toolchain.
Why makesPDF?
- GitHub-Flavored Markdown in, styled PDF out. Tables, fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting, task lists, nested lists, Mermaid diagrams, embedded images — all handled.
- Nothing to install locally. No headless browser, no native binaries, no font wrangling. If you have the extension and an internet connection, you can generate PDFs.
- Millisecond renders. A deterministic DSL pipeline renders a typical Markdown document in ~100ms — no AI in the hot path.
- PDF/A-2A + PDF/UA-1 compliant. Dual-compliant archival and accessible PDFs by default: full structure tree, embedded fonts, Unicode-correct text extraction. Safe for regulated industries, long-term storage, and screen readers.
- Consistent output everywhere. Same Markdown → same PDF on macOS, Windows, Linux, or CI. Bundled fonts (Inter, NotoSans) and a deterministic layout engine mean no more "works on my machine" PDFs.
- Configurable page layout. A3, A4, A5, Letter, Legal; per-side margins in points; font size 6–24pt.
- API-first, so it grows with you. The same service also powers invoices, quotes, CVs, and statements via a REST API designed for automation and AI agents. Bring your own AI (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, or any MCP-capable agent) to author templates once and render them on demand. See makespdf.com/docs.
Getting started
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
- Open any
.md file and run makesPDF from markdown — from the Command Palette, the PDF icon in the editor title bar, or the right-click menu.
That's it. The generated PDF is saved next to your source file and opened in your system viewer.
Documents up to 20 pages render out of the box, rate-limited to 60/hour and 200/day per IP. For longer documents and higher limits, add an API key from makespdf.com/settings/api-keys to the makespdf.apiToken setting (Cmd/Ctrl + , → search "makespdf"). With a key configured, renders go through your account: no per-IP limit, no per-render page cap (other than the 200KB Markdown input cap), and your PDFs are persisted to makespdf.com/settings/renders for re-download.
See makespdf.com/pricing for plan details. PDFs on the Free and Hobbyist plans include a small makespdf.com link at the bottom of the page — paid plans remove it.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
makespdf.serviceUrl |
https://makespdf.com |
URL of the PDF service. Change this only if you're running makesPDF self-hosted. |
makespdf.apiToken |
"" |
Optional. Leave blank for the default per-IP limits (60/hour, 200/day, 20 pages per render). Paste a key to lift the limits and persist renders. Get one at makespdf.com/settings/api-keys. |
makespdf.pageSize |
A4 |
A3, A4, A5, Letter, or Legal. |
makespdf.fontFamily |
Inter |
Inter or NotoSans. |
makespdf.fontSize |
10 |
Font size in points (6–24). |
makespdf.margins |
[40, 40, 40, 40] |
Page margins in points [top, right, bottom, left]. |
Links
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, build commands, and publishing instructions.
License
MIT
| |
