Pandoc is an open-source document conversion tool written in Haskell, developed by Professor John MacFarlane. It supports conversion between dozens of document formats, including Markdown, HTML, LaTeX, Word, PDF, EPUB, and more, earning it the nickname “the Swiss Army knife of document conversion.”

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Pandoc Getting Started Guide

What is Pandoc?

Pandoc is a powerful document conversion tool capable of transforming one markup format into another. For example, you can convert a Markdown file into a PDF, Word document, or HTML webpage with just a single command.

Installing Pandoc

Windows

Download the installer from the official website: https://pandoc.org/installing.html

macOS

Install using Homebrew:

brew install pandoc

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install pandoc

Basic Usage

Suppose you have an example.md file and want to convert it to PDF:

pandoc example.md -o example.pdf

Common conversion examples:

• To Word: pandoc input.md -o output.docx
• To HTML: pandoc input.md -o output.html
• To LaTeX: pandoc input.md -o output.tex

Common Options

• -s: Generate a standalone document (includes HTML header, etc.)
• --toc: Generate a table of contents
• -V: Set variables (e.g., -V geometry:margin=1in to set PDF margins)

A Complete Example

# Convert Markdown to PDF with a table of contents
pandoc report.md -s --toc -o report.pdf

# Convert to HTML with custom styling
pandoc article.md -s -c style.css -o article.html

Advanced Features

Pandoc supports advanced features like YAML metadata blocks, citations, math formulas (LaTeX syntax), tables, and syntax highlighting. You can perform deep customization using templates and filters.

Learning Resources

• Official Documentation: https://pandoc.org
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/jgm/pandoc
• Try Online: https://pandoc.org/try

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Note: The Markdown content above can be saved directly as a .md file and converted into various formats using Pandoc.