Obsidian is a powerful markdown note-taking app with a thriving plugin ecosystem, but its PDF export is surprisingly basic. Here is how to get your notes into PDF format — using the built-in export, community plugins, and a simpler browser-based alternative.
Free — 3 PDFs per month. No credit card required.
Three approaches: built-in export, CSS snippets, and community plugins.
Obsidian has a native PDF export that uses the Chromium print engine under the hood.
The output uses your current vault theme's CSS. If you use a dark theme, the PDF will have a dark background that wastes printer ink. Light themes generally produce better print output.
You can create a CSS snippet to improve PDF output without installing plugins.
.css file (e.g., print-styles.css).@media print selectors. Common improvements include setting a white background, adjusting font sizes, hiding UI elements, and controlling page breaks.This approach requires CSS knowledge and trial-and-error to get right. Each theme may need different overrides, and Obsidian updates can break custom CSS.
The Obsidian community has created several PDF export plugins that improve on the built-in feature.
Community plugins require installation from Settings > Community plugins, and each has its own configuration. They may break when Obsidian updates — check plugin compatibility before updating.
Obsidian is built for writing and linking, not for print output.
The built-in export uses Chromium's print engine with your vault's theme CSS. There is limited control over typography, page breaks, or print-specific formatting. The output often looks like a screenshot of the editor, not a designed document.
Obsidian's signature feature — [[wiki-links]] — appear as plain text in exported PDFs. Internal links between notes do not become clickable links or references. The rich graph of connections that makes Obsidian valuable is lost in the export.
Obsidian's note embedding syntax (![[note]]) may not expand in PDF export. Embedded content might show as a link or placeholder instead of the actual note content, depending on your theme and plugins.
If your vault uses a dark theme, the PDF inherits that dark background. This wastes enormous amounts of printer ink and looks odd on screen. You need to switch to a light theme before exporting, then switch back — a tedious workflow for regular exports.
Community plugins depend on Obsidian's internal APIs, which change between versions. A plugin that works perfectly today may break after an Obsidian update, leaving you without PDF export until the plugin author releases a fix.
For Obsidian Publish users, the simplest path to beautiful PDFs.
If you use Obsidian Publish to share your notes on the web, Pretty PDF works directly on your published pages — no plugins, no CSS snippets, no configuration. The published HTML is clean and well-structured, and Pretty PDF's extraction engine handles it perfectly.
For notes that are not published, you can export to HTML using the Webpage HTML Export community plugin, open the HTML file in Chrome, and use Pretty PDF from there. This adds one extra step but produces significantly better output than the built-in export.
Navigate to your Obsidian Publish site (publish.obsidian.md/your-vault or your custom domain) and open the note you want to export.
The extension extracts the note content — markdown-rendered headings, code blocks, tables, images, and callouts — while removing Obsidian Publish's navigation, sidebar, and graph view.
The Academic template works particularly well for knowledge base content. Dark Mode is great for code-heavy notes. Click Generate PDF for a polished document.
| Feature | Obsidian Export | Pretty PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Setup required | Plugin config or CSS snippets | None — works on published pages |
| Templates | Inherits vault theme | 5 professional templates |
| Dark theme handling | Dark background in PDF | Clean light output (or Dark Mode template) |
| Code block formatting | Theme-dependent | Monospace fonts, proper wrapping |
| Clutter removal | Exports full editor view | Extracts content only |
Free — 3 PDFs per month. No credit card required.
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