---
title: PDF documents
description: Export the same rendered document to PDF with explicit engine and page controls.
language: en
margo:
  actions:
    markdown: true
    pdf: true
---

# PDF documents

Margo's PDF path reuses the rendered HTML representation and sends it through
an explicitly selected installed engine. The result is a PDF artifact, not a
second Markdown implementation.

## CLI

```sh
margo pdf guide.md \
  --output guide.pdf \
  --page-size A4 \
  --orientation portrait
```

The default engine mode is `auto`. Margo can discover an installed Chromium
family executable, but it does not download a browser. Use `margo doctor` when
you need to see the candidate and capability report.

## Page geometry

Page size, orientation, and each physical margin are independently configurable:

```yaml
margo:
  page:
    size: Letter
    orientation: landscape
    margins:
      top: 12
      right: 0
      bottom: 12
      left: 0
```

An explicit CLI flag wins over a document preference. A margin of `0` requests
full bleed on that edge.

## Editorial furniture

Pre-rendered PDFs carry the document identity into the exported artifact. Margo
adds the configured logo and site name to the header, then places the document
title and `Generated by Margo` in the footer. The furniture is part of the
engine-neutral HTML projection, so it remains available without the interactive
Goshtoso site shell.

## Link policy

PDF output defaults to stripping relative link targets while retaining visible
text. Choose `--relative-links resolve --base-url URL` when a resolved public
base is part of the export contract.