Markdown to EPUB and PDF

Turn Markdown into a clean EPUB file and a print-ready PDF.

Paste the text, point at public file links, or name a record you already stored. Each one becomes its own document, with a download link, a word count, a chapter count and, for a PDF, a page count.

Who it is for

Writers who draft in Markdown and want a file they can read on a phone or send to print. Also useful when a note, a newsletter or a short report should leave the editor as a book file.

What you get

• One row per document, with the status ok, partial or failed.
• An EPUB file, a PDF file, or both. The row has a download link for each file that was saved.
• A word count and a chapter count.
• A page count for the PDF.
• A basic check of the EPUB. The row says whether that check passed.
• Headings, lists, nested lists, tables, code blocks, quotes, links, pictures and footnotes.
• Chapters split on heading 1 or heading 2, and a contents page you can turn off.
• Page sizes: A4, US Letter, 6 x 9 in and 5 x 8 in. You can set the margins and the body text size.
• A note on the row when a picture could not be fetched. The rest of the document is still saved.

Pictures are included only from public https links, and only when the file is a PNG or a JPEG. A picture that fails is left out. The link itself is not copied into the result row.

Tutorial

1. Paste Markdown into Markdown, or add public https links under Markdown file links, or set Stored Markdown key to a record in this run's store. Use Store name if that record lives in a named store.
2. Set Title, Author and Language if you want them on the book. Author can be a pen name. Leave the title empty to use the first chapter heading.
3. Optionally add a Cover image link. It has to be a public https PNG or JPEG.
4. Leave Table of contents on, or turn it off. Choose Chapter split, Page size, Margins and Base font size.
5. Leave Output formats on both, or clear the one you do not want.
6. Leave Max documents at 5 unless you want a shorter run. The ceiling is 10.
7. Run the Actor. Open the Documents view for the counts and the download links. The files themselves are in the key-value store, under keys that start with EPUB- and PDF-. The OUTPUT record says how many rows were saved and how many were charged.

A document that fails is still saved as a row so you can see why. That row is not charged.

Example input

{
  "markdown": "# Notes from the coast\n\nThe first chapter starts here.\n\n## Tide\n\nA short section with a [link](https://example.com).\n",
  "markdownUrls": [],
  "markdownKey": "",
  "title": "Notes from the coast",
  "author": "A. Writer",
  "language": "en",
  "coverUrl": "",
  "tableOfContents": true,
  "chapterSplit": "h1",
  "pageSize": "6x9",
  "marginMm": 16,
  "fontSize": 11,
  "formats": ["epub", "pdf"],
  "maxDocuments": 5
}

Example output

{
  "status": "ok",
  "source": "text",
  "title": "Notes from the coast",
  "author": "A. Writer",
  "language": "en",
  "pageSize": "6x9",
  "formats": ["epub", "pdf"],
  "wordCount": 18,
  "chapterCount": 1,
  "pageCount": 2,
  "epubValid": true,
  "epubKey": "EPUB-1",
  "pdfKey": "PDF-1",
  "epubUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE/records/EPUB-1",
  "pdfUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE/records/PDF-1",
  "imagesSkipped": 0,
  "note": "",
  "retrievedAt": "2026-10-31T12:00:00.000Z"
}

The numbers above show the shape of a row. A real run fills them from your text. The download links use the store for that run.

Pricing

You pay a small fee when the run starts, then a fee for each document that is converted and saved. Both files are part of that one fee. The dataset itself is not charged again.

What	Price
Run start	$0.00005
Document	$0.01

A failed document is saved with a status and is not charged. A partial document is saved and is not charged. Documents past Max documents are not read and are not charged.

Examples

• One document: $0.01, plus the $0.00005 start fee.
• Five documents: 5 x $0.01 = $0.05, plus the $0.00005 start fee.
• A run that only saves a failed row: $0.00005.

Use Max documents and the maximum cost per run to cap a single run. If this ever differs from the Pricing tab, the Pricing tab applies.

Limits

• A document can be at most 250,000 characters, and a downloaded file at most 1.5 MB.
• At most 10 documents in a run, and at most 20 file links are looked at.
• File links have to be public https. Private addresses, localhost, and other schemes are blocked.
• A picture has to be a public https PNG or JPEG, at most 800 KB, and at most 30 pictures are fetched per document.
• HTML in the Markdown becomes plain text.
• If the run is close to its time limit, it stops and keeps the documents already saved.

No personal data

This Actor does not collect personal data.

• It converts the text you provide. It does not browse a site, and it does not look up people.
• The book files contain the words you wrote.
• The dataset row has the title, the author name you set, counts and download links. It does not contain the document text.
• Logs do not contain the document text, the file links, or the addresses that were called.
• A picture that cannot be fetched is counted. The picture address is not stored on the row.

Do not put a private address or a secret in the text if you would not want it inside the book file.

FAQ

What if a picture link is broken? The picture is left out and the note says an image was skipped. The document is still saved and charged when the files were created.

What if the text is huge or empty? An empty run saves one failed row and asks you to add text. A document over the size cap is a failed row. Neither is charged.

Which page sizes can I use? A4, US Letter, 6 x 9 in and 5 x 8 in. Margins are in millimetres. The body size is in points.

What does the EPUB check look for? That the file opens as an EPUB and includes a contents page. It is not a full certification.

Next additions

• More of the same kind.
• Broader coverage.
• Small follow-ups later.

Feedback

Missing a field? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab.