GITHUB README TO PDF

Share your README with people who do not live in GitHub.

Paste a README or project Markdown file into MySkills, check the preview, then save a PDF for a client, teammate or handoff.

The case for sending a PDF

A README is written for people who already have the repository open. It assumes context — the directory layout, the issue tracker, the naming conventions, the maintainer's habits. A client or a new hire has none of that.

The same content also degrades outside GitHub. Markdown is plain text, so a README pasted into Slack or email loses its tables and code formatting entirely. A PDF keeps the structure intact, which means the person reading it can see the difference between a recommendation and a footnote.

There is a practical version of this too. When you hand over a project, the README is rarely the only thing that matters, but it is usually the best starting point. A PDF gives the next person one file to read, with the installation steps and the architecture notes already in order.

What to check before sending

README files often contain relative image links, badges, code blocks and tables. Check the preview after pasting. External images may need their original URL, and complex GitHub-specific extensions may not render exactly like GitHub.

More specifically, these are the things that catch people out:

• Relative image paths. ![diagram](./docs/architecture.png) points at a file in the repository. Pasted into the editor, the path no longer resolves and the image is simply missing. Use the absolute raw URL, or replace the image with a short caption.
• Badge URLs. Build-status badges usually point at a live service. They render, but they will show a stale or broken state in a PDF — or worse, a green tick for a build that stopped running months ago.
• Relative internal links. Links to CONTRIBUTING.md or a wiki page break once the file leaves the repository.
• Long tables. GitHub renders wide tables with horizontal scroll. A PDF page does not, so a five-column table gets squeezed.

None of these are fatal. They just need a quick pass, and the preview is where you catch them — scroll through it once before exporting rather than after sending.

Privacy choices

The browser preview and browser print path are local. If server PDF export is available and selected, the document is sent to the PDF service. Do not use that path for secrets or private credentials.

A private repository is worth thinking about specifically. The README itself is often harmless, but a preview run will not fetch anything — the tool renders what you pasted, so only the text you actually copy ends up in the document. Still, if the file references an internal hostname, a customer name or an unreleased feature, remove it before you paste.

FAQ

See the full Markdown to PDF guide →