Compared my #pandoc config's PDF print master output to its equivalent (also mine!) from Ulysses, on my novel JINX. The new pandoc one is muuuuuch better. Better typography/layout, cleaner markdown, 5 pages shorter over the ~460-page paperback due to better layout, smaller filesize, newer PDF version, and better embedded metadata. Also faster to export PDF+ePub than just exporting the PDF before! And it's automatable and cross-platform. #foss

interessante #podcast-Episode zu #pandoc:

Code for Thought: [EN] Pandoc: a swiss-army knife for documents - with J MacFarlane, A Krewinkel

Episode webpage: https://pweschmidt.github.io

Media file: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1326658/episodes/17150221-en-pandoc-a-swiss-army-knife-for-documents-with-j-macfarlane-a-krewinkel.mp3

@felwert

mattgemmell/pandoc-novel: Novel export configuration for pandoc (Markdown to ePub and PDF) https://github.com/mattgemmell/pandoc-novel/tree/main

Export novels in publishing-ready state from #Markdown files via #pandoc and this export configuration by @mattgemmel@mastodon.scot -- see the examples PDF in the repo.

For many, #Pandoc is the go-to tool to manage, write, transform text in all its different forms & formats.
Listen to my chat with the creator, John MacFarlane, & core dev, Albert Krewinkel, in this episode [EN]
of #code4thought. Out on your Podcast app, YouTube podcast or https://codeforthought.buzzsprout.com

release pandoc 3.7

Features:
• New option `--variable-json`. Structured variable values can now be passed via the command line.
• Rowspans and colspans are supported in grid-table output (#Markdown and #RST).
• Improved handling of inline TeX in #orgmode.
• #Lua subsystem: the `pandoc.read` function can now be used in “sandboxed” mode, restricting file or network access.

Please see the changelog for the full list of changes and bugfixes.
https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/releases/tag/3.7

As soon as I saw @abnv 's note on estimating reading times in Haskell Pandoc, I knew I had to reply by doing the same in Pandoc Lua:

https://bojidar-bg.dev/blog/2025-05-14-pandoc-word-count/

Resistance is futile. The Pandoc Lua code for word counts is already 3-9 times shorter than the Haskell equivalent!

I wrote a new note: "Reading Time Estimates for #Pandoc Based Blog Generators" https://notes.abhinavsarkar.net/2025/pandoc-reading-time

Nach Feierabend noch etwas mit #Obsidian herumgespielt.
Ich bin noch nicht sicher, wie ich es benutzen werde. Für die Möglichkeit, zettelkastig zu arbeiten, habe ich zwar einen Anwendungsfall, also Texte, die ich erstellen muss, die auch von modularer Struktur profitieren würden.
Aber ich habe eben auch klassische Aufgaben, Protokolle für Meetings und viel Vernetzung. Auch da könnte Obsidian
helfen, den Überblick zu bewahren.

Aber ich muss eben auch Dokumente teilen können.
Also #Pandoc.

What's everyone's favorite desktop markdown-specific editor?

Although I do a lot of my basic document drafting in #markdown, I don't use a dedicated app. Just a text editor (Kate, mainly) and then #Pandoc to render as PDF.

Wouldn't mind exploring a few options, especially those that make working with images a bit easier.

#Linux options, please.

Edit -- I see this list and plan to look at it closer: https://github.com/mundimark/awesome-markdown-editors
But would like to hear personal preferences and experiences.

Hoy para el #DiaDeLaVisibilidadDelSoftwareLibre les quiero hablar de #apostrophe

Un editor de markdown intuitivo y sencillo, que te permite exportar tus archivos a una variedad de formatos (probablemente usando #pandoc internamente). Lo he estado usando para tomar notas de reuniones o hacer apuntes rápidos para proyectos. En alguna ocasión lo usé también para un reporte que entregué a un cliente.

Creo que la bondad de no preocuparte por darle formato es de gran ayuda al momento de escribir.

How To Convert A PDF To Markdown (With Images) In Linux #PDF #Markdown #Linux #Opensource #poppler #pandoc
https://ostechnix.com/convert-pdf-to-markdown-linux/

As a book translator I spend my days working with texts. Also it means I have to deal with user-hostile file formats like docx. Because editors, designers...
My long-time friend was LibreOffice. I used it since version 5.something. It's a great alternative to Microsoft Office. But in other respects you have to put up with this huge bulky piece of legacy code that probably still has Sun engineers' souls trapped inside.
And I want to boast with my little personal victory. I have finally finished a book fully typed in #vim and #emacs (for the glory of both editors) in Markdown format and later processed via #pandoc to docx (with all required styles and formatting). I used LibreOffice only on the last stage to iron out some quirks and typos. It seems this workflow works.
Which means I don't have to use this huge and unhandy LibreOffice suite every day.
Now I want to figure out if I can use org format for my translations or should I stay with Markdown. Because it seems I like it here with Emacs.

@mguhlin

I decided to go with the landscape pdf option. Students' chromebooks can't read epubs natively, and it would take a while for IT to okay an extension (and I prefer to avoid extensions).

Also, #pandoc didn't add inter-document links when converting from #TexLatex to epub.* This is a "choose your own adventure" story, so jumping around the doc is 100% necessary.

End of day, a roughly 6x9 inch landscape pdf will probably work best.

* to be fair, I spent zero time looking for solution

#pandoc release 3.6.4
• The `--citeproc` option now automatically disables the `citations` extension in the writer
• Better error reporting when YAML block parsing fails in Markdown
• Fewer space characters when writing Markdown lists
• Many other fixes and improvements

https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/releases/tag/3.6.4

Turning 80-ish (usa letter-sized) pages of reading into Google Slides so students can read more comfortably on their Chromebooks.

I really wish I could just use an HTML page, but last I looked Google Drive won't display HTML files as web pages.

I suppose I could make it 8.5x5.5 landscape PDF, but not sure how well that would work on their screens.

Any thoughts?

(Reading started in #TexLatex, so I can #pandoc it into just about anything.)

TeXLive 2024 was frozen a few days ago, and this always leads to issues with the pandoc/latex Docker images. We have pushed new images for the currently supported pandoc versions 3.5 and 3.6.3, and are in the process of updating 3.2.1, too.
#pandoc #docker

I think any large interesting program you might write could well have an embedded language within it, in which the user can write stuff that is just as good, and just as deep as built-in functionality. You want this. It’s a thing that makes programs compelling.

In #Vim, that embedded language is #VimScript. In #emacs, that’s #elisp (which in fact, I think the whole thing is written in). In a #smalltalk environment, you control the entire environment with Smalltalk, just as elisp applies to Emacs. For many, many things, that language is #lua ( #NeoVim, many games, #pandoc, #redis, this list goes on).

I used to think there were really two reasonable mainstream languages you could use here: #Python or #javascript. Between those two, for a long time I felt that JavaScript was the winner. I think that has changed as Python has gotten faster, more powerful, and better known. But also, I think the answer might actually not be either of these two. It might be Lua. Lua is simpler and faster than either JavaScript or Python. It’s more embeddable. It’s designed specifically for this purpose. It’s in much wider use as an embedded scripting language. I don’t want Lua to be the answer. I like Python better. But I think Lua actually is the right answer.

The site https://pandoc-templates.org/ features a list of open source pandoc templates and provides a preview image for each template.
Created by Pascal Wagner.
#pandoc #template