Convert a GitHub README to PDF, Word or HTML
Badges, screenshots and code blocks intact — the parts that usually break when a README leaves GitHub.
Convert Markdown to PDF
Markdown source
What breaks when a README leaves GitHub
A README looks finished on GitHub because GitHub is doing work you cannot see. Take the same file somewhere else and pieces fall off, almost always in the same order: images first, then anything that relied on GitHub's own extensions.
Images are the big one, and it is why “readme to pdf with images” is such a common search. READMEs generally reference screenshots by relative path —  — which resolves only when the file is being viewed inside the repository. Anywhere else, that path points at nothing.
The fix is to use raw URLs. Replace the relative path with the raw.githubusercontent.com address of the same file and the image becomes an absolute reference that works everywhere, including in a converted PDF or Word file. Badges — the small status images from shields.io at the top of most READMEs — are already absolute, so those come through without any work.
Beyond images: fenced code blocks keep their syntax highlighting, tables keep their column alignment, and task lists render as checkboxes. Two GitHub-only extensions do not survive, because they are not Markdown: emoji shortcodes such as :tada: stay as literal text, and anchor links to headings have nothing to point at once the document is a PDF.
How to convert a README
Copy the raw source
On GitHub, open README.md and click Raw, then select all and copy. That gives you the Markdown rather than the rendered page.
Fix relative image paths
If screenshots matter, replace relative paths with their raw.githubusercontent.com URLs so they resolve outside the repository.
Convert and download
Paste it above, choose PDF, Word, HTML or text, and download.
Every format, from the same file
README to PDF
Produces a paginated PDF with real, selectable text rather than a screenshot of a preview. Headings are never orphaned at the foot of a page and long tables repeat their header row across breaks.
README to Word
Produces a .docx using native Word heading styles, so the navigation pane and automatic tables of contents work and a colleague can edit or comment on it normally.
README to HTML
Produces one self-contained HTML file with the stylesheet inlined — no external assets to host, so it opens correctly from a USB stick or an email attachment.
README to plain text
Lays the note out for a fixed-width reader: underlined headings, tables as aligned columns, prose wrapped at 80 columns. Useful for pasting into a ticket or an email.
README to PDF, README.md to Word, GitHub markdown to PDF
All the same task: taking the Markdown file at the root of a repository and turning it into something you can attach to an email or hand to someone who does not use GitHub. Documentation, release notes and contributor guides live in the same format and convert identically.
Questions
Why don't my README images show up in the PDF?
Almost always because they use relative paths like docs/screen.png, which only resolve inside the repository. Replace them with the raw.githubusercontent.com URL of the same image and they embed correctly.
Do the badges come through?
Yes. Badges from shields.io and similar services are already absolute URLs, so they are downloaded and embedded like any other image.
What happens to emoji shortcodes like :rocket:?
They stay as literal text. Shortcodes are a GitHub feature rather than part of Markdown, so nothing outside GitHub expands them. Pasting the actual emoji character works everywhere.
Can I convert straight from a GitHub URL?
Not yet — paste the raw source or download the README.md file and drop it in. Converting directly from a repository URL is on the list.
Will code blocks keep their highlighting?
Yes, where the fence carries a language tag such as ```python. The colours come through in PDF and HTML; Word gets a shaded monospaced block, since it has no native syntax highlighting.