How to Convert Jupyter Notebook to PDF

While working on my Jupyter Notebook, I sometimes want to share my processed data set — complete with the plot and markdown explanation I created — in a readable format. Luckily, there’s an easy way to convert Jupyter Notebooks into PDF files. As an example, I’ll convert the notebook below to a PDF using Python and pip.

Here’s the Jupyter Notebook in its original format.

And here it is as a PDF.

Now, here’s how you too can convert your notebook in a few simple steps.

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3 Steps to Convert Your Jupyter Notebook to PDF

1. Install the notebook-as-pdf Package Using pip

First, install the necessary package. For this example, I’m installing the package notebook-as-pdf. 

Run the following code in your command prompt to install the package.

pip install -U notebook-as-pdf

2. Run the pyppeteer-install Code

You’ll also need a setup for Chromium to perform the HTML to PDF conversion, which can be done by using pyppeteer-install.

After installing notebook-as-pdf, run this code in your code prompt:

pyppeteer-install

3. Open the Notebook and Download as PDF via HTML

Now, open the Jupyter notebook you want to convert to a PDF. In your notebook, click the file menu bar, select “Download as,” then select “PDF via HTML.”

Just like that, your notebook is a PDF file. 

If you’d rather use a command prompt to convert the notebook, you can do so with the following code.

jupyter-nbconvert --to PDFviaHTML example.ipynb

Because I titled the example Jupyter Notebook example.ipynb, the result is titled example.pdf. 

This is everything you need to know to convert your Jupyter Notebook into a PDF file. It’s simple, but it’ll prove useful in the long run.

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