Jupyter to PDF Converter

A beautiful web application for converting Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb) to professionally formatted PDFs with full LaTeX support.

Features

• Beautiful PDFs - Clean, professional formatting with elegant typography
• Full LaTeX Support - Complete mathematical equation and notation rendering
• Syntax Highlighting - Beautiful code highlighting with proper formatting
• Customizable Settings - Control page layout, fonts, code themes, and content inclusion
• Preset Templates - Pre-configured settings for academic papers, lab reports, and minimal outputs
• Modern UI - Built with Next.js, React, and Tailwind CSS
• Drag & Drop - Easy file upload with drag-and-drop support
• Fast Conversion - Efficient server-side processing with rate limiting

Prerequisites

Before running this application, ensure you have the following installed:

Required Software

1. Node.js (v18 or higher)

   • Download from nodejs.org

2. Python 3 (v3.8 or higher)

   • Download from python.org

3. Pandoc (required for notebook conversion)

   macOS:

   brew install pandoc

   Ubuntu/Debian:

   sudo apt-get install pandoc

   Windows:

   • Download and install from pandoc.org

4. LaTeX Distribution (required for PDF generation)

   Choose one based on your operating system:

   macOS:

   # Using Homebrew
   brew install --cask mactex-no-gui
   
   # Or download MacTeX from: https://www.tug.org/mactex/

   Ubuntu/Debian:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install texlive-xetex texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-plain-generic

   Windows:

   • Download and install MiKTeX
   • Or TeX Live

Installation

1. Clone the repository (or navigate to the project directory)

   cd ipynb2pdf

2. Install Node.js dependencies

   npm install

3. Install Python dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   Or using a virtual environment (recommended):

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Verify installations

   # Check if Pandoc is available
   pandoc --version
   
   # Check if pdflatex is available
   pdflatex --version

Usage

Development Mode

1. Start the development server

   npm run dev

2. Open your browser

   • Navigate to http://localhost:3000

3. Upload a notebook

   • Drag and drop a .ipynb file onto the upload area
   • Or click to browse and select a file
   • The PDF will automatically download once conversion is complete

Production Mode

1. Build the application

   npm run build

2. Start the production server

   npm start

3. Access the application

   • Open http://localhost:3000

Project Structure

ipynb2pdf/
├── app/
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── convert/
│   │       └── route.ts          # API endpoint for conversion
│   ├── globals.css               # Global styles
│   ├── layout.tsx                # Root layout
│   └── page.tsx                  # Home page
├── components/
│   └── NotebookUploader.tsx      # Upload component
├── python/
│   ├── templates/
│   │   └── custom.tplx           # Custom LaTeX template
│   └── convert.py                # Python conversion script
├── temp/                         # Temporary files (auto-generated)
│   ├── uploads/                  # Uploaded notebooks
│   └── outputs/                  # Generated PDFs
├── requirements.txt              # Python dependencies
└── package.json                  # Node.js dependencies

How It Works

1. Frontend: User uploads a .ipynb file through the React/Next.js interface
2. API Route: Next.js API route receives the file and validates it
3. Python Script: Calls the Python conversion script with nbconvert
4. LaTeX Processing: nbconvert uses LaTeX to generate a beautifully formatted PDF
5. Download: The PDF is returned to the user and automatically downloads

Troubleshooting

"Python or required packages not found"

• Ensure Python 3 is installed and accessible via python3 command
• Install Python dependencies: pip install -r requirements.txt

"PDF conversion failed" or "Pandoc wasn't found"

• Verify Pandoc is installed: pandoc --version
• Verify LaTeX is installed: pdflatex --version
• Check that all Python packages are installed correctly
• Ensure the notebook file is valid JSON
• If using a virtual environment, make sure it's activated

"File size too large"

• Maximum file size is 10MB
• Consider splitting large notebooks into smaller files

Conversion timeout

• Large or complex notebooks may take time to process
• Simplify the notebook or reduce the number of cells

Configuration

Adjusting File Size Limit

Edit app/api/convert/route.ts:

const MAX_FILE_SIZE = 10 * 1024 * 1024; // Change to desired size in bytes

Customizing PDF Output

Edit the LaTeX template in python/templates/custom.tplx to customize:

• Page margins and geometry
• Font styles and sizes
• Code highlighting colors
• Header and footer styles

Customization Options

The application provides extensive customization through the settings panel:

Page Settings

• Page size (A4, Letter, Legal, A3)
• Orientation (Portrait, Landscape)
• Margins (Narrow, Normal, Wide)

Typography

• Body font (Serif, Sans-Serif, Computer Modern)
• Code font (Fira Code, Source Code Pro, Courier)
• Font size (10pt, 11pt, 12pt)

Code Appearance

• Syntax highlighting themes (GitHub, Monokai, Solarized, Dracula, Nord)
• Line numbers toggle
• Input/Output prompt display

Document Structure

• Table of contents generation
• Page numbers and positioning
• Section numbering

Content Filtering

• Include/exclude code cells
• Include/exclude cell outputs
• Include/exclude markdown cells

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript
• Styling: Tailwind CSS 4
• File Upload: react-dropzone
• Backend: Next.js API Routes with rate limiting
• PDF Conversion: Python nbconvert with custom LaTeX processing
• LaTeX: XeLaTeX with custom templates for professional formatting

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

MIT License - feel free to use this project for any purpose.

Support

If you encounter any issues:

1. Check the troubleshooting section above
2. Ensure all prerequisites are properly installed
3. Verify your notebook file is valid JSON
4. Check the console/terminal for error messages

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Built using Next.js and nbconvert