Pretty Pdf

Pretty PDF — Beautiful PDF Creation

Core Approach

HTML + CSS → PDF via weasyprint:

import weasyprint
weasyprint.HTML(string=html_content).write_pdf(output_path)

If import weasyprint fails, see references/setup.md for install instructions per platform. For batch rendering (multiple PDFs in one session), reuse a FontConfiguration — see the Weasyprint Technical Notes in references/base-styles.md.

Workflow

1. Read the source content first. What kind of document is this — clinical summary,

personal letter, recipe, quarterly report, CV? Tone, audience, density, and reading context drive every design choice that follows. Don't pick fonts or palette before you've read it.

1. Read references/base-styles.md — the full CSS system, font pairings keyed to content

cues, and color palettes.

1. Read references/templates.md — HTML templates for common document types.
2. Read references/gotchas.md when it applies: the source is a docx with images (§2 —

Word crops live in document.xml, not the media file; extracting the raw image loses them silently) or the document has long code blocks that will span pages (§1 — a page footer pulled into a multi-page `` breaks copy/paste). Empirical traps with tidy fixes.

1. Fit fonts + palette + header + scale + edge to the content, not to a default — see the

Anti-Convergence Rule below. Copy the full ` block from base-styles.md, then swap the @import` and CSS variables for your picks. Don't ship defaults unchanged unless they genuinely fit.

1. Choose a template from references/templates.md, or build from scratch.
2. Write semantic HTML — `, , , , `, etc. Set

`` so hyphenation works.

1. Test page breaks with the .page-break and .no-break utility classes.
2. Images: use absolute paths or base64 data URIs — relative paths don't resolve.
3. Save the final PDF to an absolute output path (the user's Downloads folder, or wherever

they specify) via weasyprint.HTML(...).write_pdf(absolute_path). Relative paths resolve from the current working directory, rarely what the user wants.

Design Philosophy

The goal is PDFs that look like they were typeset by someone who cares. Not "default LaTeX" and not "PowerPoint exported to PDF" — somewhere between a well-designed book interior and a premium consulting firm's deliverables.

Core Principles

• Typography IS the design. Distinctive, characterful font choices — not safe defaults. Pair a

display font with a body font that creates tension and interest. This alone gets you 80% of the way.

• Whitespace is a feature. Generous margins, breathing room between sections, no cramming.
• Restraint over decoration. One dominant accent with sharp contrast outperforms a timid,

evenly-distributed palette. Commit to a cohesive aesthetic.

• Adapt to context. A medical summary needs clinical scannability. A travel log can be warm

and expressive. A business proposal should feel authoritative but not cold. Read the room.

Anti-Convergence Rule (critical)

The failure this guards against is reaching for the default without reading the content — shipping Inter Tight + Slate on every document regardless of what it says. The cure is fit, not novelty: choose each axis from the content, using the cue tables below and in base-styles.md. The CSS system gives you five independent axes to fit with — if you've moved fewer than 3 off their defaults, check whether that's genuine fit or just reflex.

The five axes

| Axis | Default (fallback) | Pick by content | |------|---------|------------| | Font pairing | Inter Tight (clean sans, single-family) | Read content first. Letter/literary → Cormorant or EB Garamond. Clinical → DM Sans. Editorial → Fraunces+Work Sans. Tech → Space Grotesk+IBM Plex. Full table in base-styles.md. | | Palette | Slate | One of 8 in base-styles.md — each overrides 5-7 vars (chrome/borders/bg move together) | | Header | .header-typeset (pure-type, quiet) | .header-minimal, .header-side-rule, .header-centered, .header-large-numeral (sparingly), .header-bar (sparingly, loudest) | | Type scale | Editorial | body class="scale-compact" (denser) or body class="scale-generous" (more breathing room) | | Edge weight | Standard | body class="edges-hairline" (refined, near-zero radii) or body class="edges-chunky" (bold, larger radii) |

A medical summary in DM Sans + Teal + .header-minimal + .scale-compact + .edges-hairline naturally looks nothing like a personal letter in Cormorant + Terracotta + .header-centered

• .scale-generous + standard edges — because the content pulled them apart, not a quota. Smoke

test: if a document came out looking like the last one, ask whether you read its content or defaulted. If the content genuinely is similar, similar is the right answer.

Choosing a Design Direction

Before writing HTML, decide on the design direction based on what's being created:

| Context | Palette | Typography feel | Density | |---------|---------|-----------------|---------| | Business/corporate | Slate, Ocean, or Ink | Clean sans-serif headings, serif body | Medium | | Medical/clinical | Muted teal or warm gray | Clear sans-serif throughout | High — scannable | | Personal letter | Warm earthy tones or soft palette | Elegant serif throughout | Low — spacious | | Creative/portfolio | Bold accent, dark bg option | Distinctive display font | Varies | | Legal/formal | Conservative dark palette | Traditional serif | High | | Invoice/financial | Clean minimal | Tabular sans-serif | Medium-high | | Data tearsheet / dataviz | Saturated accent or custom multi-color (the chart carries the color story) | Restrained sans — let the visualization be the visual interest, not the typography | Medium — chart-led | | Educational diagram / atlas / reference card | Saturated or color-coded (e.g. by category) | Either — sans for atlas/clinical feel, serif for textbook feel | Medium |

These are starting points, not rules. The CSS system in base-styles.md uses CSS custom properties so you can swap the entire palette by changing 6 variables.

Also weigh the reader relationship: a known reader (doctor, colleague, friend) lets the document assume shared context and lean personal; an unknown reader (application, public report) wants more formality and self-explanation.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: ikkeseb
• Source: ikkeseb/skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.