Markdown writing syntax for PDF and Word — colors, tables, equations

Plain Markdown works as is. These are the extra things md-to-pdf-word understands; PDF and Word output look the same.

Document information

At the very top of the file (optional):

---
title: Report title
subtitle: Subtitle
author: Author / team
date: today          # replaced by today's date
abstract: A short summary.
page-size: A4        # A4 / A5 / B5 / 16K / letter / 17x24cm
number-sections: true
header: none         # no running header
heading-color: 365F91          # heading color (one per level: 365F91,4F81BD)
title-color: 17365D            # title-size: 26
caption-color: 4F81BD          # caption-size: 9  caption-bold: true
---

Without a title, no title block is printed.

Headings

# level 1 … ##### level 5. For automatic numbering set Heading numbers → Numbered under More options (AI assistants use the parameter number_sections=true); then don't type numbers like “1.1” yourself.

Text styles

Effect	Write
Bold / italic / strikethrough	`bold` `italic` `~~struck~~`
Underline	`[text]{.underline}` or `<u>text</u>`
Double / wavy underline	`[text]{.double-underline}` / `[text]{.wave}`
Box	`[text]{.frame}`
Small caps	`[Small Caps]{.smallcaps}`
Highlight	`==text==` or `[text]{bg=yellow}`
Color	`[text]{color=red}`, `[text]{color="#C00000"}`, `[text]{color=primary}` (style color)
Background	`[text]{bg=green}` / `bg="#FFE0B2"`
Size	`[text]{size=14pt}`, `size=large`, Chinese sizes such as `size=四号`
Font	`[text]{font=serif}` (serif / sans / mono, or Chinese 宋体 / 黑体 / 楷体 / 仿宋)
Combined	`[text]{color=red size=12pt font=sans .bold .underline}`
Superscript / subscript	`E=mc^2^`, `H~2~O`
Inline code	`code`

Color names: red blue green orange purple gray black yellow pink brown cyan teal navy, or #RRGGBB, rgb(…).
Sizes: 12pt, 16px, 1.2em, or Chinese sizes 初号小初一号小一二号小二三号小三四号小四五号小五六号.
Switches can be written plainly: underline strike bold italic.
HTML works too: <span style="color:#c00;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold">…</span>, <font color="red">, <mark>, <br>.
Nested spans inherit: [a blue sentence, [with a larger red part]{color=red size=16pt}, then blue again]{color=blue}.

Paragraph styles

::: {align=center}
A centered paragraph (right / left / justify likewise)
:::

::: {align=center size=16pt color=primary font=sans}
One style for the whole block
:::

<div style="text-align:center">…</div> also works. An image on its own line is centered automatically.

Callouts

> [!NOTE]
> Something to note (also TIP / IMPORTANT / WARNING / CAUTION)

::: warning
A callout with several paragraphs.
:::

::: {.tip title="Custom title"}
Content
:::

Tables

Regular tables | a | b |, aligned with :--- :---: ---:; a line : Table title under the table adds a numbered caption.
Header rows are bold; column widths follow the content and long text wraps inside the page; long tables continue across pages.
Merged cells: use an HTML table:

<table>
  <caption>Table title</caption>
  <tr><th rowspan="2">Product</th><th colspan="2">Figures</th></tr>
  <tr><th>Revenue</th><th>Profit</th></tr>
  <tr><td>A</td><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>
</table>

Grid tables (+---+---+) also support merged cells. - Cells may contain colors, bold text, links and inline code.

Images

![Caption (numbered “Figure N”)](images/chart.png){width=70%}
![](https://example.com/a.jpg){width=50%}

png / jpg / gif / svg / webp / bmp / tiff. Upload local images together with the document (dropping the whole folder is easiest); web images are downloaded automatically.
With a caption → numbered figure; without → just the image. A missing image becomes gray placeholder text instead of breaking the conversion.
A caption that already has a number (![Figure 3-1 Architecture](a.png)) keeps it.

Sub-figures side by side with (a) (b) labels:

::: {#fig:pair .subfigures}
![Left](a.png){width=45%} ![Right](b.png){width=45%}

Caption for both
:::

Equations

Inline $E=mc^2$ or $…$; display $$…$$ or \[…\] — the full standard math notation (matrices, integrals, sums…). In Word they become editable equations. Prices like “$100 and $200” are not mistaken for math.

Footnotes, quotes, lists, code

Footnotes: text[^1] + [^1]: the note, or inline ^[the note].
Quotes: > quoted text.
Lists: - / 1., nestable; task lists - [x]; no blank line needed before a list.
Code blocks: ```python; long lines wrap.

Page breaks and contents

Page break: a line with only \newpage, , or ::: pagebreak + :::.
Table of contents: a line with only [TOC] where you want it; or tick Table of contents under More options (AI assistants: toc=true) to place it after the title.

Advanced layout

Landscape pages: put wide tables or figures between ::: landscape and :::.
Numbered equations: $$ V=\frac{a}{r} $$ {#eq:yield} is numbered (1), (2)…; [@eq:yield] in the text prints “Eq. (1)” as a link.
Table, figure and section references: : Caption {#tbl:name}, ![Caption](a.png){#fig:name}, ## Heading {#sec:name}; [@tbl:name] → “Table 1”.
References: add bibliography: refs.bib to the document information (upload the .bib too); cite with [@key] or [@a; @b] → [1], [2,3]; the reference list is generated in GB/T 7714—2015 style.
Part contents: a line [本部分目录] under a part heading lists only that part's sections.
Restart page numbers: a line [页码重置] where a new part begins.
Page references: see page [@page:sec:name] → “see page 5”; a missing target is marked in red and reported.
Appendices: a line [附录] starts the appendices; each level-1 heading after it becomes “Appendix A …” on a new page, with numbers such as Table A.1, Figure B.1, (A.1).

Cover page

Add cover: to the document information; the cover is its own page and body page numbers start at 1:

title: Property valuation report
cover:
  logo: logo.png                     # optional
  number: Report No. 2026-0123       # optional
  items:                             # optional: aligned labels, underlined values
    - Client: Example Bank
    - Valuer: Jane Doe
  org: Example Valuation Ltd.
  date: today

cover: true alone makes a simple cover from title / subtitle / author / date.

Chinese official documents (GB/T 9704)

A gongwen: block switches to the official document layout (or choose the “Gov. document” style): 156 × 225 mm text block, size-3 Fangsong, 22 lines × 28 characters, page numbers “— 1 —” right on odd and left on even pages. The keys are in Chinese, as in the standard:

title: 关于做好2026年度安全生产工作的通知
gongwen:
  份号: "000123"             # all optional; missing elements are left out
  密级: 机密★1年              # classification
  紧急程度: 特急              # urgency
  发文机关标志: 某某市人民政府文件   # red header
  发文字号: 某政发〔2026〕12号      # issue number
  签发人: 张三                # signer (upward documents)
  主送机关: 各区县人民政府，市政府各部门：   # recipients
  发文机关署名: 某某市人民政府     # issuing authority (signature)
  成文日期: 2026-10-24       # date, written as 2026年10月24日; today works
  印章: 是                   # 是 = sealed layout, 否 = unsealed
  附注: （此件公开发布）       # note
  抄送: 市委各部门。          # copies to
  印发机关: 某某市人民政府办公室   # printed by
  印发日期: 2026-10-24       # printing date

Heading levels: # 一、… (Heiti), ## （一）… (Kaiti), ### 1. …, #### （1）… (Fangsong); with heading numbers on, the numerals are added for you.
Attachments: wrap each in ::: 附件 … :::; its first heading is the attachment's title. They start on new pages and are listed after the body text.
In Word, a bold Song typeface replaces FZXiaoBiaoSong for titles; if your readers have it installed, add heading-font: 方正小标宋简体.

Good to know

Don't wrap the whole document in a ```markdown code block (if you do, the wrapper is removed).
Emoji and rare symbols use fallback fonts in the PDF; Word keeps the original characters.

Writing syntax