Design

Markdown to PDF - dark-mode output

Dark-mode PDFs are the exception - most documents are read on white or printed. But for screen-only documents (decks, app docs, code snippets) the dark version can read better.

By Elia Kuratli

Updated August 13, 2026·2 min read

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Why most PDFs aren't dark

PDFs are designed to print well, and dark backgrounds waste ink. They were designed to be read on white screens, where white-on-black is harder than black-on-white. The default is light for good reasons.

The cases where dark is the right call: decks shown in projection / dimmed rooms, code-heavy reference cards, app documentation that mirrors a dark UI.

Today's workaround

Export the document with a normal light design.
Open the PDF in a tool with colour-inversion (Preview on macOS, or Adobe Acrobat).
Apply Smart Invert / Colour Invert on the document.
Re-save.

What's coming

A 'dark' variant per design (balandir-dark, aplle-dark, etc.) is on the roadmap. The hard part is making sure the syntax-highlight palette in code blocks reads correctly on dark - most light-mode palettes look bad inverted.

FAQ

Will dark-mode print correctly?

It will use a lot of ink and read worse than the light version. If a print is in scope, export light. If the document is screen-only, dark is fine.

What about a half-dark deck?

Some presentations alternate dark and light slides. PDFs don't natively mix. Export the dark slides and the light slides as two PDFs and merge.

Is there a high-contrast mode for accessibility?

Not yet. The default designs already use AA-passing contrast ratios; AAA-grade contrast (a stricter level) is an enhancement we can ship if there's demand.

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