Quick start

Markdown you already have → a PDF

Point it at your folder:

cd my-docs        # a folder of .md files
unipress compile .

There's no project to set up. The first time, unipress sees there's no config, offers to create a small document.yml for you, and produces the PDF — a clean, single-column article: typeset prose, an inline title block, no chapters, on the paper your region uses. Numbered filenames (01-intro.md, 02-overview.md) set the section order; README.md and draft files (_notes.md) are left out.

Prefer no prompts? --yes takes the defaults — an article, PDF output:

unipress compile . --yes
unipress compile . --yes --format epub      # or any format the foundation emits

The generated document.yml is yours to keep and edit — it holds the title, reading order, and output format. Re-run compile whenever the content changes.

A4 or US Letter?

Both, in every template and every format with pages. When unipress writes a document.yml — create, or the first compile of a folder — it asks, and offers the paper your system's region uses: Letter in the US, Canada and the other countries that use it, A4 everywhere else. Without a terminal it picks that one and says so. From then on the file states it, so the document prints the same on any machine:

paper: letter       # or a4

To print one build on the other paper, or to choose when creating:

unipress compile . --paper a4                       # this build only
unipress compile . --paper a4 --out my-doc-a4.pdf   # keep both
unipress create my-report --template data-report --paper letter

A couple of other one-line tweaks live in the book: block — numbered sections (structure: { numberHeadings: true }) and a table of contents (structure: { toc: true }). See the article guide for the full list.

Starting from scratch

No content yet? Scaffold a starter from a template:

unipress create my-book --template book --title "My Book" --author "Your Name"
cd my-book && unipress compile .

create writes a content-only directory — markdown, a document.yml, optional theme.yml and assets/; no package.json, no node_modules. unipress list-templates lists the templates. Each carries the typography and structure, so a book reads like a book and a directory like a directory.

Planning to publish? There's a full author's guide that takes a book from your folder all the way to Amazon and print — Publishing your book.