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Direct PDF via nbconvert

Overview

nbconvert 7.16+ is Jupyter's official tool for converting notebooks to various formats. Using the --to pdf option generates a PDF via a LaTeX intermediate (requires Pandoc and LaTeX).

Prerequisites

  1. Jupyter and nbconvert installed (both in requirements.txt).
  2. LaTeX installed on your system (see Installation).

CLI Usage

From the project directory:

jupyter nbconvert --to pdf data-visualization-demo.ipynb

This creates data-visualization-demo.pdf in the same directory.

Options

  • --output-dir=./output — specify output directory.
  • --no-input — exclude input cells (show only output).
  • --template=classic — use different templates.
  • --execute — re-run all cells before export (slow for large notebooks).

Example:

jupyter nbconvert --to pdf --no-input --output-dir=./pdf-output data-visualization-demo.ipynb

Troubleshooting

Error: "xelatex not found"

  • LaTeX is not installed. See Installation for platform-specific steps.

Error: "PDF was not created"

  • Complex plots or Unicode may cause LaTeX issues. Try simplifying or using alternative fonts.
  • Use --debug flag for verbose output: jupyter nbconvert --debug --to pdf ...

Performance:

  • First run is slow (LaTeX compilation takes ~30s). Subsequent runs are faster.

When to Use

  • Simple, static documents with standard plots.
  • Archival: guaranteed PDF output format (backward compatible).
  • CI/CD pipelines: if LaTeX is already available in your environment.

See Also