Why is my Markdown table cut off in the PDF?

Most converters give every column its natural width and let the table grow past the margin. MDPress fixes the table to the text width, wraps the cells and shrinks the type from five columns up. Extremely wide tables can still get tight, so check the preview first.

How do I write a table in Markdown?

Separate cells with pipes, then add a second row of hyphens to mark the header, one group per column. Every later line is a row. In the MDPress editor you can also press the Table button and add rows and columns from the small table bar.

Can a table run over several pages?

Yes. There is no limit on the number of rows beyond the 4 MB document size. The table flows on to the following pages and each row stays whole. Turn on page numbers if readers need to refer to a line.

Tables in PDF

Markdown table to PDF, sized to fit the page

Tables are where most Markdown converters fall down. Columns run past the margin, long values overflow, or a row is sliced in half by a page break. MDPress stretches each table to the text width, wraps what is inside the cells and tightens the type on wide tables, and you see the result in the preview before you download.

Open the converter

Convert a Markdown table to PDF in three steps.

01
Paste or build the table
Paste a pipe table into the editor, surrounding text included. To start from nothing, press the Table button in the toolbar, then use Add row and Add column to grow the grid without typing pipes by hand.
02
Check the width in the preview
The preview lays the table out on the real page size. If a wide table feels cramped, switch to A4 or US Letter, choose Compact margins, or try the Technical style, which sets tables a little tighter.
03
Download the PDF
Download when the grid looks right. The cells hold real text, so figures can be selected and copied out of the PDF into a spreadsheet or an email later.

A narrow table and a wide one.

The first table has four columns with alignment markers, and the second has six, which triggers the smaller type.

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## Plan comparison

| Plan | Seats | Price per month | Status |
| :--- | :---: | ---: | :--- |
| Starter | 3 | $9 | Active |
| Team | 10 | $29 | Active |
| Business | 50 | $99 | Trial |

## Server inventory

| Host | Region | CPU | Memory | Disk | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
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Q3 hosting review

Plan comparison

Plan	Seats	Price per month	Status
Starter	3	$9	Active
Team	10	$29	Active
Business	50	$99	Trial

Server inventory

Host	Region	CPU	Memory	Disk	Notes
web-01	eu-west-1	4 vCPU	16 GB	200 GB	Serves the public site
web-02	eu-west-1	4 vCPU	16 GB	200 GB	Standby, promoted during deploys
db-01	eu-central-1	8 vCPU	64 GB	1 TB	Primary database, nightly snapshots
queue-01	us-east-1	2 vCPU	8 GB	100 GB	Background jobs and scheduled mail

How MDPress handles tables.

Wide tables get smaller type

A table with five or more columns is set in smaller type with tighter cell padding, automatically. Narrower tables keep the normal size. You do not add any class or setting for this, the converter counts the columns in the header row.

Long cells wrap

Every table takes the full text width and no more. Sentences wrap inside their cell, and long unbroken values such as URLs, file paths and inline code are allowed to break, so one stubborn cell cannot push the last column off the page.

Rows are not split between pages

A long table simply continues on the next page. The break falls between rows, and a row is kept in one piece, so a record never starts at the bottom of one page and finishes at the top of the next.

Tips for tables that print well.

A Markdown table needs a header row and a separator row of hyphens under it. Leave a blank line before the table, or it will be read as part of the paragraph above.
HTML is shown as text, so a line break tag inside a cell will not work and merged cells are not possible. Keep each cell to one short paragraph and split very dense tables in two.
To start a big table on a fresh page, put \newpage on its own line above it. For ten or more columns, consider turning the table on its side by swapping rows and columns.

Markdown table to PDF questions.

Why is my Markdown table cut off in the PDF?: Most converters give every column its natural width and let the table grow past the margin. MDPress fixes the table to the text width, wraps the cells and shrinks the type from five columns up. Extremely wide tables can still get tight, so check the preview first.
How do I write a table in Markdown?: Separate cells with pipes, then add a second row of hyphens to mark the header, one group per column. Every later line is a row. In the MDPress editor you can also press the Table button and add rows and columns from the small table bar.
Can a table run over several pages?: Yes. There is no limit on the number of rows beyond the 4 MB document size. The table flows on to the following pages and each row stays whole. Turn on page numbers if readers need to refer to a line.

Put your table on the page.

Paste the Markdown, look at the preview and download a PDF with every column inside the margins.