MarkForge Quick Start Guide

Get started with MarkForge in 5 minutes!

Step 1: Open MarkForge

Launch the MarkForge application. You'll see the main window with a drop zone in the center.

Step 2: Add Markdown Files

You have two options:

Option A: Drag & Drop

• Drag your .md or .markdown files directly into the drop zone
• The files will appear in a queue

Option B: File Picker

• Click the "Choose Files..." button
• Select one or more Markdown files from the file picker
• Click "Open"

Step 3: Choose Your Template

In the left sidebar, select one of the twelve templates:

• Professional 📄 - Perfect for business documents and reports
• Technical 💻 - Ideal for technical documentation with code
• Minimal ✨ - Clean and simple for general use
• Academic 🎓 - Traditional formatting for papers and essays
• Elegant 🎯 - Elegant, appealing design
• Nerd 🤓 - For developers and tech enthusiasts

Each template is also available in a dark variant (e.g., Professional Dark, Technical Dark, etc.).

Step 4: Configure Options

Customize your PDF output:

Table of Contents

• Toggle "Include TOC" to auto-generate a table of contents from your headers

Page Numbers

• Toggle "Show page numbers"
• Choose position: Bottom Center, Bottom Right, Bottom Left, or Top Right

Headers & Footers (Optional)

• Add custom header text (appears at top of each page)
• Add custom footer text (appears at bottom of each page)

Page Setup

• Size: Choose A4, Letter, or Legal
• Orientation: Portrait or Landscape

Step 5: Select Output Folder

At the bottom of the window:

1. Click "Choose..." next to the folder icon
2. Select where you want your PDFs saved
3. The folder path will be displayed

Step 6: Convert!

Click the "Convert All" button at the bottom right.

MarkForge will:

• Process each file in parallel
• Show real-time progress
• Display status for each file (⏱️ Pending → 🔄 Converting → ✅ Completed)

Step 7: View Your PDFs

Once conversion is complete:

• Click the 👁️ (eye) icon next to any file to open it in Preview
• Your PDFs are saved in the output folder you selected

Pro Tips

Keyboard Shortcuts

• ⌘O - Open file picker
• ⌘R - Start conversion
• ⌘, - Open Settings

Set Defaults

Open Settings (⌘,) to configure:

• Default template for new sessions
• Default options (TOC, page numbers, etc.)
• Default page size and orientation

Managing the Queue

• Click Clear Completed to remove successfully converted files
• Click Clear All to start fresh
• Use the 🗑️ (trash) icon to remove individual pending files
• Use the 🔄 (retry) icon to retry failed conversions

File Status Icons

• ⏱️ Clock - Pending conversion
• 🔄 Arrows - Currently converting
• ✅ Green checkmark - Successfully completed
• ❌ Red X - Failed (hover to see error)

Code Syntax Highlighting

MarkForge automatically highlights code in fenced code blocks:

```swift
// Your Swift code here
```

Supported languages:

• Swift, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript
• Java, Go, Rust
• Shell/Bash

Troubleshooting

"Please select an output folder" error

Make sure you've chosen an output folder using the "Choose..." button at the bottom.

Files not appearing after drag & drop

Ensure your files have .md or .markdown extensions.

Need Help?

• Check the FAQ for common questions
• Contact us at support@markforge.de

Happy Converting! 🎉