# epub2pdf

> Free EPUB to PDF converter with real page layout, a contents page and PDF bookmarks. Runs in your browser, so your book is never uploaded and nothing is kept.

epub2pdf converts EPUB ebooks into typeset PDF files. The conversion runs
entirely as JavaScript in the visitor's browser, in a Web Worker: the file is read
from local disk, the EPUB container is unpacked with fflate, the chapters are
parsed with the browser's own DOMParser, the text is broken into lines and pages
against real font metrics, and the PDF is written with pdf-lib in memory. There is
no upload endpoint, no server-side processing and no storage. The site is static.

## Key facts

- Output: PDF, set in the base-14 fonts (Times, Helvetica, Courier) that every PDF
  reader has built in. Nothing is embedded, so the PDF is often smaller than the
  EPUB that produced it.
- Reads EPUB 2 and EPUB 3. Contents come from the EPUB 3 nav document when present,
  otherwise the EPUB 2 NCX.
- Page sizes: A4, US Letter, A5, B6, trade paperback (6x9in), tablet (4:3) and
  phone (16:9). Margins narrow/normal/wide. Type 9-14pt, three line spacings.
- Produces a generated contents page with real page numbers and internal links, a
  PDF outline (bookmarks), running heads and page numbers.
- Typesetting: greedy line breaking, optional justification capped so a line is
  never stretched more than half its width, headings kept with the text they
  introduce, no single line stranded across a page break, figures drawn at natural
  size or scaled down to the column.
- DRM-protected books are detected and refused. This tool does not remove DRM.
  Adobe .acsm files are detected and explained.
- Non-Latin scripts (Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, CJK) cannot be set in the
  base-14 fonts. The converter detects this and warns before converting. Latin and
  its accents — French, German, Polish, Turkish, Vietnamese and so on — are fine.
- Fixed-layout EPUBs (comics, picture books) are detected; the images convert but
  no text options apply.
- Tables are flattened to their cells' text. Footnotes render inline. Hyphenation
  is not implemented.
- No accounts, no cookies, no file size charges. Practical size limit ~200 MB,
  bounded by browser memory.

## Pages

- [Converter](https://epub2pdf.app/): the tool itself.
- [EPUB to PDF](https://epub2pdf.app/epub-to-pdf): the two formats, what survives conversion and what does not.
- [For printing](https://epub2pdf.app/epub-to-pdf-for-printing): A4 vs Letter, margins for binding, the print-dialog scaling trap.
- [For tablets and phones](https://epub2pdf.app/epub-to-pdf-for-ipad): why a smaller page beats larger type on a screen.
- [How it works](https://epub2pdf.app/how-it-works): the full pipeline and an honest list of its limits.
- [FAQ](https://epub2pdf.app/faq)
- [Privacy](https://epub2pdf.app/privacy): why no upload happens, and how to verify it.
- [Terms](https://epub2pdf.app/terms)

## Guides

- [Why an EPUB looks wrong when you just print it](https://epub2pdf.app/guides/why-epubs-print-badly): Printing straight from a reading app gives you screenshots of a screen, not a book. What goes wrong, and why converting properly fixes it.
- [Choosing a page size and margins](https://epub2pdf.app/guides/choosing-a-page-size): The page size is the most consequential setting in the whole converter, and the right answer is completely different for paper and for screens.
- [Why some EPUBs can't be converted](https://epub2pdf.app/guides/epubs-that-cannot-be-converted): DRM, .acsm files, fixed-layout comics and non-Latin scripts. What each one looks like, why it stops the conversion, and what you can do about it.
- [Reading a PDF comfortably on a tablet or phone](https://epub2pdf.app/guides/reading-a-pdf-on-a-screen): PDFs have a bad reputation on screens, and it is mostly one fixable mistake. Plus which readers show bookmarks, and when you should just read the EPUB instead.

## Related

epub2pdf has a sibling that goes the other way: pdf2ereader converts PDF files
into EPUB ebooks, on the same architecture and under the same no-upload constraint.