#Byword export pdf to dropbox full#
#Byword export pdf to dropbox software#

IвЂ™ve already waffled on a lot longer than I meant to, but letвЂ™s wind this up with a quick look at some nice software apps, which make working with Markdown even easier: Byword tossers Not bad eh? a web-page, a PDF, or an eBook, all from the one document -which can be created or edited in any text editor. Daedalus, another one I use also does PDF and HTML but, in addition, allows you to export your Markdown documents as ePub format, which is the most widely used eBook format. Byword, the markdown editor IвЂ™m using to compose this post allows me to export what IвЂ™m writing here as either HTML, or a nicely formatted up PDF. Therefore it can easily be converted or output into different formats. Re-usability -Since a Markdown file is just plain text, it doesnвЂ™t have all the formatting crud embedded in it that proprietary word-processor documents do. Compare that with Microsoft Office, where different versions canвЂ™t even open other versions of Word documents, never mind word-processor documents from other office suites, such as iWork or Open Office. txt extension, so any app which can read text files can open them. You donвЂ™t need no вЂsteenkingвЂ™ office suite. Why learn this syntax, when we can just use fugly old Word anyway? Well, here are a few benefits:ДЄccessibility -Since Markdown is just plain text with asterisks, hashes etc added in, you can write it in any text editor. But you might still be wondering whatвЂ™s the point. As you can see, itвЂ™s pretty simple and, I reckon, a lot easier to knock out than working with a clunky word-processor. Well, thereвЂ™s a quick run through on the basics of Markdown syntax.

#Byword export pdf to dropbox full#

Just put each item on a separate line and insert an asterisk followed by a space at the start, if you want a bullet point list and a number plus full stop and space, if you want a numbered list. If you need to use some of those horrible bullet point lists, beloved of Word document monkeys, you can do that in Markdown too.

Markdown follows the HTML convention that size 1 is the biggest and size 6 the smallest: Hash symbols give you headings in various sizes. Two undersores give you _bold text_ tooвЂ‰вЂ“вЂ‰Two underscores give you bold text too Two asterisks give you **bold text**вЂ‰вЂ“вЂ‰Two asterisks give you bold text One underscore gives you _italic text_ tooвЂ‰вЂ“вЂ‰One underscore gives you italic text too One asterisk gives you *italic text*вЂ‰вЂ“вЂ‰One asterisk gives you italic text Some simple examples: showing the syntax and what it does: with Markdown, instead of having to pick through stupid style menus, or highlight text and apply formatting, you just stick the appropriate punctuation at the beginning and end of the word, line of text or paragraph and, when you export to PDF, or HTML, or whatever, Markdown automatically converts that to nicely formatted text.

Most forum software doesnвЂ™t understand Markdown, so just shows those asterisks as asterisks but, with forum software that did understand Markdown, or working in a text editor that understands markdown instead of those asterisks, youвЂ™d see italic text. I said it was easy to learn and, if youвЂ™ve been frequenting internet forums and the like for any length of time, you probably already know some markdown -although you might not know that you know it!Д®ver seen anyone on a forum use asterisks to emphasise some text? Well, thatвЂ™s Markdown. More on that later, but first letвЂ™s take a look at this Markdown syntax itself. You can write Markdown in any text editor, so no need to fire up some huge bloated word-processor, and there are also some nice looking dedicated Markdown editors, which make writing a pleasure again. Markdown is a really easy to learn syntax for formatting text, which can then be converted into PDFs, HTML etc. If any of the above rings a bell with you, then meet Markdown. I hate the way they make the lovely practice of crafting words and sentences feel like having your teeth extracted, without anaesthetic. I hate their stupid use of fucking tables. I hate the way pasted in text never formats up the same as existing text. I hate the way they seem to switch fonts willy-nilly. I hate their stupid impenetrable style menus. Quite apart from the fugliness, the launch times measured in ice-ages and the general stinkiness of word-processors, I hate using the damned things. Even though IвЂ™ve eschewed Microsoft and its evil bug-ridden virus-infested software for years, I still feel the bile rise in my throat when I fire up the equally ugly-stick-beaten freebie alternative, NeoOffice, on my mac. And itвЂ™s just as bad when I have to write up some kind of formal document myself. Every time someone sends me a Word document, a bit more of my soul withers and dies. Ugly, bloated and stinking of corporate dullness, they sit there, sucking the very creativity out of you. They are the spawn of the devil, for anyone of an artistic temperament.