How to export a Jupyter Notebook with plots and rich formatting to PDF without losing formatting?

Question

I am using Jupyter Notebook inside an Anaconda virtual environment and I have a notebook with multiple plots using matplotlib and pandas DataFrames with styled formatting.

When I try to export the notebook to PDF via File -> Download as -> PDF via LaTeX, I either get errors or the plots and styling do not appear correctly.

What is the best way to export a Jupyter Notebook with plots and rich formatting to PDF while preserving the layout?

I have already tried:

Installing nbconvert and pandoc via conda
Checking if LaTeX is installed (pdflatex not found)

Tried exporting via command line:

jupyter nbconvert --to pdf MyNotebook.ipynb

I expected the notebook to be exported as a PDF with all plots and formatting intact. Instead, I got an error saying that pdflatex was not found, and the PDF was not generated.

Did you try to convert it to html and then convert it to pdf? It is better for your current need as the jupyter notebook has this option built in. Use the File menu — Hadi Hajihosseini
– Hadi Hajihosseini, Commented Sep 25 at 8:05

louis thomas · Accepted Answer · 2025-09-25 12:36:58Z

0

Use the HTML-based exporters, not LaTeX. LaTeX (--to pdf) requires pdflatex and won’t preserve CSS/DataFrame styling. Instead do:

jupyter nbconvert --to html MyNotebook.ipynb

Open the HTML in a browser → Print to PDF. This way plots and DataFrame styles are preserved.

edited Sep 25 at 12:36

answered Sep 25 at 8:53

louis thomas

3801 silver badge8 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to export a Jupyter Notebook with plots and rich formatting to PDF without losing formatting?

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related