Export To PDF with no color theme

[obsidansl]

Use case or problem

Sometimes I need to print my notes, so I usually export them as a PDF and then print them. However, the exported PDF retains the editor’s theme. If you have a monochrome printer, highlighted (red) words in the PDF may appear as light grey when printed, making them difficult to read on paper.

Proposed solution

Add a new setting to export PDF with no color theme that disables color themes while retaining formatting for bold headings, italics, etc.

(ignore “#tag”)

Current workaround (optional)

Change the theme back to default and then revert it. However, even with the default theme, there is still coloring.

Related feature requests (optional)

Export to PDF in a theme other than the current theme

Use case or problem If you want to export in a specific theme (ex. a more professional one) you currently have to change your system theme and this is especially inconvenient if you’ve made a custom CSS that you’ll need to copy and paste in after you export. Proposed solution Provide a prompt after clicking export to pdf that lets you pick which theme you want it to export in. Current workaround (optional) Changing the system theme, exporting, then changing it back.

[ariehen]

This is going to vary theme-by-theme. Some folks want more of the theme’s styling in the PDF.

What theme are you currently using? Other than switching to the default theme, a CSS export snippet could be used to remove the colors for PDF export.

[obsidansl]

I’m using things. To export a PDF with a theme, I believe it is ideal. However, when you need to print it in black and white, the hue of the colors might pose a problem.

[blue_emperor]

I agree with @ariehen that it’s not obvious use case to export with colors completely off. This kind of work should be done by using a pdf editing program.

[obsidansl]

I’m not sure why it’s more difficult to not using a theme than making the all themes compatible in the exported PDF. Just consider this: editing a PDF has never been easy. While you can change all the colors simultaneously, adjusting the hues is not possible. As a result, any pink colors will turn into light grey maybe. If you ever need to print a note, you will get why this is such an annoying issue. You can easily add a toggle for it I believe. Or just give users an option to pick a theme while exporting, and maybe we can find a community theme that does not use any colors at all.

[ariehen]

This doesn’t cover callout colors, but you could give this a try. Tested with the Things theme.

@media print {
    .print > :is(.markdown-preview-view, .markdown-rendered) {
        --h1-color: black;
        --h2-color: black;
        --h3-color: black;
        --h4-color: black;
        --h5-color: black;
        --h6-color: black;
        --em-color: black;
        --strong-color: black;
        --tag-color: black;
        --tag-background: transparent;
     }
}

https://help.obsidian.md/Extending+Obsidian/CSS+snippets

[obsidansl]

Thank you! I’m not an expert in this area, so there must be a theme-specific thing?

[solarboi]

I second this request. I’d like to be able to globally configure colors for export to PDF, even if the fonts/layout stay the same. I’d like to be exporting job reports from Obsidian instead of copy/pasting info, converting from Markdown, etc in Pages or Word or something.

[Jopp]

I agree, Obsidian should strip theme colors, if desired.

Themes are nice and useful on-screen but printing notes on paper is yet another story. So, a toggle to deactivate themes for printing -be it default or custom themes- would be definitely meaningful.

[blue_emperor]

Just to be more specific, this setting should be located in Export to PDF dialog box.