PDF export suddenly different than View Mode

Help
1

Steps to reproduce

Take any Obsidian note and export it to PDF using the default export function.

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]

Yes, the issue exists in sandbox vault as well. I also tried using the Better PDF Export plugin, various CSS snippets on the Forum. I also tried toggling the Strict Line Break option in the settings and it does not affect the issue.

Expected result

I would hope to see an exported PDF that looks like the note in viewing mode. Exports before November 7th looked just fine, now the formatting is not working correctly anymore.

Actual result

With a CSS snippet I could fix the large space below headings although not as nicely as it is shown in Obsidian itself. I could not fully remove the large spacing before lists. I also can not get paragraphs created with a simple Enter to show proper spacing in the PDF.

grafik
grafik1204Ă—625 19.6 KB

Screenshot 2025-11-18 100016
Screenshot 2025-11-18 1000161399Ă—676 23.2 KB

Environment

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.10.3
Installer version: v1.8.4
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26100
Login status: not logged in
Language: de
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

Additional information

The issue appeared on November 7th for the first time. The first document I exported there still all had normal spacings, later documents not anymore. I do not remember if an update took place in between. I did not change any CSS snippets in the meantime.

Export in the morning that day:

grafik
grafik1180Ă—445 23.1 KB

Export later:

grafik
grafik1221Ă—550 24.2 KB

I know that multiple people have asked related questions and that markdown formatting is not always straightforward. But as it worked seamlessly before and now doesn’t anymore, it seems like a bug to me.

Already a big thank you in advance!

1 Like
2

Hi.

I don’t see the same issue when I export to PDF, although I am using the default theme (which I assume you are in the sandbox vault), and I do have a more up-to-date installer—1.10.3. Perhaps yoy could update your version of Obsidian and see if that helps:

2 Likes
3

Also remember (or if you don’t know): PDF export is going to be closest to Reading view. Switch to that view and check before export.

The editor, source mode and live preview, are going to look different from the exported PDF.

1 Like
4

Thank you for the fast replies and plausible ideas!

Regarding the installer: I just updated the installer and sadly it did not change the results..

Regarding reading view: I actually did not know. There I can see the bigger spacing below Headings and before lists, they indeed look similar to the pdf export. The paragraphs are however also displayed differently there. This would also not explain why the pdf export results changed all of a sudden.

5

Edit: With a CSS snippet I could now figure out to format the spacings in a way that looks like before. So only the paragraphs still behave strangely. I uninstalled Obsidian and reinstalled an older Version (1.8.9) without effect. I also turned on and off the Strict Line Breaks setting in the options without effect. To me the issue seems to lie here that this option does not change the PDF rendering. Does one of you have ideas on how to deal with this? That would be great!