Recipe Card Generator

Write recipes in Markdown, and generate ready-to-print cards in PDF.

How It Works

Uses Pandoc to convert Markdown to HTML, Python 3 to format the recipe, and Prince XML to generate a beautiful PDF. Prince XML is a commercial product, but there is a free version for non-commercial use that adds a small watermark on the first page.

(Ghostscript is not currently required), for example:

Set-Up

Using Docker

By default, Pandoc and Prince XML are run within Docker, but they can also be installed locally, see below.

• Generate the Docker image with make docker;
• Create the Python virtual environment with make venv.

Without Docker

If you don’t want to use Docker:

• Install Pandoc;

• Install Prince XML;

• Ghostscript is not currently required;

• Change the variables in the Makefile to the path of the executables (make sure you change them to the actual path where they were installed):

  # Makefile
  PANDOC = /usr/local/bin/pandoc
  PRINCE = /usr/local/bin/prince
  PYTHON = venv/bin/python
  PIP = venv/bin/pip
  
  # [...]
  

• Create the Python virtual environment with make venv.

Usage

Write a recipe in Markdown in the recipes folder. The format is the following:

1. A metadata header in YAML delimited by ---:

   ---
   title: Pancakes
   image: pancakes.jpg
   ---
   

   The image will be looked for in the images folder at the same level as the recipes folder.

2. A series of steps, with or without ingredients, separated by -----. The ingredients should be given as a bullet list and will appear on the left of the steps that describe what to do with them:

   * _1 cup_ Flour
   * _2 tbsp_ Sugar
   * _2 tsp_ Baking powder
   * _1/2 tsp_ Salt
   
   Whisk together in a small bowl; set aside.
   
   -----
   

   Put the quantity for an ingredient in italic, e.g. * _1 cup_ Flour, to produce a nicely aligned table:

   

   The quantity is optional:

   * Assorted toppings
   
   Serve warm, with desired toppings.
   

   

Run the make command to generate the cards (in the cards folder). To force Make to regenerate a card that it doesn’t think needs regenerating (e.g. if you updated the image), use make -B cards/pancakes.pdf, or make -B to regenerate all cards.