= Available Converters

This page lists the converters, along with their associated backends and output formats, which are either built into Asciidoctor or distributed separately by the Asciidoctor project.
There are additional "`unofficial`" converters for Asciidoctor which are not listed on this page.

[#built-in]
== Built-in converters

These built-in converters are bundled with Asciidoctor.

xref:html-backend:index.adoc[HTML]::
The HTML 5 converter (backend: `html` or `html5`) generates HTML 5 styled with CSS3.
This is the converter Asciidoctor uses by default.

xref:html-backend:index.adoc#xhtml[XHTML]::
The XHTML variant of the HTML 5 converter.
To use the XHTML converter, assign `xhtml` or `xhtml5` to the `backend` option.

xref:docbook-backend:index.adoc[DocBook]::
The DocBook 5.0 converter generates DocBook 5.0 XML.
To use the DocBook converter, assign `docbook` or `docbook5` to the `backend` option.

xref:manpage-backend:index.adoc[Man page]::
The man page converter generates manual pages for software used on Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
To use the man page converter, assign `manpage` to the `backend` option.

[#add-on]
== Add-on converters

You can use add-on converters, which plug into Asciidoctor by adding the appropriate library to the runtime path (e.g., `-r asciidoctor-pdf`).

PDF::
The PDF converter (backend: `pdf`) generates a portable document format.
Requires the https://rubygems.org/gems/asciidoctor-pdf[asciidoctor-pdf^] gem.

EPUB3::
The EPUB3 converter (backend: `epub3`) generates a distribution and interchange format standard for digital publications and documents.
Requires the https://rubygems.org/gems/asciidoctor-epub3[asciidoctor-epub3^] gem.

Reveal.js::
The Reveal.js converter generates a Reveal.js presentation from an AsciiDoc document.
Requires https://github.com/asciidoctor/asciidoctor-reveal.js[Asciidoctor Reveal.js^].

Bespoke::
The Bespoke converter generates a Bespoke presentation from an AsciiDoc document.
Requires https://github.com/asciidoctor/asciidoctor-bespoke[Asciidoctor Bespoke^].

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LaTeX::
The LaTeX, a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting.
Requires the https://rubygems.org/gems/asciidoctor-latex[asciidoctor-latex^] gem.

mallard::
Mallard 1.0 XML.
Requires the https://github.com/asciidoctor/asciidoctor-mallard[asciidoctor-mallard^] gem (not yet released).

=== Static site generators

* Jekyll
* Middleman
* Antora
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// TODO describe the role of template converters (e.g., asciidoctor-backends)

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Pulled directly from the user manual - need to decide where this information goes and how it should be presented.

== PDFs

Conversion from AsciiDoc to PDF is made possible by a number of tools.

{uri-asciidoctor-pdf}[Asciidoctor PDF]::
A native PDF converter for Asciidoctor (converts directly from AsciiDoc to PDF using Prawn).
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Instructions for installing and using Asciidoctor PDF are documented in the project's {uri-asciidoctor-pdf-readme}[README].
The tool provides built-in theming via a YAML configuration file, which is documented in the {uri-asciidoctor-pdf-theming-guide}[theming guide].
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TIP: Asciidoctor PDF is the preferred tool for converting to PDF and is fully supported by the Asciidoctor community.

a2x::
A DocBook toolchain frontend provided by that AsciiDoc.py project.
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To use this tool, you should first convert to DocBook using Asciidoctor, then convert the DocBook to PDF using a2x.
a2x accepts a DocBook file as input and can convert it to a PDF using either Apache FOP or dblatex.
Instructions for using a2x are documented in the project's {uri-a2x-manpage}[man page].

{fopub-ref}[asciidoctor-fopub]::
A DocBook toolchain frontend similar to a2x, but which only requires Java to be installed on your machine.
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Instructions for using asciidoctor-fopub are documented in the project's {fopub-doc-ref}[README].
To alter the look and feel of the PDF, it's necessary to pass XSL parameters or modify the XSLT.
More information about customization can be found in http://www.sagehill.net/docbookxsl/[DocBook XSL: The Complete Guide].
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