MD vs PS
Ein detaillierter Vergleich von Markdown und PostScript — Dateigröße, Qualität, Kompatibilität und welches je nach Workflow zu wählen ist.
Markdown
Documents & TextMarkdown is a lightweight markup language that uses plain text formatting syntax. It is widely used in software development, technical documentation, and content management systems.
Über MD-DateienPostScript
Documents & TextPostScript is a page description language used in desktop publishing and professional printing.
Über PS-DateienVorteilsvergleich
MD Vorteile
- Readable as plain text even before rendering — fits in version control beautifully.
- Dead-simple: 90% of needs covered in 10 minutes of learning.
- Converts trivially to HTML, PDF, EPUB, and DOCX via Pandoc.
- Every modern IDE, note-taking app, and developer tool renders it natively.
- Lightweight — a typical Markdown file is kilobytes, not megabytes.
PS Vorteile
- Device-independent — same file prints identically on any PostScript printer.
- Vector-based at heart; rasterization happens at the printer's DPI.
- Programmable — dynamic pages, variable data, and procedural art all possible.
- Legacy standard in academic and print pipelines.
Einschränkungen
MD Einschränkungen
- No formal authoritative spec — CommonMark, GFM, and MultiMarkdown differ on edge cases.
- Tables and complex layouts are clunky; footnotes and math require extensions.
- Links to images stay external — no embedded media unless you base64-inline.
- Styling is limited to what HTML allows — custom branding requires CSS outside Markdown.
PS Einschränkungen
- Turing-complete = security hole; malicious PS files can hang printers or exploit vulnerabilities.
- Not a display format; browsers cannot render PostScript without conversion.
- Mostly superseded by PDF (which is PostScript's sandboxed, declarative descendant).
- File sizes can be enormous when embedding high-res images or fonts.
- Modern Illustrator (2020+) deprecated PostScript import for security.
Technische Spezifikationen
| Spezifikation | MD | PS |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | text/markdown | application/postscript |
| Extensions | .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd | .ps, .eps (encapsulated), .prn (print-ready) |
| Standard | CommonMark, GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) | Adobe PostScript Language Reference Manual (Red Book) |
| Encoding | UTF-8 (conventional) | — |
| Companion spec | RFC 7763 (2016) | — |
| Language | — | PostScript Level 2 / 3 (Turing-complete, stack-based) |
| Successor | — | PDF (declarative subset, 1993) |
Typische Dateigrößen
MD
- README 1-15 KB
- Blog post 2-30 KB
- Full technical manual 50 KB - 2 MB
PS
- Simple academic paper 100 KB - 2 MB
- Long paper with figures 5-30 MB
- Multi-chapter book source 50-200 MB
Bereit zum Umwandeln?
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Häufig gestellte Fragen
Markdown is a lightweight text-based markup language created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz in 2004. A .md file uses simple conventions (*italic*, **bold**, # headings, - lists) that compile to HTML. It became the default writing format for GitHub READMEs, Stack Overflow posts, Discord messages, and most developer documentation.
Markdown files are plain text — open in any text editor. For formatted preview use VS Code (built-in preview), Typora, Obsidian, or upload to GitHub/GitLab which render Markdown automatically. Every note-taking app (Notion, Bear, Joplin) handles Markdown natively.
Use KaijuConverter's Markdown-to-PDF converter, or command-line Pandoc (the gold standard — installed with one command, converts MD to PDF/HTML/DOCX/EPUB in a single line). VS Code with Markdown PDF extension also works locally.
Markdown for almost everything — it's 10× faster to write, version-control-friendly, and compiles to HTML automatically. Write raw HTML only when you need fine control over layout, embedded JavaScript, or features Markdown doesn't support (complex tables, forms). Static-site generators (Hugo, Astro, Jekyll) compile MD to HTML for you.
Markdown never had a formal spec for its first decade. CommonMark (2014) and GitHub Flavored Markdown (2017) standardized the core syntax, but edge cases (nested lists, HTML embedding, table syntax) still differ across renderers. For portability, stick to basic GFM features.
Yes — most modern doc tools are built on Markdown. MkDocs, Docusaurus, Astro Starlight, GitBook, and Read the Docs all accept Markdown input. For documentation needing rich features (tabs, callouts, versioning), MDX (Markdown + JSX components) extends MD with React-style embeds.