Installation

Requirements

• Python 3.13+
• WeasyPrint system libraries (only if you need PDF output — see below)

Install LeafPress

To use LeafPress as a CLI tool or desktop UI, install it globally with uv tool or pipx. To use it as a Python library in a project, use uv add or pip install.

Base

DOCX, HTML, ODT, EPUB output and document import — no system dependencies required.

uv toolpipxuvpip

uv tool install leafpress

pipx install leafpress

uv add leafpress

pip install leafpress

With PDF Support

PDF output requires WeasyPrint and its system libraries (Pango, HarfBuzz — see below).

uv toolpipxuvpip

uv tool install 'leafpress[pdf]'

pipx install 'leafpress[pdf]'

uv add 'leafpress[pdf]'

pip install 'leafpress[pdf]'

With Desktop UI

The menu bar / system tray app requires PyQt6:

uv toolpipxuvpip

uv tool install 'leafpress[ui]'

pipx install 'leafpress[ui]'

uv add 'leafpress[ui]'

pip install 'leafpress[ui]'

Everything

All optional features (PDF + UI):

uv toolpipxuvpip

uv tool install 'leafpress[all]'

pipx install 'leafpress[all]'

uv add 'leafpress[all]'

pip install 'leafpress[all]'

WeasyPrint System Dependencies

LeafPress uses WeasyPrint for PDF rendering. WeasyPrint requires Pango and related libraries. These are only needed if you install leafpress[pdf] or leafpress[all].

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get install -y \
  libpango-1.0-0 \
  libharfbuzz0b \
  libpangoft2-1.0-0 \
  libfontconfig1

Fedora / RHEL

sudo dnf install pango harfbuzz fontconfig

macOS

Do not use brew install weasyprint

brew install weasyprint installs a standalone CLI tool — it does not install the system libraries that the Python WeasyPrint package requires. Install the libraries below instead.

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)Intel Mac

brew install cairo pango gdk-pixbuf libffi

If LeafPress still cannot find the libraries, add this to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile) and restart your terminal:

export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/homebrew/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

brew install cairo pango gdk-pixbuf libffi

Windows

On Windows, WeasyPrint can be installed via pip. GTK+ libraries may be needed — see the WeasyPrint Windows installation guide.

Verify Installation

leafpress --version
leafpress --help