Markdown is a lightweight markup language that converts plain text to formatted content. Understanding the syntax helps create well-structured content for image generation.
Basic Text Formatting
Bold uses double asterisks (**bold**) or underscores (__bold__). Italic uses single asterisks (*italic*) or underscores (_italic_). Combine them for bold italic (***text***). Strikethrough uses double tildes (~~crossed out~~). Inline code uses backticks (`code`).
Headings and Structure
Headings use hash symbols: one for H1 (#), two for H2 (##), up to six for H6 (######). Horizontal rules use three or more dashes (---), asterisks (***), or underscores (___). Blockquotes use the greater-than symbol (> quoted text).
Lists and Tasks
Unordered lists use dashes (-), asterisks (*), or plus signs (+). Ordered lists use numbers (1. 2. 3.). Indent with spaces for nesting. GitHub Flavored Markdown adds task lists: checked (- [x]) and unchecked (- [ ]) items.
Links, Images, and Tables
Links use [text](url) syntax, optionally with titles [text](url "title"). Images use . Tables use pipes and dashes: |Header| with alignment colons |:---|, |:---:|, |---:|. Code blocks use triple backticks with optional language identifier.