A draft becomes a document when it has tables, citations, and a PDF. All three work in Markdown mode; this lesson adds them to the draft from the previous lesson.
Step 1 — Tables
Pipes make columns, and the dashed line separates the header:
| Sample | Yield | Error |
| ------ | ----- | ----- |
| A | 0.82 | 0.03 |
| B | 0.79 | 0.04 |
Alignment is controlled in the dashed row — :--- left, :---: center, ---: right. The live preview renders the table as you type, so a missing pipe shows up immediately.
Step 2 — Cite from your library
Citations use the same cite flow as LaTeX documents: search your Reference Library, pick the source, and the citation is inserted with its key guaranteed to exist in the project’s references. In the compiled PDF it renders as a proper citation with a reference list — you never manage keys by hand.
Step 3 — Compile to PDF
Press Compile (⌘↵). The Markdown is converted and typeset on the same engine that builds LaTeX documents, so the result is a real PDF — actual typography, typeset math, numbered pages — not a styled web page printed to a file.
Step 4 — Know where Markdown ends
Markdown deliberately has less surface than LaTeX. When a document needs precise float placement, custom environments, or journal-class formatting, that is LaTeX’s territory — and since both live in the same editor, the right move is to switch surface, not tool. Your headings, emphasis, math, and tables all carry over.
Tip: Draft in Markdown, deliver in LaTeX is a workflow many people settle into: words first with zero friction, structure later when the target journal is known.