Simple CV Theme is a Hugo theme for building a customizable, printable HTML/CSS CV — you feed it your professional data in a YAML file and it generates a single-page online resume that also prints as a formatted A4 PDF.
What is Simple CV Theme?
Simple CV Theme is a static-site Hugo theme that turns your resume data into a visually clean, single-page CV. It takes input from data/content.yaml for professional history and config.toml for theme colors and the number of A4 pages, and outputs a responsive HTML page that can be printed to PDF via the browser. The theme is a fork of the almeida-cv repository by hootan09 and is distributed on GitHub.
Key Features
- A4 PDF printing — When you print the page from the browser, the content is automatically formatted to A4; content longer than one page is split across multiple pages, and the page count can be set in
config.toml. - HTML5 + CSS3 output — The theme is built with plain HTML5 and CSS3 (via SCSS) and needs no JavaScript runtime for rendering the CV.
- Customizable colors — Theme colors are defined in
config.toml, so you can match your CV to a personal brand without touching markup. - Persian & Arabic support — The layout includes support for right-to-left scripts, with example screenshots in Persian available in the repository.
- Custom SCSS overrides — Create
assets/scss/_custom.scssin your site root to overwrite the theme's SCSS for deeper styling changes. - Data-driven content — All professional data (experience, education, skills) lives in
data/content.yaml, separating content from presentation. - Hugo Extended workflow — Requires Hugo Extended; you can scaffold a new site with
hugo new site, add the theme as a Git submodule, and build withhugo --minify.
Who is it for?
- Job seekers — Build a clean, print-ready PDF CV without using a word processor; keep every revision in Git.
- Developers & designers — Customize the theme's SCSS and colors to match a personal brand, then host the static output anywhere.
- Multilingual applicants — Take advantage of built-in Persian and Arabic support for resumes in those languages.
- Privacy-focused users — Since Hugo generates static HTML, you can host your CV on any static host without a database or server-side code.
What can you do with Simple CV Theme?
- Create a printable PDF resume: Open the site in a browser, enable "Background Graphics" in the print dialog, and export a perfectly formatted A4 PDF.
- Host an online CV: Use
hugo --minifyto generate static files, then deploy them to GitHub Pages, Netlify, or any static host. - Localize your CV: Use the Persian/Arabic support to maintain a right-to-left version of your resume alongside the default layout.
How does Simple CV Theme work?
Install Hugo Extended, create a new Hugo site, and add the theme as a Git submodule with git submodule add. Then copy the exampleSite files into your project root, replace the data in data/content.yaml with your own, and adjust colors/page count in config.toml. Run hugo server -D to preview at http://localhost:1313, or hugo --minify to build the static site.
FAQ
Is Simple CV Theme free?
Yes — the theme is open source and hosted on GitHub, so you can clone, fork, and use it for personal or commercial resumes at no cost.
What do I need to run it?
You need Hugo Extended installed on your machine. The theme uses SCSS, which requires the extended version of Hugo to compile.
Does it support Persian and Arabic?
Yes, the theme includes support for Persian and Arabic, including right-to-left text rendering.
How do I make the PDF look right when printing?
In the print dialog, toggle the "Background Graphics" option so badges and elements with backgrounds render correctly.
Can I change the number of pages?
Yes, the number of A4 pages is configurable in the config.toml file. Content will automatically be divided across that many pages.
Alternatives
- almeida-cv — The original repository that Simple CV Theme was forked from; useful if you want the baseline without the additions.
