BJ's Blog

What is PDF?

PDF ,or portable document format is a file format that was introduced for exchanging  documents between computers.

PDF was developed by Adobe in  1993 based on its Acrobat software.

PDF’s is the de facto standard for the secure and reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents.

What can you do with PDF?

The main purpose of the PDF format is to create electronic documents that you can share via disc or via email. One of the format’s most popular uses is to convert long documentation such as help files, manuals and illustrated texts. PDFs are also easier to use as part of a ‘paperless office’, making them environmentally friendly too.

Most business today use PDF’s to exchange documents. Ebooks is another great example of the popularity and usefulness of the PDF format.

Some of it’s features:

PDF files are viewable and printable on virtually any platform — Mac OS, Microsoft® Windows®, UNIX®, and many mobile platforms.

Vital information about fonts and images is embedded in the PDF file, making it easy to ensure that a document appears in the correct format when it is opened on a different computer or operating system.  For longer documents in particular, PDF creation apps can insert bookmarks, compress high-resolution images and use Adobe Reader’s built-in search engine to scan documents for keywords and phrases.

PDF files look like original documents and preserve source file information — text, drawings, video, 3D, maps, full-color graphics, photos, and even business logic — regardless of the application used to create them.

What program should I use to view  a PDF?

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most popular PDF software. With Adobe Reader installed the files can also be displayed in a web browser, making retrieval more convenient.  Before you click on the download first check whether or not you have it already installed as the adobe is so popular and widely used that it normally comes with a lot of software.

To create a PDF read my post: Create PDF’s from your MS Word documents using CutePDF Writer