PDF Format: All You Need To Know

PDF stands for Portable Document Format and was created in the 1990s after Adobe co-founder Dr. John Warnock’s The Camelot Project of 1991. In 1993, the first version of PDF was launched, allowing for the reliable exchange of documents that continues to date.

PDF is a platform-independent, protected type of document file format

Why was the PDF file format created?

The PDF file format was developed out of the need to have documents exchanged from one type of computer or machine to another, which was a problem before. Now, you can use PDF on any software, hardware, or operating system. It means you can view, edit, print, and electronically sign PDF files whether you are on Windows or Mac OS.

What is in a PDF document?

The PDF file format allows for objects such as links, form fields, text streams, raster images, audio, and video, embedded fonts, and interactive buttons. You can also include business logic as part of the document. The format of the PDF file can have one or more pages as an image. Users can zoom in or out, or page up or down (forward and backward).

Backward-compatibility

Typically, PDF files are formatted for backward-compatibility. What this means is that you can open older version PDF format files using the latest supported software version.

What is the PDF standard?

The PDF is open –source (available as an open standard), currently under the maintenance of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The current version of the document format meets ISO 32000 standards. You can also use the PDF file for archiving (PDF/A), engineering (PDF/E), and printing (PDF/X).

PDF format supports e-signatures

You can easily add an electronic signature to a PDF file. To electronically sign a document in PDF, you will need a program or software that supports that.

View and edit PDF

You can view PDF files using any PDF viewer, some of which are native to your browser. If you don’t have one, easily download this one to view as well as edit PDFs. If you have a document in another format, or a web page, easily convert it to PDF.

There are also several tools you can utilize to convert PDF to other file formats for editing. PDF.co offers such a tool, which you can use to optimize, create, split, and edit PDF files.

Conclusion

The PDF file format has several features that have it so popular for businesses and individuals alike. You can sign PDF online, split PDF files into smaller documents, or extract PDF pages to save as new files.

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