Why do we PDF?

The PDF document has become a hit with most of us, but for what reasons?

PDF?is an acronym for "Portable Document Format". The format is generally used?when you want to save files that need to be easily shared and printed but not necessarily edited.?In this age most of your devices will have a way to read PDFs, through a reader or via your browser.

It is an open file format which lets the reader access its content without the need of buying a specific software. The content will be correctly displayed on any device including formatted text, forms and images. By using PDF, you ensure that all receivers can open and read it.

The “PDF/A” is an archive version of PDF, designed?for long-term storing of digital documents. It excludes some PDF features not suitable for long-term archiving to make sure that when a document is opened in the future, it will look?the same as when it was archived.

So how do we use it? In all ways you can imagine!

• Reports and presentations
• Secure container for material to be printed (as it will not change its formatting)
• Large documents and collection of documents
• Brochures and pamphlets
• Contracts and agreements
• Protocols and certificates
• Payslips and account extracts
• … the list goes on

The reason you would put the above in a PDF could be that

• You do not want the content to be changed
• You want to limit access through password
• You want it to be available to a larger audience
• You want the original design and format to be maintained
• You are using unique fonts
• You want to use electronic / digital signatures

With PDF being such a rigid document format comes a few drawbacks, mostly around the ability to make corrections in a document and conversion to other formats. For this we have tools that helps us do it, and they can be equipped with advanced features.

In the next post I will look at a few of those features.