What is a PDF file and why you should use one

PDF file format that people are so fond of was designed and introduced into the mainstream by Adobe System, a US company back in 1991. In full, the file format is referred to as Adobe portable document format or simply as Adobe PDF. There are several file formats that can be classified as PDF. Most of the files that people download on the Internet are usually of the PDF format. For instance, if you are located in the US and download an IRS tax form to use in filing your annual taxes, then the form that you use is a PDF.

You can know if a file is a PDF by its file extension. All portable document format files usually end in .pdf. They are very popular as the world increasingly becomes digital.

Why use PDF files?

There is a simple reason why people use PDF documents and that is, they are easily accessible and sharable. I will make this point sink by providing a short example here. Let’s say that you create a file using the Microsoft Word program and save it with the .docx extension. The .docx extension is the default file extension when you are using the Microsoft Word program. Now, in order for whoever you send your file to access it, they need to have Microsoft Office suite installed on their computer. Without this suite installed, the person you send the file to will not be able to access and open the file you send them. As a result, they will not be able to see the content of your file. If your intention was for them to see and read the content of your document, then your goal will not be achieved.

Now, even if the receiver of your file is able to open and read it, Microsoft word documents are usually meant to be edited. This means that there is no guarantee that the text in your file will remain fixed in the same position it was when you sent the file. Text and other elements in the document will be shifted around. In fact, elements in the document can be shifted around so much that the whole document can just look weird.

To solve this problem, you can simply use PDF. PDF documents are meant primarily for viewing and not editing. This means that text and all elements that you include in it will remain in their fixed positions. Also, the file can be opened on any computer and computing device as long as there is a PDF viewer program installed- and there are many of these programs around.

Opening PDF files

It is a simple process to open and view a PDF document. If you have a modern browser, then you can easily open and view these files. In fact, you don’t even need to download the files because they open automatically in a new tab or window based on your preferences and settings.

You can also convert

The beauty of PDF files is that it can also be converted to other file formats such as MS word. This can be done easily with the use of a PDF converter to word. There are so many of these programs to go around that you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one.