What’s a PDF, anyway?

Almost everyone has used, or at the very least heard of, a PDF file. However, do you know what “pdf” stands for, and what the big deal is about using it? If not, here’s a quick explanation.

“PDF” stands for “portable document format”. It was invented in the 1990’s by Dr. John E. Warnock, who later would go on to become co-chairman of the Adobe Corporation. It has become a standard viewing and printing platform that allows users to share documents, no matter what program they were authored on.

For example: Say you are composing a document using Microsoft Publisher. You, of course, can open, edit, and read this document without a problem. You can email it to someone else who has Publisher on their computer as well. BUT – what if you need to email it to someone who doesn’t have a license for MS Publisher on their machine? They might receive it, but they certainly couldn’t read it without buying MS Publisher.

Here’s where PDF format saves the day. If you save the file in PDF format instead of Publisher format, then all the recipient has to do is to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe’s website to view your document (or any other PDF document that is sent to them).

If the program you’re using doesn’t let you save your file in PDF format, don’t despair! Here in the Library, we have a fully licensed version of Adobe Acrobat Professional installed on every computer with a scanner attached. This full-function software package allows us to create a PDF out of almost any file type. Stop by and we’ll be glad to show you how to do this!