What is a PDF file?
PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format developed by Adobe as a means of distributing compact, platform-independent documents. It is superficially similar to HTML; a PDF document may contain images and text, as well as hyperlinks. However, as PDF is based on a variant of PostScript, each document is self-contained, packing text, graphics, and fonts into a single file.
You can use Adobe Acrobat to create PDF files, and you can view PDF files either with Adobe Reader or via a web browser with the PDF Viewer plug-in.
Additionally, Mac OS X offers built-in support for creating PDF files and includes a free application called Preview for viewing PDF files; see In Mac OS X, how do I convert a document to PDF?
For more information, visit the Adobe Acrobat family web site.
Last modified on November 16, 2011.







