Portable Document Format (PDF)

 

PDF is a graphically oriented file format designed for electronic interchange; it was developed by Adobe® Systems Inc. for use with its Acrobat® software. In a PDF file, any page in a publication can be displayed or printed by a user in a form virtually identical to the page that appeared in the publication (including richly formatted text, graphics and colors). Adobe® has released a free Acrobat Reader® for PDF files. With the Acrobat Reader®, a user can view and print PDF files; in addition, a user can extract text into ASCII or Rich Text Format (a file format that preserves some of the font and formatting characteristics of a document) and perform searches on the document. Download the free viewer for PDF files available from Adobe® Systems Incorporated by clicking on the logo below (this link opens a new window).