Before PDF files, sharing files between different operating systems and software packages was difficult, if not impossible. File types built and owned by corporations were competing with open standard file types. Nothing worked well together, even though the need to share information across platforms effectively was apparent. That spurred Adobe to create the PDF file type.
A PDF file or Portable Document Format file is a file that can be opened, read, and edited in PDF software that is available for every operating system and device today. You can use it to share images, text files, or forms. They can be full books or a single page like invoices and receipts.
Regardless of how you use PDF files today, they’ve truly become a workhorse of file sharing in personal life and business.
PDF File Format Benefits
Originally the PDF format was owned and controlled by Adobe. Even from the beginning, it was beneficial, and the potential was widely recognized, but the fact that Adobe owned it limited its growth.
In 2008 Adobe made it an open standard, so it was free for everyone to use, and ever since, the usage of PDF format has been growing. Today you can find it built into most office software and other publishing software. It has never been easier to leverage the PDF format.
The benefits of the PDF file format created by Adobe are primarily around the fact that the files are easy to share and print while having some barriers to editing. In addition, PDFs can be small files that are easy to email and transfer while maintaining the original format and layout.
This feature has led to them being a staple in business for invoices and receipts. Because they can be a little tricky to edit without others knowing it, they’ve also become commonplace in contracts and other legal documents.
Printing PDFs gives results that are consistent and reliable. Even to the extent where some PDFs are designed to change size on the fly, meaning you can adjust the size of paper your printing on without losing any quality. The same sizing advantage works for zooming in and out on the PDF as well.
Alternatively, if the PDF gets designed for high quality on large paper, you can print it on smaller paper without losing quality. These are significant benefits when it comes to schematics and technical drawings. Coupled with markup software, PDF is a powerful tool for sharing, adjusting, and communicating technical information.
How to Read or View a PDF File
To read or view a PDF file, you need PDF reader software. The most universally used reader software is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC which you can find on Adobe’s website. Other software applications will also do this, but since the Adobe Reader software is free and the original PDF format creators, most people gravitate towards using Adobe. Don’t let this stop you from trying software from other reputable software vendors like Foxit Reader.
How to Edit a PDF File
One of the leading PDF editing applications is Adobe Standard DC or Adobe Pro DC. Mainly for the same reason that Adobe’s reader software is the most popular. It’s more suited to creating documents and forms but can also convert images to PDF.
The direct competitor to Adobe is Foxit PhantomPDF. However, other software companies like Bluebeam or Drawboard have created excellent PDF software that extends the functionality of PDFs even further by enabling markups.
The introduction of markup software means that people can develop documents, share them with others, and mark them up with edits or comments. Electronic editing has been a significant step forward in the world of technology and engineering.
Something as simple as making corrections to a drawing electronically without printing saves time and material. Contractors, estimators, and architects also have many applications for markup software because of the improvements to their workflow.
Image Based PDF Files
Image-based PDF files can be images like drawings or maps, but they can also include text that is part of the picture. You see this in sales copy, typically in brochures and other product information documents.
Image-based PDFs have their use, but they can also be limited. For example, you aren’t able to select any of the text in the image. You can’t copy it and paste it somewhere else, and you can’t use a PDF editor to change it.
One of the great features of PDFs is the support for vector graphics. Raster graphics are pixel-based, and once the pixels are laid out in a given pattern, that’s what you’ve got. These are the ever-popular JPG and bitmap formats.
If you make a PDF using these formats or a raster PDF, you’ll find that it will become blurry or even pixelated when you try to resize or zoom into the image. This format can be handy, but they don’t resize very well.
The answer to this is vector graphics. Vector graphics adjust the image using mathematics so that the size or zoom of the image can be changed without affecting the image’s sharpness. It just recalculates the edges!
The calculated image greatly enhances the usefulness and density information packed into your PDF. There are even conversion programs like Vector Magic that can convert your raster formats into vector formats. Large schematic diagrams benefit from this.
Text Based PDF Files
Text-based PDF files are commonplace but have the advantage that you can select and copy the text. Copy and paste are handy if you have significant amounts of data in PDF format that you need to pull out and analyze.
It can also help you if you need to share select pieces with others as part of a discussion. In addition, the text is editable if you have PDF editing software, and the PDF you have was made using PDF editing software.
Where text-based PDFs have seen a jump in usage is in simple business transactions like invoices and receipts. Service reports that deliver the results of a service call or inspection use the PDF format to freeze the information provided.
Often this is done to provide an official final copy to the customer. Contracts, terms & conditions, and other legal documents lean on the PDF format for this exact reason, especially since electronic signatures have now become commonplace.
Fillable PDF Forms
Instead of designing your forms, printing them, and then having people fill them out, you can skip a big part of that process and have them fill out your PDF forms electronically. Electronic completion is possible by using fillable PDF files.
You will need to invest time in the initial design, but it can be powerful once the form is complete. It can be printed and filled out like a regular form, but you also can leverage electronically completed forms.
The more typical place to find PDF forms is with government institutions or large companies simply because of the time it takes to build the form. However, once it’s complete, the payback can be reasonably fast since it improves the experience for the person filling it out and speeds up completing it.
It also reduces mistakes made by the person receiving the form because it is typed out and easier to read. In addition, if the form is designed correctly, the information can be transferred into a different format by software, preventing any human entry error.
In some cases, it makes more sense to transfer the data out of the PDF by using an export function. Exporting can be done using PDF editing software to pull out the entered information and then save it in a different file type. Sometimes straight into a database.
In other instances, you may have a custom software package that needs the data entered directly from paper copies. Of course, you can always transfer it manually, but another feature of fillable forms is to organize the form information in bar codes. Once the bar codes are generated, they can be scanned using a bar code scanner to pull the data into your software.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it! PDF files are a valuable part of the way people are sharing information today. There’s no doubt that you’ve had exposure to PDFs at some point or another, but now you have a better understanding of PDFs. I hope this quick overview helps you make the most out of PDFs that you can!