PDF today is a well-recognized standard for working with electronic documents and forms. However, many of us use PDF files without really knowing what makes these files so useful or what PDF really stands for. Our article explains some of the benefits of working with PDF files.
All of us have worked with PDF files in some form or the other. We would have downloaded an instruction manual from a website for a new product as a PDF file, received brochures as PDF files in our mail or been given PDF handouts of a presentation we are attending. We would have all appreciated the clean and precise look of the files but would not have given much thought to the file format being used, much less wondered why PDF formats are preferred to other file formats. Nevertheless, everyone is aware of the robustness and security features of PDF files as also how rarely does one find corrupt PDF files.
Let us first begin by understanding the term PDF. PDF stands for Portable Document Format and as the name suggests, is a file format that was created to facilitate the sharing of documents independent of the platform or software used to create them or those used to view them, as also being independent of the output device used to print them. As of today, this is truly one of the few file formats that offers such immense portability. There are other benefits of the PDF file format as mentioned below.
- Portability – All that you need to view, copy and print a PDF file (provided you have the permission to copy and print) is a PDF reader. You can find a number of software with varying set of features in the market today but the overwhelming favorite is the Adobe Reader – the free software provided by Adobe to view PDF files. Once you have the Adobe Reader, a user can read a PDF file on any platform.
- Popularity – More and more files on the Internet are now to be found in the PDF file format. In fact, even software developers are recognizing this fact and including PDF support in their applications. For example, you will find many vendors such as DataNumen coming up with highly sophisticated repair tools – in this case, DataNumen PDF Repair – that will help recover data from corrupt PDF files.
- Document Fidelity – Even if you have created a document in another file format and then converted it into a PDF file, you can be rest assured that both the content as well as the visual elements of the document will be precisely maintained in the PDF file.
- High Levels of Security – PDF files can be encrypted and password-protected, thereby providing a very secure way of transferring confidential information or sharing data through tools such as email. One can control the level of user access and PDF files can also be digitally signed so that the authenticity can be verified by the receiver. To top it all, PDF files offer great resistance to virus attacks and other malicious attacks ensuring that very rarely do PDF files get infected with viruses or Trojans. Even if they do, tools such as Advanced PDF Repair can very effectively scan and restore most of the data from corrupt PDF files. PDF files are thus a safe and trusted way to store and share important information.