Among modern computer users today, there is hardly a person who would not hear about the PDF format. What kind of PDF format, in general terms, they imagine almost everything. However, for a clearer understanding of working with such documents, it is worthwhile to dwell on some of their features in more detail, find out the strengths and weaknesses, and also look at compatibility with the most popular software and conversion to other formats for the convenience of processing such documents.
What is the PDF format?
In essence, the structure of PDF files, most experts refer to the text format cross-platform type. What does this mean? Yes, the fact that you can open such a file with the help of most well-known text editors, special programs for viewing and editing, as well as in all web browsers, without exception, regardless of the developer or even the operating system that is installed on the computer. In other words, this format is universal.
However, its main feature can be called the fact that documents of this type can contain not only text, but also many additional elements, including graphics of any type. It is not surprising that today on the Internet you can find books in PDF format, various kinds of instructions or complex technical documentation. But why exactly this format has become so popular and in demand?
Key Features of PDF Documents
At one time, the format was developed by Adobe Systems, and at first such documents after they were converted to PDF using third-party programs could only be viewed by the type of how this is done for image files. That is, such an orientation was initially determined when the text in the document was present exclusively in the form of an image and could not be edited. Over time, everything changed, and for this format, additional applications that could change the text inside the document began to be actively released. The development company was, of course, the originator of the creation of such programs, but later this possibility also appeared in office suites.
But what really attracts users is the fact that files of this type, even if they have a sufficiently large number of graphic objects, are surprisingly very small. To make sure of this, simply create two identical documents with text and graphics in the DOC and PDF format, and after saving, compare how much space each of them takes on the hard drive or removable media.
Another reason for the popularity of this format is as follows. For example, if you open the same file for editing, created directly in some text editor, which is part of office suites from different developers, the structure of the document itself, as well as formatting, may be violated, and you will have to bring it into a readable form a very long time. With regard to PDF, everything is much simpler, because when you open it for editing in any program, the document has the same appearance.
How to open a PDF document for viewing?
Regarding the viewing, it can be noted that you can use almost everything that is at hand for this.
If initially it was necessary to use only tools such as Acrobat Reader from Adobe, now documents of this format can easily be opened in the most common office editors for working with text files and in all Internet browsers.
Than edit
What kind of PDF format, it’s still a little clear how to view files of this type, too. Now consider the issues associated with editing PDF-documents. Initially, as already mentioned, the text and graphic contents of the file could only be transformed into this format. Later, Adobe began to release its own tools with the ability to not only view, but also change the contents, and now files of this type can be opened in the same Word editor by specifying the appropriate type of format in the selection box.
From the "Explorer" documents can be opened using other applications, using the right-click menu item on the selected file "Open with ...". Like opening, saving is done directly in the editor in which the document was opened.
Convert to other formats
However, despite the universality of the PDF format, it is often necessary to convert it to other types. To do this, you can use several simple methods. For example, all the "native" editing tools from Adobe or Word allow you to choose the final format of the saved file.
To do this, use the “Save As ...” file menu item, after which the desired type and location are selected from the list. Also today, you can find a large number of all kinds of converters that allow you to convert PDF to other specific formats (for example, to a graphic image of any type or to Excel spreadsheet files).
If you have questions about how to convert other types of files to PDF, there should not be any special difficulties, since most converters work in both directions. Similarly, the procedure is performed in Word. But it is the use of conversion programs that allows you to convert much faster if you need to perform such operations not for one but for several files (batch conversion). At the same time, in some programs of this type it does not matter what format the source document has when converting directly to PDF.
Total
Now, probably, it has become fully clear what kind of PDF format. Small file sizes, invariable structure and ease of processing, regardless of the developer of the software for viewing or editing and the type of operating system, even if it is mobile, has made this format so popular, universal and even, if you like, unique in its kind.