The PDF format remains popular in the modern workplace, holding a 52% share of all Internet traffic files.
First created in 1993 by Adobe, the file format has become a standard for printable digital documents. Billions of PDFs contain essential information like government reports and statistical data.
But what are the top benefits of PDFs for your business?
This article breaks down seven essential advantages of PDFs and how they can help your company.
Learn how their ubiquitous nature means you can share PDFs with anyone yet still retain their formatting. Then discover how to keep your documents safe through password protection.
Read on to see how simple it is to convert your existing documents to PDF format and how the format will live on forever.
1. PDF Files Work on Any Platform
The biggest advantage of converting your documents to PDF format is that they look the same on every device.
Regardless if you use Windows, Mac, or Linux, a PDF will appear identically on all three operating systems. Unlike HTML or a Word document, PDFs retain their formatting. That means no more shifting of charts or missing words when you open a report.
All you need is a PDF viewer.
They’re free and always produce the same results. Even web browsers embed the files so you can view them online anywhere in the world.
2. Password Protected
Many business owners stick with Microsoft Word because it has a password protection feature. But did you know that PDFs offer that functionality too?
It’s simple to add a password to a PDF document. Your important files are then kept safe and can only be opened by those users you share the password with.
However, if you’re worried that others can edit your PDFs after opening them then consider this.
All PDFs are read-only. That means you can’t simply alter them like a Word document. It provides an additional layer of security that other formats don’t have.
3. Small File Size
PDFs that contain simple text content often result in far smaller file sizes compared to office docs.
The reason for this is PDF files are automatically compressed. You can add multiple PDFs as email attachments without a problem or save them to your cloud drive. It’s one of the reasons larger organizations like banks store millions of customer records as PDF files.
PDFs can also be created on-the-fly.
You can combine them with information from a database and serve them via your website. And all at a small file size.
4. Easy to Convert to PDF
You may be wondering how difficult it is to convert your existing Word and Excel documents to PDF format. Well, there’s great news as Offdrive is here to make that process a breeze.
Our Document Conversion tools let you transform any type of document into a PDF.
That includes the likes of PowerPoint files. Slides appear as pages and all the formatting and template colors get kept in place.
The process works in reverse too.
If you need to edit PDFs, simply convert them into a Microsoft Word document. Make your changes, save the file, then convert it back to PDF. Easy!
5. Designed to Last
PDFs are designed to retain their data and format while in transit.
When you send a PDF report to your business partner or customers you can be certain it won’t get tampered with. Neither will it get corrupted or stop working for no reason.
Think of a PDF as an image that you can’t touch-up.
Unlike a painting or artwork, PDF files cannot get torn or damaged. They remain exactly the same and preserve their formatting as intended.
6. PDF Files Are Interactive
You might not know this but PDFs allow you to fully interact with them if you allow it.
Adobe Indesign enables you to create a PDF workspace where you can add links and interactive elements. You can embed bookmarks into pages and link to them from a contents page.
Like a web site, you can also insert:
- actionable buttons
- videos
- audio files
- animated GIFs
- visual links
It doesn’t stop there as you can also embed Office documents like Word and Excel spreadsheets. Interactive PDF services like bit.ai even let you create quizzes and polls and place them within your PDFs!
7. PDFs Will Be Around Forever
PDFs are universal.
Millions of businesses incorporate the format into their working-day lives. Manufacturers let customers access instruction manuals on their website by downloading PDF files. Information is sent using PDFs around the globe every day.
PDF is now a recognized ISO international standard.
In July 2008, Adobe’s most productive application received ISO 32000-1 status. The PDF ISO standard covers:
- PDF/X – digital materials now mirror their printed counterparts
- PDF/A – a standardized way to preserve and archive information
- PDF/E – for engineering and technical documents
- PDF/VT – variable and transactional printing
- PDF/UA – universal access for users with a disability
This transition to an open-standard means other developers can improve the software. PDFs will become more secure and interactive. And they won’t fall by the wayside like other formats including Flash or the .swf extension.
All of this means that the format will continue to prosper for years to come. You can convert your files to PDF and they’ll be accessible forever.
Convert PDF Files From Any Format With Offdrive
This article has highlighted the benefits of PDFs.
Not only do they work on any platform or device but they offer smaller file sizes compared to other documents. You can password protect your PDF files and make them interactive, just like a web page.
One of the biggest advantages of PDFs is how easy it is to convert files into that format.
Microsoft Word to PDF is a snap using Offdrive’s free conversion tool. You can also convert Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and image formats like JPEG.
And don’t forget that the process works the other way too.
Convert your PDFs to the Epub ebook reader format using our free online service. There are no limits and we have dozens of formats to choose from