Regardless if you’re a newbie or a veteran to file formats, you will likely encounter the portable document format or PDF. With over 250 billion PDF files opened in 2018, there is no doubt that the PDF is the most important file format in the world.
Businesses and private individuals use PDF to share and store information. Even the biggest sectors that handle sensitive information use PDF software.
But what exactly is behind the PDF meaning? How do you define PDF? How does it work? What are the advantages that make it stand out from other file formats?
Continue reading below to find out the answers.
Understanding the PDF Meaning
When we talk about the real PDF meaning, it is important to go beyond the acronym. Behind those letters are interesting qualities that continue to influence the way people share and manage documents.
But what does PDF stand for essentially? First, let’s look back at its humble beginnings. The PDF is software created by Adobe back in the early ‘90s. The PDF’s main purpose is to present and share documents.
What sets the PDF apart from its contemporaries? The PDF allows you to share and store documents independent of any hardware, software, or operating system.
Furthermore, when you convert your files into PDF, they will look exactly the way you intended them to be. This means that your documents or images will retain all the data coming from the original file you are converting to PDF.
Even if you combine graphics and texts in one file, the PDF will preserve the original file’s data.
Today, PDF is more dynamic and interactive than ever. It lets you integrate different kinds of content and features to your documents. And the PDF software does all of these securely.
Why Does Everyone Love PDFs?
There are many reasons why students, individuals, and businesses love PDFs. But one of the main reasons why people trust the PDF is the high-level of security it offers. One of the first things you can do to secure your PDF files is to assign passwords.
Studies reveal that 43% of hacking victims are small businesses. If you stick to your regular DOC files instead of converting them to PDFs, cyber-criminals can easily steal your company’s valuable information.
The PDF software also lets you set restrictions on the people who can access your PDF files. You can limit your files only to certain people. In turn, only they can view or edit your PDF documents.
Another reason that makes PDFs appealing is the consistency in formatting. As we mentioned earlier, your files will look the same when you convert them to PDF. This means there will be no changes to your file’s format when you send them from your computer to another.
A perfect example is when you email a Word document to someone and the latter opens it using his mobile device. Sometimes, the formatting of the Word document comes out differently on the screen of a smartphone. This is crucial since it may cause confusion between the sender and the receiver.
But if you convert your DOC files to PDF, the formatting remains the same.
Flexible and Compact
Also, PDF software offers remarkable flexibility. It lets you integrate different kinds of content to your documents. This means you can add images, videos, animations, and graphics to your PDFs.
And of course, you can do all these things without altering the original format.
Aside from flexibility, PDFs are also compact. Compared to the file size of other popular formats, PDFs file size is much smaller. This means it will not eat a lot of space in your hard drive.
Even if you are working on high-quality files, PDF can compress them into smaller ones. Apart from saving space, having a small file size makes your documents easier to share.
If your business involves sharing and managing all sorts of documents, it is wise to convert them to PDF for better manageability.
PDF vs HTML
Now, let’s put the PDF head-to-head against other file formats. Against the HTML, the PDF trumps the former in terms of cost and practicality. The cost to produce PDFs is low especially if you already have the files available for printing.
When it comes to appearance, PDF retains the exact look of the original documents. On the flip side, HTML’s appearance depends on certain factors. These include the browser, the browser settings, the monitor, and the mark-up tags.
PDF vs DOC
Compared to DOC files, the differences in appearance can be night and day. If the PDF offers consistency, the appearance of DOC files may change depending on the device of the receiver.
This can be problematic for companies who wish to retain consistency in their logos and letterheads.
PDF vs TIFF
If you are working on scanned images, TIFF is the closest competitor of the PDF. They both work on almost all operating systems. You can also open them using different applications.
But when it comes to performance, PDF edges TIFF by miles. TIFF works by “wrapping” images. This means it can only support simple tags.
On the other hand, PDF accommodates both basic tags and complex metadata. This makes your PDF files fully-searchable. This is an excellent advantage if you want to archive your documents.
You can easily find them at a later date with much ease.
Also, PDF offers more security compared to TIFF. The PDF lets you set passwords and restrictions, whereas TIFF doesn’t come with built-in security features. The best it can offer is allowing and disallowing access.
Convert Your PDF Files and More Today!
Now that you have a better understanding of the PDF meaning, you can appreciate its features and pinpoint the specific areas where it can help your business. And if you rarely use PDFs, it is high time that you converted your documents to one.
Explore our website and convert your files for free. We offer free PDF conversions for Word docs, presentations, images, and spreadsheets.