Most people have heard of the PDF file format, although not everyone fully understands it. You probably know that it is one of the most common formats and there are good reasons for this being the case. PDF stands for portable document format (Which means calling it PDF format is incorrect. That is like saying portable document format format). PDFs are especially helpful in a business environment, although there are some situations where they are more useful than others. Learn more about why PDFs are as useful as they are.
Table of Contents
1. Universal
The biggest advantage that PDFs offer is their universality. All computer operating systems can open PDFs, which means it is a great format to use if you do not know what software the recipient of a file will have. You can be certain that whoever receives the PDF will be able to view it. Modern internet browsers can open the file immediately, which makes it easier than ever before to view quickly. If you do not view it in an internet browser, you will need a program to view a PDF. However, there are many different programs that can be used and most of them are completely free and easy to download. Because PDFs are so widespread, nearly everyone already has a PDF viewer. DOCX is one of the other most common formats, but you need Microsoft Word specifically to view DOCX files. Some other programs can view it, but the formatting may be messed up.
2. Secure
The second most important thing PDFs bring to the table is security. Unlike essentially every other file format, editing a PDF is difficult or even impossible in some cases. This may seem like a downside, and it is if you are using a PDF for the wrong reason. However, this is a very intentional choice, which makes it useful for situations where you do not want just anyone editing the file. In particular, PDF is great for contracts, because no one can change the terms of the contract easily. You can however use a PDF editor tool if you do need to make any essential changes.
3. Preservation
One problem that some file formats face when being transferred is that you cannot be completely sure what the other person will see. For all you know, the file was corrupted or there was a compatibility issue which prevented them from seeing the same thing you sent. PDFs are designed not to have this issue. PDFs are almost more similar to a physical piece of paper in this regard. It isn’t exactly the same, but you can think of a PDF as an image of the file, which will always be preserved exactly as you created it.
4. Functionality
Another benefit of PDFs is its functionality. You can include many things in a PDF that you may not expect, such as interactive buttons, password protection, buttons to trigger media, hyperlinks, and more. The most common functionality that PDFs are primarily used for is entering text into a form. You can specify where text can be added, so someone can fill out these text fields, but make no other changes.
5. Compact
Here’s a really simple benefit, but it’s one that makes a big difference. PDFs are a very compact file format. The file size of a PDF will be smaller than basically any other type of file that contains the same amount of information and images. You may not feel like this is a big deal, but there are size limitations on the files you can send in most email programs. Because PDFs are compressed, you should always be able to attach one to an email. This is especially helpful when you need to transfer many PDFs quickly.
6. Widespread
Finally, PDFs are incredibly widespread. This may be the most important benefit of all. All across the world, in offices, homes, and business of all kinds, people use PDFs to convey information. We already discussed the universal nature of PDFs, and their widespread nature ties into that aspect. However, the utter vastness of people using PDFs also means that the file format is likely to never fade. Any files you create in this format are more likely to still be useful decades in the future, because PDF will never stop being a hugely beneficial format.
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