PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is a file format developed by Adobe in 1993 to present documents (both text formatting and images) independent of the app software, hardware and OS.

PDF files can be viewed, navigated, printed and edited with Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

PDFs are generally used to distribute electronic documents. They can also be used to create interactive documents (online forms and presentations).

As PDFs are platform independent, they can be viewed on any device. They are scalable, are password protected and can be embedded with links, buttons and such other interactive elements.

John Warnock, founder of Adobe systems, developed PDF. He died in August 2023 at the age of 82 at his home in Los Altos, California. Prior to PDF that was released in 1990, the company had developed postscript. Acrobat and PDF were not immediately successful even after Adobe made its Acrobat Reader free to download. The PDF eventually became standard. It made paperless office a reality.

Though Adobe is known for its PDF, it has designed other programmers such as InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. All these have made our computing experience aesthetic engagement which formerly consisted of obscure commands and monochromatic images.

Adobe’s market capitalisation in 2023 is $235 billion. It is thus one of the largest IT companies in the world. Despite this, it has faced much larger companies such as Microsoft.