Portable Document Format
PDF is a document format that preserves layout, fonts, and images exactly as designed, regardless of the device, operating system, or software used to view it — which is why it's the standard for sharing finished documents.
Extensions
MIME type(s)
application/pdf
Compression
Lossy or lossless
Transparency
Not supported
Advantages
- Looks identical on every device and operating system
- Can contain text, images, and vector graphics in one file
- Supports merging, page extraction, and digital signatures
Disadvantages
- Not designed for easy editing once created
- Can produce larger files than plain text or image formats
- Complex PDFs (forms, layers) aren't always portable between tools
Common uses
- Sharing finished documents, invoices, and reports
- Printing and archiving
- Combining scanned pages or images into one file
How to open a PDF file
Opens natively in every modern browser, and in dedicated readers like Adobe Acrobat, Preview (macOS), and most operating systems' built-in viewers.