What is PDF?

Portable Document Format (PDF) is the standard for the secure and reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms around the world, with a ten-year track record. PDF is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics, and layout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. Adobe® PDF files are small and can be shared, viewed, and printed by anyone with free Adobe Reader® software. To date, more than 500 million copies of the software have been distributed. You can convert any document to Adobe PDF using Adobe Acrobat® software products, enabling business, engineering, and creative professionals to create, distribute, and exchange secure and reliable Adobe PDF documents. (...more info from Adobe)

An open file format specification, PDF is available to anyone who wants to develop tools to create, view, or manipulate PDF documents. Indeed, more than 1,800 vendors offer PDF-based solutions, ensuring that organizations that adopt the PDF standard have a variety of tools to leverage the Portable Document Format and to customize document processes.