Open pdf file

pdf file icon Did your computer fail to open pdf file? We explain what pdf files are and recommend software that we know can open your pdf files.

What is pdf file?

A pdf file extension is mainly used for Adobe Portable document format, commonly referred to as PDF. All programs that create some sort of documents or projects offer the possibility to export their format to PDF format. A free PDF viewer (Adobe Reader) is available for download from Adobe website.

pdf file description

The pdf file extension is first and foremost associated with Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. Other file formats with PDF file extension in our list are very rare and it would not be an exaggeration to say that 99,99% of PDFs found on the Internet are Adobe Portable documents.

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format proprietary to Adobe Systems for representing two-dimensional documents in a device-independent and resolution-independent fixed-layout document format. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a 2D document (and, with the advent of Acrobat 3D, embedded 3D documents) that includes the text, fonts, images, and 2D vector graphics that compose the document.

PDF files do not encode information that is specific to the application software, hardware, or operating system used to create or view the document. This feature ensures that a valid PDF will render exactly the same regardless of its origin or destination (but depending on font availability).

Anyone may create applications that read and write PDF files without having to pay royalties to Adobe Systems, however, Adobe holds several patents relating to the PDF format and claims that it is an open standard, licensing them on a royalty-free basis for use in developing software that complies with its PDF specification.

PDF files are most appropriately used to encode the exact look of a document in a device-independent way. While the PDF format can describe very simple one-page documents, it may also be used for many pages, complex documents that use a variety of different fonts, graphics, colors, and images.

PDF readers for many platforms are available, such as Xpdf, Foxit, and Adobe's own Adobe Reader. There are also front-ends for many platforms to Ghostscript. PDF readers are generally free.

There are many software options for creating PDFs, including the PDF printing capability built into Mac OS X, the multi-platform OpenOffice, numerous PDF print drivers for Microsoft Windows, and Adobe Acrobat itself. There is also specialized software for editing PDF files.

MIME types used for PDF file type:
application/pdf
application/x-pdf
application/acrobat
applications/vnd.pdf
text/pdf
text/x-pdf
application/x-bzpdf
application/x-gzpdf