Chapter 4. PDF

In a manner of speaking, Portable Document Format (PDF) is like the Rosetta stone of digital file formats. The idea is that anyone with the Adobe Reader application can open a PDF document, and it will look exactly as the designer intended it to. Everything necessary to make the document look as it should is contained in the PDF, so it can be output on pretty much any device regardless of where the original document was created or what operating system the creator used.

Originally, PDF was a very basic format intended to make it easier to manage administrative documents in an office environment. Over time, designers found that it was much easier to work with PDF instead of raw PostScript information, so Adobe began to add more features that creative professionals wanted. Today, PDF is an industry standard used around the world to package documents for output and Internet-based distribution.

PDF is so pervasive in the design industry that you can't get by without the ability to create and open PDF documents. Apple even chose to use a form of PDF called Display PDF as the basis for rendering everything you see on your Mac's display.