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File extension PDF

File type Adobe Portable Document Format
Developer Adobe Systems
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What is a PDF file?

Files with the .PDF extension contain various types of documents and publications saved in a standard created by Adobe Systems that is now recognized by many platforms. The files are usually characterized by a limited editability using standard software, meaning that, more often than not, they can only be opened and displayed.

The data encompassed by PDF documents can be of various form, such as text, images, forms, annotations, and conspectuses. Reading the file is comparable to reading a printed document, with the fonts, image and form layouts, etc. preserved. The PDF format is often a go-to for saving documents using text editors, ensuring the documents’ usability on other platforms.

Program(s) that can open the .PDF file

Windows
Mac OS
Linux
Android
iOS
Windows Phone

More information about PDF file

PDF (short for Portable Document Format) standard was developed by Adobe as a document and publication digital display standard. PDF files can store data such as text, andotations, forms, images, etc. PDF files are not always generated from the scratch – many such files are created based on documents originally saved in other formats.

PDF capabilites

PDF format is considered the de facto standard in exchanging documents between various different platforms, devices, and applications. PDF documents preserve fonts and formatting and look exactly the same in print as on screen. PDF files offer many mor benefits, for example, they can store interactive media, adnotation, Flash animation, 3D graphics and 2D vector charts, attachments, and offer some security-related features.

PDF in linear and non-linear form

PDF can be of linear or non-linear type. Linear files (‘optimized’) can be viewed using a web browser as this type of PDF file doesn’t require downloadng the whole document in order to view it. Non-linear files (not ‘optimized’) on the other hand, are smaller in size but require longer to load as the data is written in various places in the file. Non-linear files can be optimized Adobe Acrobat software application.

PDF format is a combination of three technologies:

  1. Subset of PostScript page description language.
  2. Font embedding system.
  3. Structured data storage.

How to open PDF files

If you cannot open the PDF file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports PDF among those that are installed on your device.

A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the PDF file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.

Possible problems with the PDF format files

The inability to open and operate the PDF file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the Adobe Portable Document Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.

  • Corruption of a PDF file which is being opened
  • Incorrect links to the PDF file in registry entries.
  • Accidental deletion of the description of the PDF from the Windows registry
  • Incomplete installation of an application that supports the PDF format
  • The PDF file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
  • The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the PDF file.
  • Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a PDF file are out of date.

If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the PDF file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the PDF file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the PDF file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.

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How to associate the file with an installed software?

If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.PDF) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected PDF file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the PDF file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.

Is there one way to open unknown files?

Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. PDF) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.

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