What is a PDF file?
PDF is Adobe's document format, an open ISO standard since 2008. It keeps text, images and layout exactly as intended on any device, which is why it's used for documents, forms and print files.
- Full name
- Portable Document Format
- File extensions
- MIME type
- application/pdf
- Type
- Document
- Compression
- Depends on the content
- Transparency
- No (pages render on white)
- Animation
- No
- Format Hero support
- Convert from and to
What PDF is used for
Documents, invoices, forms, scanned paperwork, ebooks and print-ready files.
Strengths
Identical layout everywhere, many pages in one file, searchable text, and universal support.
Weaknesses
Hard to edit, and you can't use a PDF page where an image is expected: in a slide, a post or an image upload field.
Compatibility
Every browser, operating system and phone has a PDF viewer built in, and PDF is accepted almost anywhere documents are.
Convert PDF to another format
Convert other formats to PDF
Questions
How do I open a PDF file?
Open it in any browser, or in the PDF viewer built into your operating system.
Is PDF lossy or lossless?
It depends on the content. Text and vector graphics are stored exactly, while images inside a PDF can use lossy (JPEG) or lossless compression.
Does PDF support transparency?
PDF pages can contain transparent objects, but when a page is converted to an image it's rendered on its white page background.
Can I convert PDF files without uploading them?
Yes. Format Hero converts PDF files in your browser, on your own device, so they're never sent to a server. It's free, needs no sign-up and adds no watermark.