What Is a PDF File (and How Do I Open One)?
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Key Takeaways
- PDFs are widely used for distributing read-only documents with preserved layout, making them popular for various purposes such as user manuals and eBooks.
- Multiple apps can open PDFs, including web browsers, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and most word processing apps. Adobe Acrobat Pro is used to create and edit PDFs.
- Press Ctrl+P to print a file to PDF on Windows, or Command+P to print a file to PDF on macOS.
PDFs are typically used to distribute read-only documents that preserve the layout of a page. They're regularly used for documents like user manuals, eBooks, application forms, scanned documents, and countless others. Here's everything you need to know.
What Does PDF Stand For?
PDF stands for Portable Document Format. The PDF format was created by Adobe in the 1990s.
What is a PDF File?
PDFs were created with two major needs in mind. The first is that people should be able to open the documents on any hardware or operating system, without needing to have the app used to create them—all you need is a PDF reader, and these days most web browsers fit the bill. The second is that wherever you open a PDF, the layout of the document should look the same.
Those two factors have made PDFs very popular for an enormous variety of uses, ranging from fillable tax forms to fantasy novels.
PDFs can contain text, images, embedded fonts, hyperlinks, video, interactive buttons, forms, and more.
How to View a PDF File
Because PDFs are a standardized format, there are a considerable number of apps out there that can open PDFs. Web browsers, Adobe's official Acrobat Reader, third-party apps, and even most word processing apps can handle PDFs.
Easiest Way to View a PDF: Use Your Web Browser
Chances are if you're reading this article, the web browser you're using is capable of viewing a PDF, and doing so is mostly the same on macOS and Windows.
If you don't have another app that can read PDFs, the chances are that your browser is already the default app and you can just double-click the file to open it.
If not, right-click the file, point to the "Open With" menu, and then click your favorite browser.
The results are similar to any other program out there.
For More Control and Better Feature Support: Use a Desktop Reader
Adobe's Acrobat Reader is the official tool for reading PDFs. It's free, and it's available for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
After installing Acrobat Reader, all you have to do is double-click on any PDF you want to open.
And as you can see, it has a whole lot more features for controlling your view, as well as the ability to export PDFs to an editable format, such as a Microsoft Office document.
Of course, there are also third-party apps for viewing PDF files, some of which are faster and less bloated than Adobe Reader.
How to Edit a PDF
If you need to edit a PDF but have it stay in PDF format, your options are limited. The gold standard here is Adobe's own Acrobat DC. Unfortunately, it's kind of pricey. The standard version is $12.99 per month if you make an annual commitment, or 22.99 if you pay monthly. It's also only available for Windows. The pro version is $19.99 per month with an annual commitment, and 29.99 per month if paid monthly. That one is available for both Windows and macOS.
There is a seven day free trial period available for the Pro version, so if you only need to edit a document or two, that might work for you.
There are also some free utilities available out there. Our favorite is PDF-XChange Editor, which lets you make basic edits and annotations.
How to Create a PDF
There are multiple ways to create a PDF, and which you use depends on your specific situation.
If you just need to create a PDF from some existing media—like a Word Document, webpage, or an image—then your best best is to use the "Print to PDF" option. Printing to PDF lets you save anything you can print as a PDF.
How exactly you print to PDF depends on which operating system you're using and what software you're using. If you're trying to print to a PDF on Windows, Ctrl+P to open up the print window, then select "Save as PDF". MacOS is almost identical: press Command+P to open the print window, then select "Save as PDF."
Some apps, like Chrome, also have their own built-in PDF printers.
Many apps also have PDF as a file type option in the "Save" or "Save As" menu, but this isn't universal. If you're trying to print an image to PDF, open it in your system's default image viewer and then use the system print dialogue to save it as a PDF. On Windows you need to change the device to "Microsoft Print to PDF," and on macOS you're looking for "Save as PDF" again.
If you need more control over how your PDFs turn out (like if you're preparing something for professional printing), you're going to have to turn to Adobe's Acrobat DC.
How to Convert a PDF to Something Editable
You can also convert a PDF into some other file format that you can more easily edit.
Typically, you're going to want to convert your PDF into something your word processor can handle. We've already got great articles on converting PDFs to Microsoft Word or Google Docs, so give those a read if that's what you need to do. Even if you use another word processor, it should be able to handle either of those formats after the conversion.
The only trouble with converting documents using Word or Google's built-in tools is that they can sometimes have difficulty maintaining complex formatting and layout. If you have a PDF that fits that bill, you might want to try Adobe's Acrobat Reader DC. While the app is free, you do have to pay a $1.99 per month fee if you want it to be able to convert PDFs to other formats, like Word. If it's something you need to do regularly, that fee is probably worth it because using Acrobat is the most reliable way to change your PDFs to Word documents, since it tends to maintain formatting pretty well. And of course, the full version of Acrobat DC can also do the job, but it's not worth the added cost if all you need to do is convert documents.
There are also some online conversion tools that you can use if none of these others suit your needs. Since these solutions are cloud-based and allow you to convert any PDF you have without the need to install software onto your machine. It is, however, essential to keep in mind that you have to upload your document to their servers in the process, so if your document has sensitive information, you might want to skip this step.
Zamzar is one of the more popular online file conversion sites, and it's worked well for us. Their free service lets you convert any file up to 100 MB in size. After you upload and choose what format you want to convert it to, the document will be emailed to you with a link to download.
One added benefit to using Zamzar is that it supports a vast number of formats to which you can convert, including various document, image, and even eBook formats.
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