PDF Files: Major Benefits and Drawbacks

Portable Document Format, or PDF, is a file format created by Adobe in the 1990s. Existing electronic or paper documents are converted to PDF files using Adobe Acrobat software, resulting in an uneditable version of the original document. Almost every common type of file, including Microsoft Office file formats, can be converted to Portable Document Format. They’re secure, simple to use, and don’t take up a lot of space on your hard drive, and they’re designed to be shared effortlessly among users, but they do have certain upsides and downsides.

 

Let’s start with the benefits of Portable Document Format or PDF files:

 

Since Adobe Acrobat Reader is generally pre-installed on your computer and is completely free, PDF may be accessed on any device with any operating system in the exact same manner in which it was generated.

 

A PDF file is easy to use, particularly if you plan to deliver documents to a great number of people. You must feel at ease when sharing or reviewing your files. Some file formats do not allow you to view the complete page, whereas PDF allows you to do so in a matter of seconds.

 

PDFs don’t take up a lot of space on your computer. Because it supports a range of image compression algorithms, they can simply be compressed to minimize file size without sacrificing image quality.

 

PDF files are widely used in both informal and official settings. Even if the PDF file has been slightly altered by an online pdf to word converter, it can still be easily identifiable. So, regardless of the situation, you can make use of this file format.

 

Most PDF files are password-protected, allowing them to be encrypted and kept in a secure location where only the owner may access them. This is crucial in preventing the file from being accessed by an unauthorized party.

 

However, there are certain downsides to using  PDF files:

 

For individuals who are not extremely tech aware, editing PDFs might be a daunting task. If you wish to convert a PDF to some other file format or make changes to the document, you’ll almost always have to purchase a PDF editor. There are several free PDF editors available, but their capabilities are usually limited.

 

The only operating systems that support PDF are Windows and Mac. Users of Linux and Unix are unable to produce or view PDF files. Alternative formats, such as HTML or RTF, are compatible with all platforms and are a preferable choice.

 

Furthermore, a PDF file is a non-editable duplicate of the actual document. While this is excellent in terms of security, PDF fails miserably as a shared format. If the PDF file is native, you can extract the content into a readable format using the software. If you have a scanned PDF document, however, there is no easy way to convert it back to an editable format.