What's Acrobat PDF?

What's Acrobat PDF Format?

- And how do I read it?

The "PDF" file format is a new standard being promulgated by Adobe Systems for "platform-independent" exchange of formatted page files. It provides a common file format that supports elaborate designs and page layout, including fonts, page geometry, images, color, etc. Through a recent agreement between Adobe and Netscape, direct PDF format capability is being built into the next generation of 'Web browsers. This will overcome the painful design limitations of HTML, the default language of the 'Web.

In the meantime, you can read PDF files on Mac, Windows, or even UNIX machines by obtaining a (free) copy of the appropriate Acrobat Reader application from Adobe. Here's a link to Adobe's Acrobat distribution pages. - Adobe's been re-organizing their site lately, so here's a link to the Adobe home page, in case they've moved the Acrobat pages since we last posted the previous link... Most 'Web browsers can automatically connect to "helper" applications if they don't understand the format of an incoming file. See the documentation or help files for your browser to learn how to set up Acrobat as a "helper" application to read PDF files automatically.