Why We Use PDF files

PDF (portable document format) is a file type developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. that delivers electronic documents over the Internet with composition and formatting intact. As you've probably already seen, many Internet-based documents, such as emails and even some Web pages, are pretty dull. The most frequent complaint from users is that type styles, or fonts, are difficult to read. Accurate page layout also is lacking on many sites.

PDF solves these problems, and others, because it allows authors to specify fonts and styles, and to accurately position page elements, so the document has the same rich format no matter where it is opened. You see the document (or image) as the author intended it to look. Millions of documents currently are available as PDF files on the web.

Install Adobe Acrobat Reader Into Your Browser!
	On this site files marked with the Adobe PDF symbol (left) need Adobe Acrobat Reader (or equivalent) to open correctly. This program is available as a free download from Adobe. We use PDF files because they preserve the rich detail of the original document, they make printing easier and they protect our files from unauthorized use. Try PDF, you'll like it. Get Acrobat Reader.

PDF has another feature that is especially important to website owners, namely the ability to password-protect their images. With PDF the user is free to download and view the images but may not be able to easily extract or print them (depending on author-selected options). You may also download PDF documents to your hard disk [instructions].

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