PDF is a graphically oriented file format designed for electronic interchange; it was developed by Adobe Systems Inc. for use with its Acrobat software. In a PDF file, any page in a publication can be displayed or printed by a user in a form virtually identical to the page that appeared in the publication (including richly formatted text, graphics, and colors).

Adobe has released a free Acrobat reader for PDF files. With the Acrobat reader, a user can view and print PDF files; in addition, a user can extract text into ASCII or Rich Text Format (a file format that preserves some of the font and formatting characteristics of a document) and perform searches on the document.

Download the free viewer for PDF files available from Adobe Systems.