Have you ever used the Adobe Acrobat reader to open and view PDF documents? I bet you have at least once. You may have noticed that if you want to create a PDF file yourself, you would need to buy expensive PDF creation software. Times have changed and you can now create PDF files for free on your home computer. Today, I’ll begin by answering a few brief questions about PDFs. Later today I’ll give you a couple of free software packages for creating PDF files.
What is PDF?
PDF stands for Portable Document Format. Originally developed by Adobe for the business and publishing sector, the PDF file format has become the standard for document creation and distribution. You may have seen an icon like this 
on a Web page that you’ve visited. This icon usually alerts you that there are PDF documents for viewing on this particular Web page, and you’ll need the reader if you want to view them.
Are there competitive file formats similar to PDF?
Yes and no. Most of the direct competition to PDFs has died out over the years. There are a few competing file formats being used by enthusiasts and opponents to large companies like Adobe, Inc. I’ll forgo a discussion of these file formats here, but you can drop me a comment if you’re interested in other formats similar to PDF.
Microsoft has announced a competing file format to PDF that will be released with the next Windows operating system due out in late 2006. Microsoft is calling its file format, XPS, and it is supposed to work in a similar fashion to PDF.
What do I use PDFs for?
PDFs are most useful for archiving documents into a single file that is widely portable across computers. For example, you may want to put the weekly family letters you’ve been writing into a PDF file for easy access and preservation. Or, you may want to save a digital receipt after you make an online purchase. Rather than writing down the confirmation number, you can just print the page using a free PDF printer and then you’ll have an exact copy of the receipt in PDF format.
You can use PDFs for other things, too. I regularly use a free PDF printer to save Web pages I want to view or read without being connected to the Internet. Also, because I do a lot of writing, I archive a lot of my writings in PDF files. I can easily convert my Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect files into PDF documents.
Free PDF creation
Later today I’ll discuss a couple of free PDF creation software you can easily use at home.