PDF (Portable Document Format) is a cross-platform, device-independent page description language and file format developed by Adobe Systems. Its primary use is to render, store, and transmit formatted pages, capturing the entire page structure of a document just as it would have been rendered by a Postscript printer.

Most common file formats can be converted to PDF using Adobe® Acrobat® Standard or Professional or other PDF rendering applications, some of which are available at no cost. Many professional book, magazine, and other printers prefer to be supplied with PDFs for printing because it is a standardized format and because unless a PDF is deliberately edited, its contents can be considered safe from unintended alteration. Properly generated and handled, PDFs can basically be thought of as a faithful electronic representation of the print version of any document. One of the key differences between a PDF and an image file format (like jpeg, gif, etc.) is that PDF preserves formatting elements such as fonts and graphics by embedding them into the file in a manner that can be managed via various settings.

PDF is an excellent means of displaying content from a variety of common consumer applications, including the Microsoft® Office suite of applications and their OpenOffice.org open source counterparts, on the Sony® Reader. The key to generating PDFs that will display clearly on the Reader is to size the PDF properly when you create it, and to set margins, font sizes, etc. within a range that is suited to the Reader’s screen size and resolution. This instructional document is intended to provide all the information necessary to create PDFs that are ready to be viewed in the Sony Reader from a variety of common applications.

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