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The University of Texas at Austin

What Is PDF?

PDF stands for "Portable Document Format". These files are becoming a popular alternative to offering information as a simple web page because they provide more visual appeal, flexible formatting, and a consistent look to documents whether you are viewing them on a Macintosh, Windows or UNIX workstation. If the information was originally published as part of a newspaper, magazine or other paper publication, the PDF file will usually look and print out exactly like its paper original with the proper fonts, tables, graphs and pictures.