The PDF Minute

When PDF was introduced in 1993, one of the most persistent problems in mainstream computing was that reliably publishing documents (either literally via printing, or simply electronically distributing them for others to view) was hard.

There were a lot of hurdles:

• Simply moving a document (whether an office document, Postscript file, or something else) from one computer to another could result in an unreadable or unpleasant display.
• Printers (from consumer models up to high-end typesetters) each had their own proprietary formats and requirements.
• Many document formats were tied to a single vendor, or a single operating system.

One of PDF's initial design criteria and fundamental promises was to address this family of problems, so that one could distribute and use documents with any display, any operating system, and any print device, with confidence that the result would remain faithful to the author's intent. This was such a pressing, unmet concern that it gave the file type its name: the Portable Document Format. Let's talk about how that portability is accomplished.

How do you think about PDF documents? Many people talk about PDF as "old" or "boring". These sentiments aren't necessarily wrong, so why would anyone be interested in a blog or podcast about PDFs? Why talk about PDFs at all, their inner workings, history, and how PDFs affect modern society in so many ways? And why now, when so many other technologies seem more exciting, relevant, or important?

Before we get started in exploring the dark forest that is PDF, this first post is meant to unpack some answers to those whys.