

PDF's adoption in the early days of the format's history was slow. In those early years before the rise of the World Wide Web and HTML documents, PDF was popular mainly in desktop publishing workflows. It was among a number of competing formats such as DjVu (still developing), Envoy, Common Ground Digital Paper, Farallon Replica and even Adobe's own PostScript format (.ps). PDF was developed in the early 1990s as a way to share documents, including text formatting and inline images, among computer users of disparate platforms who may not have access to mutually-compatible application software.

In 1991, Adobe Systems co-founder John Warnock outlined a system called "Camelot" that evolved into PDF.

Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it. Portable Document Format ( PDF) is a file format used to represent documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Application/pdf application/x-pdf application/x-bzpdf application/x-gzpdf
