PDF

PluralPDFs (some meanings), pdfs (some meanings)

FormsPDFs, PDFing, PDFed

1. 1
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of Portable Document Format.

   The agency accepts tax forms only in PDF.

   Designers rely on PDF to preserve exact layout across printers and screens.

   Note

   The format itself, as opposed to any one file saved in it, usually takes no article: forms are accepted in PDF, and documents are saved as PDF. Its defining trait is a fixed layout that reproduces faithfully anywhere. Alexander Thomasian's Storage Systems (2021) contrasts it with DjVu: PDF stores text and graphics mainly as vector data, while DjVu stores them mainly as pixel images, which is why DjVu files come out smaller.

2. 2
   nouncountableinitialism

   Initialism of portable document format.

   He attached a PDF of the signed lease to the email.

   The PDF wouldn't open until I updated my reader.

   Note

   A single file rather than the format standard, and so a count noun with an article and a plural, PDFs. People highlight details directly on the PDF, provide PDFs of technical information, and read them in a PDF reader. In attributive phrases like PDF file or PDF reader, the word could point either way. Standing alone as a noun, though, a PDF or the PDF always means the document.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To convert a file or document into PDF format.

   Please PDF the invoice before sending it to accounting.

   He PDFed all the contracts so they would print identically.

   Note

   The verb takes ordinary endings directly on the capitals, with no apostrophe: PDFing, PDFed, and PDFs. That last form is spelled the same as the plural of the file noun. In "she PDFs the reports" and "the PDFs are ready," only the grammar tells them apart. The verb always needs an object, since you PDF something.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   Alternative letter-case form of pdf.

   The PDF of a normal distribution peaks at the mean and tapers symmetrically.

   Integrating the PDF between two points gives the probability of landing in that range.

   Note

   Statisticians usually write this one in lowercase, pdf. The capitalized spelling invites confusion with the document format, so lowercase is the safer choice in any text that also mentions files. The function describes a continuous random variable. Its value at a point is a density, not a probability. Only the area under the curve across an interval gives a probability, which is why the function is integrated.

5. 5
   nouncountableinitialism

   Initialism of pop directional format.

   Insert a PDF after the embedded Arabic to restore left-to-right flow.

   Without a closing PDF, the directional override leaks into the following text.

   Note

   Unicode uses this name for an invisible control character. It closes the most recent embedding or override in bidirectional text, so the direction that applied before takes over again. Every opening code needs its own closing one; if one is missing, the override spills into the text that follows. It is inserted into text, never opened or emailed, and that keeps it distinct from a document file in context.

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