PDFasiakirjat

PDFasiakirjat ovat digitaalisia PDF‑tiedostoja, jotka toimivat laajasti asiakirjojen tallennus- ja jakamistavara. PDF, which stands for Portable Document Format, was introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993. Its design goal was to preserve text, images, fonts, and layout across different platforms and devices. PDFasiakirjat can contain not only static document contents but also hyperlinks, embedded fonts, multimedia and secure (encrypted) content. The format is defined by ISO standard 32000.

The format has become popular in public administration, education, publishing, and corporate sectors. Many offices use PDFasiakirjat for filing reports, patent applications, legal documents, and official declarations. PDFs are easy to distribute via email, websites, and intranets, and they can be printed with the same appearance that the author intended.

Key technical features include support for vector graphics, scalable images, and extensive metadata capabilities. PDFasiakirjat also support advanced security such as password protection, digital signatures, and usage restrictions. In recent years, the standard has been extended to allow adaptive content and interactive forms.

Critiques of PDFasiakirjat focus mainly on accessibility and authoring difficulty. Although PDFs can embed alternative text, many PDFs created without proper workflow are not visually accessible to screen readers. Additionally, editing a PDF often requires specialized software, which can be a barrier for small organizations. Despite these issues, the format remains a dominant choice for official and archival documents worldwide.