PDF

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe Systems in the 1990s to present s, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Based on the PostScript language, each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to display it. PDF was standardized as ISO 32000 in 2008, and no longer requires any royalties for its implementation.

Flash vs. PDF
In 2003, Macromedia acquired Flash Printer from Blue Pacific Software and rebranded it as Macromedia FlashPaper to position it as a competitor to Adobe Acrobat through the use of Flash SWF files as an alternative resolution-independent document format to Adobe's PDF. FlashPaper 2 was included with Contribute 3, and Macromedia Studio 8. However, Adobe Systems acquired Macromedia in December 2005, and announced in 2008 that development on FlashPaper was being discontinued.