PDF stands for Portable Document Format, a file format used to represent documents in a software, hardware, and operating system independent way. Developed by Adobe Systems in 1993, PDF is designed to retain its original appearance and format regardless of the device or software used to view electronic documents. PDF has also become the global standard for electronic document exchange due to its high security and ease of sharing documents both online and offline, and is widely used for sharing and printing important documents such as contracts, invoices, reports and other business documents.