Format
Last updated on
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Also Applies to Reader
These tables include the file formats that Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader support for various functions.
For more information on settings and options when importing and converting files, see Acrobat Help.
Adobe PDF printer
Most Windows applications that have a Print command can convert files to PDF using the Adobe PDF printer in the application's print dialog box. The current Acrobat Distiller preference settings and Adobe PDF settings are used to convert the file. For more information on settings and limitations of this method of PDF creation, see Adobe PDF conversion settings.
PDFMaker conversion formats
Use the Adobe PDF menu or Acrobat menu in various third-party applications to convert files to PDF. For a complete list of PDFMaker applications Acrobat supports, see Compatible web browsers and PDFMaker applications, which also lists the web browsers that support viewing PDF files within the browser, and converting web pages to PDF.
Direct file conversion formats (Acrobat)
Use File > Create PDF > From File to convert these file formats to Adobe PDF. You can also convert clipboard data, web pages, and scanned documents to PDF. For more information about these conversion methods, see Create PDFs with Acrobat in Acrobat Help.
| Extension | Filename | Comments |
| .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx | Microsoft Office formats (Word 2010, PowerPoint, Excel) | Make sure that the correct version of Microsoft Office is installed. |
| .txt, .rtf | Text, Rich Text Format | |
| .ps, .eps, .prn | Adobe PostScript and Encapsulated PostScript | |
| .bmp, .jpeg, .gif, .tiff, .png, .pcx, .rle, .dib | Image files | |
| .html | Web pages | |
| .wpd | Corel WordPerfect | Install Corel WordPerfect, and then convert using the Adobe PDF Printer (Acrobat 9 and Acrobat X | Windows). |
| .odt, .odp, .ods, .odg, .odf, .sxw, .sxi, .sxc, .sxd, .stw | OpenOffice and StarOffice presentation, spreadsheet, graphic, and document files | If the applications can access the printer system, then you can use the Adobe PDF printer to convert these files. |
| .psd | Adobe Photoshop | Applicable to Acrobat only. |
| .ai | Adobe Illustrator | Applicable to Acrobat only. |
| .indd | Adobe InDesign | Applicable to Acrobat only. |
| .u3d, .prc | 3D files | Disabled by default. Enable using a registry key. Learn more. |
| .dwg, .dwt, .dxf, .dwf, .dst | Autodesk AutoCAD | |
| .xps | XML paper specification | Disabled by default. Enable using a registry key. Learn more. |
| .mpp | MS Project | If MS Project is installed. |
| .vsd | MS Visio | If MS Visio is installed. |
Saving/exporting formats (Acrobat)
The following is a list of supported file formats you can export from a PDF file. Go to File > Save as. Then, select the save location in the window that appears and select the appropriate file format from the list. Then, save the file.
| Extension | Filename | Version | Comments |
| Adobe PDF, Adobe PDF Optimized, PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/X | PDF 1.3 - 1.7 | ||
| .ps | PostScript | ||
| .eps | Encapsulated PostScript | PS level 2-3 | |
| .html, .htm | HTML | ||
| .jpg, .jpeg, .jpe | JPEG | ||
| .jpf, .jpx, .jp2, .j2k, .j2c, .jpc | JPEG2000 | ||
| .png | PNG | ||
| .pptx | PowerPoint Presentation | 2010 and above | |
| .rtf | Rich Text Format | ||
| .txt | Text (Accessible), Text (Plain) | ||
| .tif, .tiff | TIFF | ||
| .xlsx | Excel workbook | ||
| .doc, docx | Word document | 2010 and above | |
| .xml | XML, XML Spreadsheet | 1.0, 2003 |
Video formats (Acrobat Pro)
You can place these file formats in Acrobat Pro PDFs for playback in Acrobat and Acrobat Reader.
|
|
Transcoding |
URL streaming |
Direct placement without transcoding |
Legacy placement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
No |
No |
No |
|
|
QuickTime Movie (.mov) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes |
|
MPEG (.mp4, .m4v) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes (except .m4v) |
|
3GPP Movie (.3gp, .3g2) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
No |
Video formats (Acrobat XI Pro and Acrobat X Pro)
You can place these file formats in Acrobat X Pro PDFs for playback in Acrobat X and Adobe Reader X.
|
Format |
Transcoding |
URL streaming |
Direct placement without transcoding1 |
Legacy placement2 |
|
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Shockwave Flash (.swf) |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
QuickTime Movie (.mov) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes |
|
MPEG (.mp4, .m4v) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes (except .m4v) |
|
3GPP Movie (.3gp, .3g2) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
No |
1 Direct placement without transcoding is supported in Acrobat X Pro.
2 Playback is compatible with earlier versions of Adobe Reader.
Video formats (Acrobat 9 Pro and Pro Extended)
You can place these video file formats in Acrobat 9 PDFs for playback in Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9.
|
Format |
Transcoding1 |
URL streaming |
Direct placement without transcoding2 |
Legacy placement3 |
|
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Microsoft AVI (.avi) |
Yes |
No |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes |
|
QuickTime Movie (.mov) |
Yes |
No |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes |
|
MPEG (.mp4, .m4v, .mpeg, .mpg) |
Yes |
Yes (.mp4 only) |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
Yes (except .m4v) |
|
N/A |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Windows Media (.wmv) |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Advanced Streaming Format (.asf) |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
3GPP Movie (.3gp) |
Yes |
No |
Yes, if H.264 encoded |
No |
|
RealMedia (.ram) |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
1 Transcoding of video for direct playback in Adobe Reader 9 is supported in Acrobat 9 Pro Extended only.
2 Direct placement without transcoding is supported in both Acrobat 9 Pro and Acrobat 9 Pro Extended.
3 Playback is compatible with earlier versions of Adobe Reader, but requires that a compatible multimedia player is available when viewing.
Audio formats (Acrobat)
You can place these audio file formats for direct playback in Acrobat and Acrobat Reader.
| Format | Direct placement without transcoding1 | Legacy placement2 |
| mp3 Audio (.mp3) | Yes | Yes |
| Audio Waveform (.wav) | No | Yes |
| Audio Interchange (.aif, .aiff) | No | Yes |
| MPEG Audio (.mpa, .m4a) | No | Yes |
| Windows Media Audio (.wma) | No | Yes |
1 Direct placement without transcoding is supported in Acrobat 9 Pro, Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, or later.
2 Playback is compatible with Adobe Reader 9 and earlier but requires that a compatible multimedia player is available when viewing.
Note: Acrobat X supports only mp3 Audio.
2D and 3D formats (Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Adobe 3D Reviewer)
The following table lists 2D and 3D file formats that Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended and Adobe 3D Reviewer software can import. For more information about importing and exporting files, see Acrobat 9 Pro Extended and 3D Reviewer Help.
| Format / application | Extension | Version | Acrobat 9 Pro Extended | 3D Reviewer |
| 3DXML | 3DXML | Up to 3.0 | Y |
Y |
| ACIS | SAT, SAB | Up to 15 | Y |
Y |
| Adobe Acrobat 3D | 7, 8, 9 |
Y |
Y |
|
| Autodesk 3D Studio | 3DS | Y |
Y |
|
| Autodesk AutoCAD | DWG, DWF, DXF | 12, 13, 14, 2000-2008 | Y |
|
| Autodesk Inventor | IPT, IAM | Up to 12.x, 2008 | Y |
Y |
| CATIA Graphical Representation (CGR) | CGR | Y |
Y |
|
| CoCreate OneSpace Designer | PKG, SDP, SDPC, SDW, SDWC, SDA, SDAC, SDS, SDSC, SES, BDL | V3 to V2007 | Y |
Y |
| COLLADA | DAE | Y |
Y |
|
| Dassault CATIA V4 | MODEL, DLV, EXP, SESSION | Up to V4.2.5 | Y |
Y |
| Dassault CATIA V5 | CATDRAWING | 2D | Y |
|
| Dassault CATIA V5 | CATPRODUCT, CATPART | Up to R18 | Y |
Y |
| Hewlett-Packard Graphics Library | HP, HGL, HPL, HPGL, PLT | Y |
||
| Industry Foundation Classes | IFC | IFC2x3 and IFC2x2 | Y |
Y |
| Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) | IGS, IGES | 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 | Y |
Y |
| JTOpen | JT | Up to 8.2 | Y |
Y |
| KMZ | KMZ | Y |
||
| Lattice XVL | XV3, XV0 | P-XVL | Y |
Y |
| PRC | PRC, PRD | All versions | Y |
Y |
| Pro/ENGINEER | PRT, XPR, ASM, XAS, NEU | V18.0 to Wildfire 4 | Y |
Y |
| PTC CADDS | PD, _PD, CADDS | Versions 4x/5 explicit | Y |
Y |
| Siemens I-deas | MF1, ARC, UNV, PKG | Up to 13.x (NX 5) | Y |
Y |
| Siemens NX | PRT | 2D | Y |
|
| Siemens NX | PRT | Up to NX 5 | Y |
Y |
| Siemens Parasolid | X_T, X_B | Up to 17 | Y |
Y |
| Siemens Solid Edge | ASM, PAR, PWD, PSM | V19, V20 | Y |
Y |
| SolidWorks | SLDASM, SLDPRT | Up to 2009 | Y |
Y |
| STEP Exchange | STP, STEP | AP 203, AP 214 | Y |
Y |
| Stereolithography | STL | Y |
Y |
|
| Universal 3D | U3D | ECMA 1, ECMA 3 | Y |
Y |
| Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) Worlds | WRL, VRML | V1.0, V2.0 | Y |
Y |
| Wavefront Object | OBJ | Mesh only | Y |
Y |
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