Supported file formats in Acrobat and 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
.pdf 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.

Format

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

Audio formats (Acrobat)

You can place these audio file formats for direct playback in Acrobat and Acrobat Reader.

Format Direct placement without transcoding Legacy placement
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

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Adobe MAX 2024

Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Adobe MAX

The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Adobe MAX 2024

Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Adobe MAX

The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online