If you've ever wondered who's responsible for the file format glued to half your emails — it's Adobe, and the year was 1993. The idea, though, was scribbled down two years earlier in a memo titled 'The Camelot Project'.
The Camelot memo, 1991
Adobe co-founder John Warnock wrote a short paper proposing a way to share documents that looked the same on any computer. At the time, fonts and layouts broke constantly between machines. His sketch became the foundation of PDF: a self-contained file that bundled fonts, images and instructions in one package — exactly what people needed for reliable printing and emailing.
Launch in 1993
PDF version 1.0 shipped alongside the first Acrobat software in June 1993. It was slow to catch on — early viewers cost money and files were chunky. But by the late 1990s, browsers, tax authorities and law firms had latched on. The format quietly became the default for anything that needed to look exactly right.
From Adobe to open standard
In 2008, Adobe handed PDF to the ISO standards body, making it free for anyone to implement. That's why Flint, your phone's reader and your browser all speak the same format. With Flint you can merge, split or convert PDFs without paying for legacy desktop software.
FAQ
Who invented the PDF?
John Warnock, co-founder of Adobe, proposed the format in his 1991 'Camelot' memo. A team at Adobe built it out, and PDF 1.0 launched in 1993.
When did PDF become free to use?
Adobe always allowed others to build PDF readers, but in 2008 the format was published as ISO 32000, making the spec fully open. That cemented PDF as a universal standard.
How old is the PDF in 2026?
PDF is 33 years old in 2026, counting from its 1993 launch. The format has been updated many times but remains backwards compatible with those early files.
Three decades on, PDFs are still the safest way to share a document. Try a modern take with Flint — no install, no legacy clutter.