Project Camelot: How Adobe created the PDF format we still use 30 years later

In 2023 Adobe Acrobat: 30 years. A computer program known to many. But this PDF format is much better known who was born with this software. A digital file format that born as a necessity at another time different from the present one. And in which there were many applications, platforms and computer systems. Incompatible with each other. Someone had to create format readable by everyone they are easy to print. Standard. And they got it.

Today maybe there are more PDF opponents than defenders. The reason is that at the time of PDF’s birth, a digital file format with its functions did not yet exist. Today we can open almost any file type on any device. There are applications for office automation and document editing that work from the Internet, without installation. Without going into too much detail, Microsoft Office is online. And it’s free. But in the 90s of the last century, the Internet was not for everyone; there were many computers, with architecture their own, incompatible with each other. Every s your own text editor and its exclusive editing format closed.

The birth of PDF is associated with writing. Or rather, a six-page document. Declaration of intent that I wanted solve an eternal problem create a standard so we can all share information document regardless of the operating system, device and application for reading and/or editing. The PDF format more than satisfies this requirement. To such an extent that today is still standard de facto for invoices, operating instructions and, ultimately, for any paper document what we want in digital format on the Internet.

It all started with the Camelot project

August 1990. John Warnockco-founder of Adobe, writes six page document entitled Project Camelot, Project Camelot. Not to be confused with the project of the same name carried out by the US Army in the 1960s. Warnock’s document begins with the words: “The purpose of this project is solve a fundamental problem that today’s companies face. And this problem, as I mentioned at the beginning, is the “ability convey visual material between various systems and applications”

Adobe It was founded in 1982 in Mountain View, California. Its founders were the above John Warnock And Charles Geschke. Both worked as computer engineers at the legendary Xerox PARK in the 70s. They worked there to launch Xerox Star, the computer that had the honor of being the first to introduce technologies that are everywhere today. And they also created Interpressa language that would serve as the basis for what would later become P.S and other technologies that allow working with graphics in text documents.

But Xerox did not see much future for Interpress, so Warnock and Geschke They decided to go it alone. Namely, the first product of his new company will be P.S, an improved version of Interpress. Legend has it that Adobe was born in the former’s garage, as are many stories about companies started in garages that later turned out to be not entirely true. What seems to be true is that the name Adobe comes from Adobe Creek. Adobe stream or San Antonio Creek, located in Los Altos, California, and flowing near the house where Warnock lived.

Apple, Adobe and the predecessor of the PDF format

One of Adobe’s first clients was Apple. In particular, the printer Apple LaserWriter He was the first to support PostScript. And Steve Jobs liked this technology so much that offered Warnock and Geschke about $5 million. in exchange for the newborn Adobe. Although the full purchase did not materialize, Adobe’s founders still agreed to sell 19% of the company. Thus, it will become the first company in the history of Silicon Valley that has already profit in the first year.

An investment that has also helped subsequent startups such as Illustrator, in 1987. And purchase external software such as photoshop, in 1989. Both are natively available for the Macintosh platform. Therefore, when in 1990 the idea arose of creating a new format for working with text documents and their widespread distribution, Adobe was already a large company and P.S This standard in the printing industry. Now we have to go further and create standard documents for personal computers.

The digital equivalent of a traditional fax.

How to solve the problem of exchanging documents between incompatible systems and programs? The idea is to create a standard format that can be read, edited and printed any operating system, editing software, and printing peripherals that were on the market at the time. And inspiration, as reflected in John Warnock’s document, comes from very popular technology in that decade of the 90s: fax.

Consigned to oblivion by email, cell phones and other technologies, the fax was an indispensable device in any office peace. For years, fax was used for what we do today: a simple WhatsApp message or email: send documents from one place to another on the planet. Using your own phone number, you could send paper documents from one fax to another, which were instantly scanned and printed on the other side.

You simply had to print the document, fax it, and send it. As Warnock said in his document, neither the brand of the fax nor the computer used to create the document mattered. Plain paper with text and image. It was enough to send this information anywhere.

Knights arrive in Camelot

Although the document Project Camelotwhich officially begins the creation of the PDF format, dated August 1990when this document becomes publicly available, at least within Adobe, I’ve been working for several months now On topic. Continuing the story of King Arthur, John Warnock, CEO of Adobe, contacted Randy Adams lead the project. If Warnock were Arthur, Adams would be Lancelot, his right-hand man.

Randy Adams He joined Adobe when his startup Emerald City Softwarewas purchased at the end of 1989. Thanks to this acquisition, Adobe was able to enrich its technology Adobe Type Manager font management. And, as we can see, he could count on a good team to work on what later became PDF.

In May 1990, Warnock explained his idea to Adams, which would later appear in the Project Camelot document. The idea is to combine two of their technologies, P.S And PostScript displayto create the final digital document format. At least as far as document exchange is concerned. A format that is easy to print and easily display on any computer screen.

An ambitious mission that falls on the shoulders of Randy Adams and on his team from what used to be the Emerald City and is now another part of Adobe. Ed Hall And Joe Holt They will be responsible for the graphical interface and user experience. Mike Pell And Bill Woodruff They will work on adapting PostScript to produce a document that is visible on screen and ready for printing. AND Frank Busman will be responsible for the commercial part of the project. Some Adobe veterans will also join, such as Mike Schuster Ivar Durham or Richard Cohenwhich will help in the technical part to make the project compatible with P.S And Adobe Illustrator.

Birth of the PDF format

At the embryonic stage, what would later be known as Adobe Acrobat gets a name Carousel. They will work primarily with Macintosh as the reference platform and will release some examples to teach you Adobe CEO John Warnock their progress.

Not only will you have to create a new format that they will call PDF or Portable document format. You also need to develop tools to edit and work with this format. Adobe Acrobat Exchange And Adobe PDF Writerand a simplified read-only version, Adobe Acrobat Reader. All this will be accompanied by a font manager, Adobe Type Manager and an assortment of 14 fonts. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

On Friday, June 29, 1990, John Warnock sees the nearly finished version of the book. Carousel. in a small conference hall At Adobe, Adams and his team show you a Macintosh program that can view, print, and work with digital documents, compatible with PostScript and Adobe Illustrator. And also a simpler program for reading this new format.

In August 1990, Warnock share the document called “Project Camelot” where he summarizes or explains in his own words the project itself and the goal he wants to achieve. And June 15, 1993 Adobe Acrobat goes on sale accompanied by a new PDF format. All this was accompanied by a presentation in Justice Center from New York, stylish and live broadcast via satellite.

A legacy that seems to have no end

I’m not revealing anything new by saying this so much. Adobe Acrobat How Adobe Reader and the PDF format will become the de facto standard on millions of computers around the world. But this will not happen until 2008. this native format will be released so anyone can create compatible software without paying Adobe licenses.

Today, any device and operating system can read PDF documents. It’s more. This is possible using the print function. convert any document for free image or text in PDF format. Or save the web page directly in this format. PDF format made this possible share document on any platform.

Today maybe most suitable formats to work with text, images, tables, links, forms, digital signatures and other elements that the PDF format has included over the years. He also added password protection or the ability to optimize document size and quality. In addition to the official Adobe tools, there are dozens of tools for working with PDF files. However, the PDF file still exists and will last for more than 30 years life.