Pagesmith’s default file format is PDF. When you save a Pagesmith document, you save it as a PDF file, with a .pdf extension, that can be viewed on any computer exactly as you created it, fonts and all. These days just about everyone can view PDF documents, so if you post a Pagesmith PDF document on a web page, or send it in an email, you are assured that others can view your document with 100% accuracy.
A Pagesmith PDF document is just like any other PDF with one addition: it includes information that Pagesmith needs in order to edit the document. Pagesmith can edit Pagesmith PDFs, but it cannot edit other PDFs, nor can applications other than Pagesmith edit Pagesmith PDFs.
That’s an important point, so we’ll repeat it: a Pagesmith PDF can be edited in Pagesmith, and only in Pagesmith. A regular PDF cannot be edited.
If that seems like a limitation, stop and think about the documents you share with others. Do other people need to change your documents, or just to read them? Most of our users find viewing accuracy far more important than editability. That is, they want to be sure that when others view the document it has the same fonts, headers, tables, and pagination as the original. In fact, some people create their documents in an application such as Word, and then make a PDF copy that they send to others. With Pagesmith, you don’t need two copies of your documents; you have one file that you can edit, and that everybody can view.