Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) is probably the de facto format for distributing electronic documents. If you've bought a computer-related product recently, you may have noticed that you can find an electronic copy of the User's Manual in PDF format on the CD-ROM that shipped with your device. You may also have come across some articles or ebooks on the Internet in PDF format.

With Acrobat Reader installed on your PC, you can read these PDF documents just as they would appear in print, with pictures and formatting intact. The only problem is that to read PDF files, you either have to read them on your PC, thus tying you down in front of your computer screen, or print them out. However, the latter is certainly not a very attractive idea if the PDF document is hundreds of pages long.

Won't it be great if we can load our PDF documents on our handhelds and carry them with us wherever we go? Sure you can! And depending on what kind of format you prefer, there're different ways you can do it.

What you see is what you get
The easiest way to read PDF files on your handheld is to use Adobe's own Acrobat Reader for mobile devices. Versions are available for both Palm and Pocket PC.

For the Palm OS version, you can read your PDF files on your PDA with the images and graphs intact. If your PDF files are tagged Adobe PDF files generated in Adobe Acrobat 5.0, Adobe PageMaker 7.0, or Adobe InDesign® 2.0, the content in the file will be formated in such a way that it'll fit your PDA's small screen.

However, before you place the PDF files on your Palm, you'll need to convert them into something your Palm will recognize. Using the included desktop app, you simply select the PDF files you want to sync to your Palm, and these files will be installed during your next HotSync.

The Pocket PC version works in a similar way. But unlike the Palm version, after installing the Acrobat Reader on your Pocket PC, all you need to do is drag and drop the PDF files into the Mobile Device folder on your PC's desktop.

Alternatives to Acrobat Reader
If you're the sort who wants to be different, you may want to take your pick from various PDF readers that're not from Adobe.

Most Palm users would already be familiar with the Documents To Go office apps from DataViz. In the Add-On Kit for this office suite, there's this app called PDF To Go. With it, Palm users can view the PDF's formatted text and tables on their PDA by just dragging and dropping the files into the Documents to Go window on the desktop. To keep the file size manageable though, graphics are stripped from the files.

Another app that lets you read PDF files is SnapViewer. Using a desktop app called PdfSnap, you can convert PDF documents to images with the formatting, layout and graphics intact.

For Pocket PC users, you can use Primer to read your PDF files . In fact, version 3.1 of this software support TrueType fonts, zoom controls, and even lets you annotate your PDF files.

Just give me text
Although PDF files preserve the formatting of a document, the file size of a PDF file can take up too much memory real estate on your handheld, especially if it's embedded with lots of graphics. So if all you require is the basic text, you can use these utilities to extract the text from you PDF files and install the plain text files on your PDA.

RichReader, a document reader for the Palm, comes with a utility that lets you convert PDF files to Palm DOC files. However, this utility is a little difficult ro use because it uses a command line interface in DOS. The alternative is to use AportisDoc Converter. This utility is much easily to use because it employs a drag-and-drop interface. Just drag your PDF files into the application and they'll automatically be converted to files that your PDA can read. Plus, it can convert files such as Word documents, HTML, and even plain text files for you to carry on your PDA. The resulting file can then be read with any DOC readers including AportisDoc Mobile for Palm and Pocket PC.

Blue Nomad's InstallBuddy is similar to AportisDoc Converter. It can turn your PDF files into Palm-readable DOC files. This app also allows conversion of Word, Excel, and even Powerpoint files.

For Pocket PC users, there's another option for you. There's a free service called goBCL from BCL Computers, a maker of Adobe Acrobat plug-ins, that lets you convert PDF files into HTML. You can then read the converted documents using Pocket Internet Explorer.