When it comes to businesses, few things are more important than the security of the documents within a company. In this information-filled world, proprietary information can make or break a business. Before the digital era, companies had little control over how documents were used.

Very important information such as passwords, account numbers, and business ideas could be transferred via phone or in person if there was a concern that documenting these facts on paper could lead to misuse or accidental misplacement. However, you still had no control over how the receiver of the information would handle it. For example, if important and confidential account information was transferred over the phone from a boss to an employee, there was still no guarantee that the employee did not write this information down on paper. Even if the employee had no ill intentions what-so-ever, the piece of paper with the information could have been easily misplaced, or even taken purposely by someone looking to obtain such information. Furthermore, once information was in the hands of the wrong person, it became very difficult to prove the original source of the information, increasing the difficulty of the task of rectifying the situation at that point.

Luckily, in the computer age we live in today, there are many measures in place through which the original creators of documents can mark their work as their own. But as far as security, unless you know how to use the systems in place, you still run the risk of misuse of documents that can easily be taken purposely or sent to the wrong receiver accidentally. A good solution for this is to use PDF documents. PDFs can be quickly and easily created from almost any type of document creation program you can think of. Not only can your average word documents be easily converted into a PDF file, but you can also convert excel spreadsheets, power point slide show presentations, and images as well. Using PDFs to transport your important information-holding documents, you can control who can view, copy, edit, and even print your most precious documents, all using very simple settings.

In addition, if you have several documents to convert that all need to go to the same people for viewing and/or editing (for example, in the situation of a presentation), you can also combine all of your documents into a single PDF file, for quick sharing and a streamlined viewing process. In the same case of a presentation or proposal, this also helps you to control the order of information presented, rather than sending several documents, having to explain the order, and still running the risk of information being conveyed incorrectly. In addition, PDF files offer the advantage of a streamlined “signing-off” process, allowing creators to incorporate a digital signature feature. With this in place, documents that need approval by several people can be sent to the appropriate users, while still keeping security controls in place to make sure that only the intended people can view and “sign” the document for approval. With their ease of creation and multiple benefits, there’s no reason not to use PDF files for all of your document transfer needs.