Adobe co-founder who developed PDF dies

Adobe announced that its co-founder, Chuck Geschke, has died at the age of 81 on April 17 (local time).

Geschke left Xerox with John Warnock and founded Adobe Systems in 1982, and in 1985 announced PostScript, which improved the technology developed by Xerox, and revolutionized the publishing industry with DTP (Desktop Publishing). .

In addition, one of Geschke’s important achievements was the development of PDF (Portable Document Format), a technology that is now familiar. PDF software released in 1993 is a breakthrough technology in that it can be displayed and printed in the same way regardless of the platform that displays it.

In 2009, Geschke received the National Technology Award from then-President Obama along with Warnock and others, and was recognized for his contributions to the industry for many years. Of course, he also faced some difficulties in life. On May 26, 1992, Geschke was taken to work by two armed men, demanded a ransom, and had to wait four days for the FBI to rescue him. This shock is said to have haunted Geschke for decades.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an email to employees that this was a huge loss to the tech industry as well as Adobe as a whole. He also said that he constantly instilled the will to innovate in the company, which resulted in the invention of innovative software such as PDF, Acrobat, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop. Related information can be found here.