What is Linearized PDF?

A PDF reorganized so the first page can render before the whole file finishes downloading — also called 'Fast Web View'.

Linearization (PDF spec § Fast Web View) places a page's resources contiguously and adds a hint table. Browsers can then display page 1 after a partial download, which matters for large PDFs served over the web. Most modern PDF libraries can linearize as a post-processing step.