About us

Home of the worldwide PDF technical community

We are an international collaboration of member organizations and individuals engaged in a vendor-neutral platform for developing open specifications and standards for PDF technology. Together, we are driving the world’s digital document format into the 21st century and beyond.

“The most useful aspect of my membership with the PDF Association is access to the community, and the opportunity to help drive development of resources and content that advance the industry, and that are driven by the industry."

Martin Bailey, CTO, Global Graphics

The PDF Association, e.V. was founded in Germany in 2006 as the not-for-profit 'ADDS', and was initially known as the PDF/A Competence Center. In 2011 the organization become the PDF Association, and broadened its scope to cover all aspects of PDF technology.

The PDF Association, Inc., a 501(c)(6) non-profit registered in Massachusetts, USA, was created in 2019 to provide additional services to industry.

Today, the PDF Association's membership spans businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies and individual consultants from across the globe.

As an ISO Category A liaison to ISO / TC 171 / SC 2, the PDF Association provides a pathway to participation in new ISO standards development. 

How does the PDF Association community benefit from membership?

• A vendor-neutral technical community
•  Venues for engagement with vertical industries
• Collaborative development of application notes, best-practices and other resources
• Specification and reference development
• Forums for stakeholders' concerns, questions and suggestions
• Shared knowledge and experience

PDF's end users benefit from PDF industry collaboration with greater security, reliability, quality, functionality and interoperability in their experience of electronic documents.

Mission statement

As updated by the Board of Directors on November 30, 2022, the Mission of the PDF Association is:

Delivering a vendor-neutral platform for developing open specifications and standards for PDF technology.

Charter

Download the PDF Association, e.V. charter (PDF).

Contact

To communicate with the PDF Association send email to info@pdfa.org.

Appreciation

The PDF Association is grateful in particular to its Partner member Dual Lab for hosting Confluence and Jira instances on the industry's behalf.