Archival PDF
Representing the PDF industry via our Category A Liaison with ISO TC 171 SC 2, the PDF Association provides a vendor-neutral platform for PDF’s stakeholders to come together to achieve technical consensus on advancing the specifications and standards that define PDF technology.
We are deeply committed to providing the necessary infrastructure, guidance, techniques, and other resources to help developers, regulators, authors and users get on the same page about how to ensure rich, reliable, accessible PDF documents.
Of our Technical and Liaison Working Groups 3 are directly concerned with the method and practice of archiving digital documents, primarily the PDF/A family of documents (ISO 19005)
This page gathers content regarding archival PDF from across pdfa.org.
ISO standards for archivable PDF
The PDF Association is ISO's and ANSI's committee manager for ISO TC 171 SC 2, publisher of all ISO standards for PDF technology with the exception of ISO 15930 (PDF/X), which is developed under the auspices of ISO TC 130.
The primary purpose of ISO 16684 is to define a metadata format and XML serialization … Read more
The ISO 16612 family of standards defines PDF/VT for supporting variable data and high-volume transactional … Read more
ISO 19005-4, known as PDF/A-4, defines a subset of PDF 2.0 for representing electronic documents … Read more
This International Standard specifies the AFP document architecture by defining a subset appropriate for long-term … Read more
ISO 19005, known as PDF/A-3, is equivalent to PDF/A-2, but with the addition of the … Read more
ISO 19005-2 defines a subset of PDF 1.7 for representing electronic documents in a manner … Read more
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Industry specifications on archiving
These formal industry publications define the interoperable use of PDF technology for archival purposes. All are freely available. Some are also published as ISO standards.
Based on PDF/A, the EA-PDF specification defines a specification for a vendor- and platform- neutral … Read more
PDF Declarations facilitate a machine-readable notification that a PDF file (and/or its contents) conform to … Read more
TechNote 0010 offers ISO TC 171 SC 2 WG 5-reviewed and industry-supported clarifications of ISO … Read more
Prior to development of the Isartor Test Suite, the PDF/A Competence Center Technical Working Group … Read more
This TechNote explains how to construct an XMP extension schema for PDF/A-1.
This TechNote lists all XMP schemas and properties which are allowed in PDF/A-1. Most importantly, … Read more
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Other PDF industry publications related to archiving
In keeping with the spirit of the original PDF Reference, all PDF Association publications are freely available.
This Application Note describes means of incorporating custom metadata structures into PDF files, and includes … Read more
This Application Note provides acceptable uses of HDR images and color data when using PDF/A … Read more
This document provides guidance and recommendations for application developers who want to create PDF files … Read more
Free XMP Extension Schema templates that support compliance with ISO standards and specifications utilizing XMP.
Private data is everywhere is in almost every broadly-adopted file format. This Application Note answers … Read more
This page provides external links to all legacy Adobe PDF references and errata, as well … Read more
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Member working groups related to archiving
The PDF Association's volunteer working groups represent the organization's true purpose and most important feature. Their primary purpose is to develop and obtain consensus on PDF specifications, test-suites, technical and application notes, best practices and other formal industry guidance. Many of these products are eventually submitted for ISO standardization via ISO TC 171 SC 2.
Archiving is the direct or indirect focus of the following working groups:
Developing common understandings and a standard reference model for the … Read more
Archival and long-term preservation of PDF, including ISO 19005 and … Read more
Articles on archiving
PDF Association members can post non-commercial educational content on pdfa.org.
March 2026 by Benson Hendall (PDFSmart)
A document claiming conformance to PDF/A’s conformance level “b” can be visually perfect and machine-unreadable at the same time. This … Read more
November 2025 by PDF Association staff
As we recognize the 20th anniversary of PDF/A-1 we celebrate more than a technical specification, we recognize it as a … Read more
November 2025 by Peter Wyatt
Understanding how URLs can exist and behave in PDF/A files is critical to preservationists who need to identify, audit, and … Read more
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PDF Days presentations on archiving
These educational presentations were presented at PDF Days events by a wide range of industry experts. Since 2022 PDF Days has been replaced with the PDF Week series of technical conferences.
The most exciting, capable, feature packed file format today is…PDF! But, for better or worse, PDF is hindered by its own longevity and the preconceptions and misconceptions surrounding what it … Read more
Email is one of the most ubiquitous and widely disseminated, and also one of the least preserved and difficult to manage, of electronic document formats. While the preservation community has … Read more
Almost 10 years ago, ZUGFeRD 1.0, the first invoice data format based on the public standards UN/CEFACT CII and PDF/A-3, was published. The stated intention was to digitize invoice exchange … Read more
The first Apple iPhone (1st generation), which was termed ‘revolutionary’ was released in 2007 with the slogan ‘Apple reinvents the phone’. While many of us are using Apple iPhones now, … Read more
We will examine how specific problems are handled in these (not so) similar processes. Sometimes PDF/A validation can be more complex than PDF/A conversion, and in other cases, is it … Read more
Digital archives have to preserve not only the data formats, they also have to make sure that proper viewer technology is available in the future. For most paper like formats this … Read more
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Members' news on archival PDF
PDF Association members have lots to say! pdfa.org provides a means for our members to promote their company, products and services. The PDF Association is not responsible for members' representation of their products or services.
November 2025 by Daniel Wilson (BFO (Big Faceless Organization))
PDF/A has become the gold standard for preserving digital documents, ensuring they remain readable and reliable for decades. OctoPDF makes … Read more
March 2021 by callas software GmbH
In 2019, Beuth Verlag adopted callas software’s solutions to automatically process, convert and validate PDF/A and PDF/X files.
Members' products & services supporting PDF/A
PDF Association members are entitled to post their products and services in the product showcase. The members' posting the products listed below are claiming that the product supports PDF/A. The PDF Association is not responsible for members' representation of their products or services.
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