PDF standards
This page provides a mapping between ISO document numbers, parts and publication years, and the PDF nomenclature commonly used in industry. The PDF Association maintains a list of published and work-in-progress ISO work items, while the official ISO sites for ISO TC 171 and ISO TC 130 provide additional information.
Contents
- PDF standards
- PDF = ISO 32000
- ISO/TS (Technical Specification) extensions and clarifications for PDF 2.0
- PDF/A = ISO 19005
- PDF/E = ISO 24517
- PDF/R = ISO 23504
- PDF/X = ISO 15930
- PDF/UA = ISO 14289
- PDF/VCR = ISO 16613
- PDF/VT = ISO 16612
- ECMAScript for PDF 2.0 = ISO 21757
- XFDF = ISO 19444
- Print workflow and metadata
- Long-term signature profiles for PAdES
- XMP metadata
Note that some ISO publications also have associated errata, known as technical corrigenda or amendments, which need to be read in conjunction with the related ISO standard. Withdrawn publications are shown for completeness, as these may be explicitly referenced in other sources. In some cases, a withdrawn publication may have been replaced by an updated document, as indicated by the year of publication.
Withdrawn ISO standards remain available for purchase using the following manual process as documented on the ISO Store FAQs under "How can I purchase a withdrawn standard?":
Withdrawn standards are available for sale in PDF or paper version, for the price of CHF 58.00 (+ Shipping & Handling for the paper copy). Withdrawn standards can only be purchased by contacting the ISO Customer Care Team, Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00 (UTC +1).
- Phone: +41 22 749 08 88
- Email: customerservice@iso.org
Or by contacting your national ISO member directly.
The PDF Association also provides Application Notes, Technical Notes, and industry-based errata corrections for some of these ISO publications. Such additional information published by the PDF Association may not be officially endorsed by the ISO committees responsible for these ISO standards.
PDF = ISO 32000
The core PDF standard. A list of earlier Adobe PDF specifications and their errata can be found here. A list of industry resolutions to PDF 2.0 errata can be found here.
ISO/TS (Technical Specification) extensions and clarifications for PDF 2.0
PDF/A = ISO 19005
PDF for long-term preservation and archival purposes, including industry's errata corrections for PDF/A-4.
PDF/E = ISO 24517
PDF for engineering. In PDF 2.0, PDF/A-4e has been specified to support engineering-centric 3D PDF workflows.
| Standard | Document | PDF version |
|---|---|---|
| PDF/E-1 | ISO 24517-1:2008 Document management — Engineering document format using PDF — Part 1: Use of PDF 1.6 (PDF/E-1) | PDF 1.6 |
PDF/R = ISO 23504
PDF/R defines a simple subset of PDF for multi-page raster-image documents including, but not limited to, scanned documents. PDF/R is the ISO standard of the PDF/Raster 1.0 specification developed within the PDF Association.
| Standard | Document | PDF version |
|---|---|---|
| PDF/R-1 | ISO 23504-1:2020 Document management applications — Raster image transport and storage — Part 1: Use of ISO 32000 (PDF/R-1) | PDF 1.7, PDF 2.0 |
PDF/X = ISO 15930
PDF/X defines strict subsets of PDF for the use of digital data intended for accurate print reproduction.
PDF/UA = ISO 14289
PDF/UA supports universal accessibility and assistive technology.
PDF/VCR = ISO 16613
PDF/VCR enables variable data printing applications using PDF template-based variable content substitution.
| Standard | Document | PDF version |
|---|---|---|
| PDF/VCR-1 | ISO 16613-1:2017 Graphic technology — Variable content replacement — Part 1: Using PDF/X for variable content replacement (PDF/VCR-1) | PDF 1.7, PDF 2.0 |
PDF/VT = ISO 16612
PDF/VT are a family of standards supporting high-volume variable data and transactional printing.
| Standard | Document | PDF version |
|---|---|---|
| PDF/VT-1, PDF/VT-2 |
ISO 16612-2:2010 Graphic technology — Variable data exchange — Part 2: Using PDF/X-4 and PDF/X-5 (PDF/VT-1 and PDF/VT-2) | PDF/X-4, PDF/X-5 |
| PDF/VT-3 | ISO 16612-3:2020 Graphic technology — Variable data exchange — Part 3: Using PDF/X-6 (PDF/VT-3) | PDF/X-6 |
| PPML/VDX | ISO 16612-1:2005 Graphic technology — Variable printing data exchange — Part 1: Using PPML 2.1 and PDF 1.4 (PPML/VDX-2005) | PDF 1.4 |
ECMAScript for PDF 2.0 = ISO 21757
ECMAScript (also known as JavaScript) provides PDF with scripting capabilities enabling smart forms, interactive 3D content, and much more. Industry-based errata for ECMAscript in PDF 2.0 can be found here.
| Standard | Document | PDF version |
|---|---|---|
| ECMAScript for PDF 2.0 |
ISO 21757-1:2020 Document Management — ECMAScript For PDF — Part 1: Use Of ISO 32000-2 (PDF 2.0) | PDF 2.0 |
XFDF = ISO 19444
XFDF is an XML format for representing forms data and annotations with PDF. It is the XML equivalent of FDF which is defined within ISO 32000.
| Standard | Document | PDF version |
|---|---|---|
| XFDF 3.0 | ISO 19444-1:2016 Document management — XML Forms Data Format — Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-2 (XFDF 3.0) (withdrawn) | PDF 2.0 |
| ISO 19444-1:2019 Document management — XML Forms Data Format — Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-2 (XFDF 3.0) |
Print workflow and metadata
Print workflow and metadata standards are used to communicate the intended appearance, processing steps, or job tickets for printed products via PDF features.
Long-term signature profiles for PAdES
ISO 14533-3 specifies the elements, among those defined in PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures (PAdES), that enable verification of a digital signature over a long period of time. It does not give new technical specifications about the digital signature itself, nor new restrictions of usage of the technical specifications about the digital signatures which already exist.
XMP metadata
XMP is a widely used XML-based metadata format that is also the preferred metadata format in all ISO PDF standards.