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PDF/A and external references

November 2025 by Peter Wyatt

PDF/A ensures reliable long-term rendering by embedding fonts, images, and color profiles, but URLs can still appear in text, hyperlinks, bookmarks, annotations, metadata, and embedded files.

Link annotations and URI Actions define clickable destinations, but PDF/A restricts certain action types to prevent external dependencies.

Guided by clear policies, comprehensive audits of both visible and hidden references help maintain authenticity, accessibility, and long-term integrity of PDF/A documents and digital collections.

PDF/A ensures reliable long-term rendering by embedding fonts, images, and color profiles, but URLs can still appear in text, hyperlinks, bookmarks, annotations, metadata, and embedded files.

Link annotations and URI Actions define clickable destinations, but PDF/A restricts certain action types to prevent external dependencies.

Guided by clear policies, comprehensive audits of both visible and hidden references help maintain authenticity, accessibility, and long-term integrity of PDF/A documents and digital collections.

Universal Accessibility – Barrier-free Communication Is More than Inclusion

January 2022 by Carsten Luedtge (Compart GmbH)
Article


In fact, it’s about up-valuing content and documents to intelligent information media. In the final analysis, data is the raw material of any digital transformation – including and especially in … Read more

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January 2022 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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PDF Association’s CTO, Peter Wyatt discusses text strings in PDF.

Article

November 2021 by Carsten Luedtge (Compart GmbH)
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Key performance indicator (KPI) systems must also be strictly oriented to the strategic corporate goals in document and output management … Read more

Article

November 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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PDF Association CTO Peter Wyatt explains the transparent imaging model in PDF and recounts its significance since Adobe introduced this … Read more

Article

November 2021 by PDF Association staff
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Almost every email client can save email messages as PDF files, but none do so in a manner that retains … Read more

Article

November 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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This freely-available PDF file includes 8 test cases that only render correctly if the abbreviated key name is used. If … Read more

Article

October 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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PDF issues has been redesigned based on industry feedback: all resolved errata are now published via https://pdf-issues.pdfa.org.

Article

October 2021 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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Dietrich von Seggern from callas software explains why companies should not leave the generation of PDF/A to their staff, but … Read more

Article

October 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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On World Standards Day 2021 the PDF Association celebrates PDF’s connection to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Article

October 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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As a consumer of standards, have you ever stopped and critically reviewed what a standard essentially is and how it … Read more

Article

October 2021 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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callas software’s Dietrich von Seggern describes what “owned by ISO” really means, and why that matters, in celebration of World … Read more

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