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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.

PDF standards explained: with a focus on the newest

September 2021 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
Article


Dietrich von Seggern from callas software explains PDF standards with a focus on the newest standards.

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September 2021 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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According to CommonCrawl’s detected MIME type PDF is the 3rd most popular file-format on the web (behind HTML and XHTML); … Read more

Article

August 2021 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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Dietrich von Seggern describes optimal uses of automation in label printing and discusses the integration of print processing steps in … Read more

Article

July 2021 by Leonard Rosenthol (Adobe)
Leonard Rosenthol
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The Technical Working Group’s chair explains the current missions of the PDF Forms TWG; a declarative model for business logic, … Read more

Article

July 2021 by Peter Shikli (Access2online Inc.)
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PDF documents can be as accessible as web pages if presented correctly.

Article

July 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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To assist both academic and industry researchers achieve high-quality and accurate PDF-oriented research outcomes, the PDF Association is now offering … Read more

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June 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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Doing PDF right means being aware of errata for PDF 2.0. With over 65 issues now resolved and approved by … Read more

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May 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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The PDF Association expands its pdf-issues GitHub repo to cover all ISO standards based on PDF 2.0.

Article

May 2021 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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The LangSec IEEE S&P Workshop this year includes several PDF-related presentations resulting from SafeDocs research including a paper by CTO … Read more

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May 2021 by PDF Association staff
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An overview of industry working-group activities pertaining to tagged PDF.

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April 2021 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Standards development works best when the expert community is open to diverse and dissenting views. The door is already open … Read more

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