A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs
This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:
- A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
- The presence of two incremental updates.
- The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
- The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
- Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs
This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:
- A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
- The presence of two incremental updates.
- The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
- The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
- Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Understanding PDF/UA Validation Results: A Comparative Study Across Tools
We analyzed PDF/UA-1 validation results across multiple commonly used tools using 155 reference files. This article shares key observations to help practitioners better interpret validation outcomes.
December 2025 by Peter Wyatt
Starting In 2025, the three most significant ISO standardized subsets of PDF – PDF/A, PDF/X, and PDF/UA – are now … Read more
November 2025 by PDF Association staff
The global digital preservation community will come together on Thursday, November 6, 2025 to celebrate #WDPD2025 under the theme “Why Preserve?” Learn how … Read more
