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The PDF Association celebrates its members’ public statements
of support
for ISO-standardized PDF technology.

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PDF Champion 2025

October 2025 by PDF Association staff

This year’s PDF Champion is the man who, as much or more than anyone else, is responsible for launching the institutions that undergird the modern PDF technology industry: Thomas Zellmann.

Thomas has been a steady, energizing presence from the earliest days of the PDF/A Competence Center, which he helped to found in 2006. That organization is now today’s PDF Association thanks a large part to his committment.

In the Competence Centre era Thomas was one of the most visible ambassadors of that mission, speaking and teaching across Europe to help make long-term digital preservation a practical reality for institutions and enterprises. Thomas championed “anything to PDF/A” workflows and promoted archival quality as a first-class requirement, not an afterthought. Our community is stronger because of his work.

On this basis, and as approved by the Board of Directors of the PDF Association, we send our congratulations – and a cube of engraved aluminum – to Thomas Zellmann, PDF Champion for 2025!

This year’s PDF Champion is the man who, as much or more than anyone else, is responsible for launching the institutions that undergird the modern PDF technology industry: Thomas Zellmann.

Thomas has been a steady, energizing presence from the earliest days of the PDF/A Competence Center, which he helped to found in 2006. That organization is now today’s PDF Association thanks a large part to his committment.

In the Competence Centre era Thomas was one of the most visible ambassadors of that mission, speaking and teaching across Europe to help make long-term digital preservation a practical reality for institutions and enterprises. Thomas championed “anything to PDF/A” workflows and promoted archival quality as a first-class requirement, not an afterthought. Our community is stronger because of his work.

On this basis, and as approved by the Board of Directors of the PDF Association, we send our congratulations – and a cube of engraved aluminum – to Thomas Zellmann, PDF Champion for 2025!

Brotli compression coming to PDF

March 2025 by Robin Watts (Artifex Software Inc)
Article


Brotli compression is coming soon to PDF 2.0, enabling smaller file sizes. Sample PDF files are available to kickstart development!

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March 2025 by Erin Dempsey (TWAIN Working Group)
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This article explores how ISVs can use PDF/R to improve imaging application software’s efficiency, reduce development complexity, and enhance customer … Read more

Article

February 2025 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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Google’s Jpegli promises smaller JPEG images (and so, smaller PDF files) with no change to reader software! Check it out … Read more

Article

January 2025 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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What’s the smallest possible fully compliant and validatable PDF file? We set out to answer the question.

Article

January 2025 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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Triggered by our own experience in preparing the cheat sheet collection, this article explores the capabilities of PDF collections and … Read more

Article

December 2024 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Most people searching for “pdf” are interested in a document, not the file format. Google Trends data offers a window … Read more

Article

December 2024 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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The PDF Association looks back at industry activities, events and accomplishments in 2024.

Article

November 2024 by PDF Association staff
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We’ve established a new public GitHub repository to allow anyone to log and discuss issues and requests against PDF Association … Read more

Article

November 2024 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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In 2021, not a single tested implementation passed this test. 3 years later about three-quarters of viewers we checked now … Read more

Article

October 2024 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Accessibility considerations for digital content aren’t limited to navigation, reading and interaction. Users also need to be able to archive, … Read more

Article

September 2024 by Peter Wyatt
Peter Wyatt
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This PDF-UX article offers an overview of bookmarks and suggests considerations and general best practices for every PDF author, and … Read more

Article

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