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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 Industry Embraces Post-Quantum Cryptography to Secure Digital Signatures

October 2025 by Daniel Wilson (BFO (Big Faceless Organization))
Article


The PDF industry is preparing for the quantum era by adopting post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards. Following key developments at PDF Days 2025, vendors are integrating quantum-resistant digital signatures to ensure … Read more

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September 2025 by Peter Wyatt
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ISO standardized subsets of PDF, such as PDF/UA, enable files to claim conformance to a specific version of PDF/UA using … Read more

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September 2025 by PDF Association staff
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According to Board chair Raf Hens: “The event showcased what makes the PDF ecosystem unique: a standards-driven, industry-wide collaboration where … Read more

Article

August 2025 by Jacob Mellor (Iron Software)
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This article is written from my perspective as a lifelong software engineer and current CTO who codes differently – first … Read more

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July 2025 by Peter Wyatt
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We were asked to investigate non-functional internal document (intra-document) hyperlinks in PDFs stored on Google Drive and viewed with Google’s … Read more

Article

July 2025 by Paul Rayius (Allyant)
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Experience since PDF/UA-1 was published has revealed that some rules were too prescriptive. In some situations the semantic significance of … Read more

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June 2025 by Patrick Gallot (Datalogics)
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PDF has long relied on Flate for general-purpose data compression. Today, Brotli has emerged as a promising new approach that … Read more

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June 2025 by Patrick Gallot (Datalogics)
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This article explains the options in allowing, limiting, and/or preventing data scraping from occurring when AI and text data mining … Read more

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June 2025 by PDF Association staff
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In support of the International Archives Week theme and its four subthemes, the PDF Association is announcing its forthcoming Best … Read more

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May 2025 by PDF Association staff
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Announcing the Monday keynote speaker for PDF Days Europe 2025, the new poster sessions and Peter Wyatt’s PDF Workshop!

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April 2025 by Duff Johnson
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What does it take to build the organizational skills and resources necessary to succeed in ensuring PDF documents are accessible?

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