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

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Twenty Years of Trust: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of PDF/A-1

November 2025 by PDF Association staff

This month the PDF industry is celebrating the 20th anniversary of PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1:2005), the publication of which revolutionized digital preservation.

Before this standard, archiving suffered from dependency issues. PDF/A-1, based on a constrained subset of PDF 1.4, mandated self-contained, device-independent documents. These rules ensure that a PDF/A document’s appearance can be reliably maintained over centuries, regardless of viewing software.

Rapidly adopted globally, the principles established in PDF/A-1 persist in later standards like PDF/A-4, which is based on PDF 2.0, the latest ISO standard for PDF.

Happy 20th, PDF/A! We (ok, not us personally) fully expect to be celebrating your 200th anniversary in November 2225!

This month the PDF industry is celebrating the 20th anniversary of PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1:2005), the publication of which revolutionized digital preservation.

Before this standard, archiving suffered from dependency issues. PDF/A-1, based on a constrained subset of PDF 1.4, mandated self-contained, device-independent documents. These rules ensure that a PDF/A document’s appearance can be reliably maintained over centuries, regardless of viewing software.

Rapidly adopted globally, the principles established in PDF/A-1 persist in later standards like PDF/A-4, which is based on PDF 2.0, the latest ISO standard for PDF.

Happy 20th, PDF/A! We (ok, not us personally) fully expect to be celebrating your 200th anniversary in November 2225!

Introduction: The history of PDF/X

May 2017 by Dietrich von Seggern
Article


by Dietrich von Seggern PDF/X was the first ISO standard based on PDF technology. A subset of the PDF specification, PDF/X was designed to constrain PDF files in order to … Read more

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May 2017 by Peter De Bruyne
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Even as the first part of PDF/X was published as ISO 15930-1 in 2001, others were already in development. PDF/X … Read more

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May 2017 by Dietrich von Seggern
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PDF/X is a subset of PDF – see “Technical side and requirements of PDF/X” for an overview. As such, conforming … Read more

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March 2017 by PDF Association staff
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How will the PDF 2.0 interop workshops work? This article explains the process of building the test-matrix to establish possibilities … Read more

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March 2017 by PDF Association staff
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With over 35 informative sessions across a wide range of topics spanning the future of PDF technology, this year’s PDF … Read more

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February 2017 by Duff Johnson
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As we reported yesterday, those in the crypto world are well-aware that Google and others have proven that SHA-1, the … Read more

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February 2017 by PDF 2.0 interop events: risk management and efficiency

Some customers will decide to make the jump to PDF 2.0. Others will be blissfully unaware that it’s heading toward … Read more

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December 2016 by Matt Kuznicki
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Designed around the subjects of archiving and accessibility, PDF Day Australia brought a number of international PDF experts together for … Read more

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November 2016 by PDF Association staff
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Postscript took off like a rocket, but PDF took its time. Many people wondered “What’s it for?” In this video, … Read more

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August 2016 by Duff Johnson
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ECM needs a common portable container to move information management to the next level.

Article

August 2016 by PDF Association staff
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You missed the PDF Days Europe 2016? Never mind!

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