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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!

PDF: A lifeblood technology of government

October 2014 by PDF Association staff
Article


Government requirements for electronic documents include considerations most businesses don’t need to address. From long-term archivability to accessibility, authenticity, redaction and more, government organizations think about documents a little differently.

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October 2014 by PDF Association staff
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At PDF Day in Washington DC and New York City, CIOs will get the information they need about PDF/A-3, the … Read more

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October 2014 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Day brings CIOs together to learn how PDF support for digital signatures, automated invoicing, online collaboration and accessibility take … Read more

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October 2014 by PDF Association staff
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Fundamentally, PDF/A is all about reducing risks. Learn more about the archival subset of the world’s chosen electronic document format … Read more

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October 2014 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Day in New York is 18 fast-paced educational sessions packed with non-commercial information for IT executives on a range … Read more

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October 2014 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Day in Washington DC is 18 fast-paced educational sessions packed with non-commercial information for IT executives on a range … Read more

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July 2014 by PDF Association staff
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The US Committee for PDF/UA has published its second Technical Implementation Guide. This document focuses on ISO 32000-1.

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July 2014 by PDF Association staff
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Berlin/Cologne, 04 July 2014. The PDF Association has successfully brought to life a new user-focused event in the form of … Read more

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July 2014 by PDF Association staff
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Berlin, 04 July 2014. PDF Association has significantly expanded its board of directors. The now ten-member-strong committee is composed of … Read more

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June 2014 by PDF Association staff
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The Matterhorn Protocol 1.02 is now available as a free download!

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April 2014 by PDF Association staff
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Evolving Document-Centric Processes with Advanced Rendering to PDF in Life Science · Meeting Document Requirements in Life Sciences: The Art … Read more

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