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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.

Discovering PDF metadata

March 2024 by Peter Wyatt
Article


Peter Wyatt shares his custom metadata panels – very useful for discovering ISO standards and PDF Declarations metadata! (until vendors catch up!)

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February 2024 by Duff Johnson
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It’s time for AI integrators to help authors make semantically rich documents… and step up their game on PDF inputs.

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January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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A major focus of the PDF Association’s work is to increase awareness and adoption of standards and best practices for … Read more

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January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF, ICC, NITF and video datasets used in SafeDocs’ performer hackathons and evaluations are now available for download from … Read more

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December 2023 by PDF Association staff
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In 2023, the volunteers and staff of the PDF Association were busier than ever, with new working groups, resources, and … Read more

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December 2023 by Duff Johnson
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It’s difficult to find other search terms that share PDF’s continuous upwards trend. Few technologies show this resilience, especially over … Read more

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December 2023 by PDF Association staff
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Join this webinar to learn why PDF/X-1a was a good idea 20 years ago, but no longer today and find … Read more

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December 2023 by PDF Association staff
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The Imaging Model Technical Working Group (TWG) will now focus on the research, specification, and prototyping at the very core … Read more

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November 2023 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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Callas software’s Dietrich von Seggern describes a few of the innovative technologies under consideration for PDF as discussed at the … Read more

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October 2023 by Peter Wyatt
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Although PDF is commonly understood as a single holistic file format, in reality, PDF comprises a number of distinct dialects, … Read more

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October 2023 by PDF Association staff
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5 years ago the PDF Accessibility LWG began a project to develop a set of accessibility techniques for PDF files. … Read more

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