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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.

Matt Kuznicki, Datalogics CTO, is the new Vice Chairman of the PDF Association’s Board of Directors

December 2015 by Matthias Wagner
News


Matt Kuznicki is elected Vice Chairman of the PDF Association’s Board of Directors on November 23, 2015.

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December 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Google’s latest release of Chrome includes updated support for PDF viewing.

News

December 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Karlen Communications is surveying users with disabilities to better understand the end user experience of PDF documents within that population.

News

December 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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SD Times talks PDF with a number of developers in the electronic document field, including several PDF Association members.

News

November 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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The amended Transparency Directive will require public company annual financial reports in an ESEF beginning January 1, 2020.

News

November 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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The veraPDF consortium has announced the 0.6 release of the veraPDF PDF/A validation software and test-suite. This release features validation … Read more

News

October 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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The European Disability Forum reports that European Commissioner Thyssen has confirmed that the European Accessibility Act, under development since 2012, … Read more

News

October 2015 by Olaf Drümmer
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With the initial discussions having started in 2012, PDFBox 2.0.0 has been in the works for quite some time – … Read more

News

October 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Firefox will drop support for plugins based on NPAPI by the end of 2016.

News

September 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Announcing a new 3D PDF solution using PRC.

News

September 2015 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
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Paper is still with us: “Digital books accounted last year for around 20 percent of the market, roughly the same … Read more

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