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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.

Phil Ydens and Jon Callas to keynote at the PDF Technical Conference 2015

September 2015 by Duff Johnson
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2 PDF-packed days; 3 tracks, 37 sessions, and two great keynote speakers: Adobe’s Phil Ydens and Silent Circle’s Jon Callas!

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September 2015 by Duff Johnson
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The 0.4 release includes the first complete (in principle) PDF/A-1b validation profile, and while unverified, tests well against the internal … Read more

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September 2015 by Duff Johnson
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Official PDF Association PDF/A and PDF/UA flyers updated

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August 2015 by Duff Johnson
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PDF creation is now native in Windows.

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August 2015 by Duff Johnson
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The complete specification for Unicode 8.0 is now available, with 7,716 new characters.

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July 2015 by Duff Johnson
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Release 0.2 of veraPDF does not yet perform PDF/A validation, but as a proof-of-concept it demonstrates the approach selected for … Read more

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July 2015 by Duff Johnson
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Link-farming with PDF (still) fools Google. What are they parsing, and what are they doing with what they get?

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July 2015 by Duff Johnson
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Will Android heavyweight Samsung introduce PDF annotation support?

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June 2015 by Duff Johnson
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The latest version of the Unicode Standard adds 7,716 new characters and six new scripts. New additions range from emoji characters (including … Read more

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June 2015 by Duff Johnson
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PDF/A adoption remains slow, even in European academic archives.

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June 2015 by Duff Johnson
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Will PDF/UA be an option or a requirement for PDF documents in the coming refresh of Section 508? Duff Johnson … Read more

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