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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.

Milestones in the History of PDF

October 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF in the Wild


Milestones in the History of PDF | Chrome’s newest feature | JPEG 2000 turns 25 | Windows 11 October 2025 Update breaks PDF | ETSI third AI and Data Conference … Read more

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September 2025 by PDF Association staff
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Thank you Berlin | PDF 2.0 support gets top billing in coverage of LibreOffice 25.8 | Now Tagged PDF and … Read more

PDF in the Wild

August 2025 by PDF Association staff
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Encoding multilingual content | The US Library of Congress recognizes individual PDF/A-4 conformance levels | “There was no book” | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

July 2025 by PDF Association staff
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Browsers battle over PDF capabilities | ISO’s “Publicly Available Standards” page is gone | PDF to Brainrot | JHOVE update … Read more

PDF in the Wild

June 2025 by PDF Association staff
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If you use a word processor creating Tagged PDF is your default. | FOGRA’s summary of developments in print | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

May 2025 by PDF Association staff
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Accessibility | veraPDF version 1.28.1 | Chrome PDF features updates | Transparency blending | Screen readers and special characters | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

April 2025 by PDF Association staff
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AI’s Pirated-Books Problem | Correcting US financial regulations referencing PDF | New crawl limit improves CC’s capture of PDF | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

March 2025 by PDF Association staff
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When will AI understand document semantics? | Will LLM-based OCR live up to the challenge? | Indicating whether the publisher … Read more

PDF in the Wild

February 2025 by PDF Association staff
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PDF bookmarks from Google Chrome? | What does “PDF” mean to you? | Two reasons why everyone needs PDF | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

January 2025 by PDF Association staff
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Doom in a PDF | PDF Week Boston 2025 | The EAA is coming! | AI and accessibility standards | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

December 2024 by PDF Association staff
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A close-up look at how PDF does text | What would Patton think? | Word bug blocks PDF/UA validators, Happy … Read more

PDF in the Wild

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