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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.

PDF versions

March 2024 by Peter Wyatt
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How meaningful is PDF’s version number? SafeDocs’ research reveals that 20% of extant files contain features that exceed the stated version!

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March 2024 by Peter Wyatt
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Peter Wyatt shares his custom metadata panels – very useful for discovering ISO standards and PDF Declarations metadata! (until vendors … Read more

Article

March 2024 by PDF Association staff
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Based on WTPDF, ISO 14289-2 serves to assure institutions that the PDF Association’s requirements for creating and validating accessible PDF … Read more

PDF Association news

March 2024 by PDF Association staff
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Join pdfa.org for exclusive member benefits tailored to PDF development. Our Member Benefit Manager, Melina, engages in insightful discussions with … Read more

PDF Association news

March 2024 by PDF Association staff
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The latest veraPDF release candidate adds PDF/UA-2 support. LibreOffice creates PDF/A and PDF/UA together. A “white paper” gets PDF wrong, … Read more

PDF in the Wild

March 2024 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association has established a new Liaison Working Group (LWG) to serve as a place for forensics experts and … Read more

PDF Association news

February 2024 by PDF Association staff
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Well-Tagged PDF (WTPDF), a common specification for both reuse and accessibility, is a massive leap forward for PDF technology.

PDF Association news

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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February 2024 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Week Online 2024 week 2 is coming up! Did you know that PDF 2.0 adds ARIA to PDF? How … Read more

PDF in the Wild

February 2024 by PDF Association staff
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All PDF Association Full and Liaison Members who have joined Technical and/or Liaison Working Groups are welcome for two weeks … Read more

PDF Association news

January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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LibreOffice now supports PDF/UA! AI LLMs’ support for PDF is substandard, and is retarding innovation. Yet more misinformation about malware. … Read more

PDF in the Wild

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