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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 2.0 is feature-complete. What comes next?

June 2016 by PDF Association staff
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PDF 2.0 is nearly finished. Now is an excellent time to help the ISO committee understand your ideas for the future of PDF.

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June 2016 by Duff Johnson
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The veraPDF purpose-built validator for PDF/A now covers all parts and conformance levels of PDF/A.

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May 2016 by PDF Association staff
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Many organizations use PDF merely to offload printing to end-users. They miss out, because not only does PDF offer a … Read more

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May 2016 by PDF Association staff
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The variety in screen sizes and shapes is a challenge for web technology in general, and for PDF in particular. … Read more

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May 2016 by Alexandra Oettler
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At drupa 2016, the world’s leading trade show for graphic and industrial print as well as media and multichannel, PDF … Read more

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May 2016 by PDF Association staff
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PDF and EPUB meet different needs in different ways. Neither can replace the other.

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May 2016 by PDF Association staff
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The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) has awarded its Thomas Bagg Standards Award to Duff Johnson.

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May 2016 by Duff Johnson
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Apple’s latest tablet brings ColorSync functionality to iOS.

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May 2016 by Duff Johnson
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Along with 65 new atomic test suite files, the 0.14 release features validation of all parts and conformance levels of … Read more

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April 2016 by Duff Johnson
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PDF Association Executive Director Duff Johnson wins the Thomas Bagg Standards Award.

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April 2016 by PDF Association staff
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Matt Kuznicki, Chief Technical Officer at Datalogics, tells us about his plans for the PDF Days Europe 2016 conference in … Read more

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