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A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs

This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:

  • A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
  • The presence of two incremental updates.
  • The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
  • The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
  • Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Peter Wyatt

By Peter Wyatt
December 2025

A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs

This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:

  • A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
  • The presence of two incremental updates.
  • The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
  • The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
  • Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Peter Wyatt

By Peter Wyatt
December 2025

veraPDF 0.16: full support for all parts and conformance levels of PDF/A

June 2016 by Duff Johnson
News


The veraPDF purpose-built validator for PDF/A now covers all parts and conformance levels of PDF/A.

Duff Johnson
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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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April 2016 by Matthias Wagner
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The 2016 PSD handbook version is published – German version will be provided soon.

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