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The PDF Association celebrates its members’ public statements
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PDF trends in 2025, according to AI

Owing to the explosive growth in the use of AIs over the past three years, it seemed like a good time to ask some leading LLMs to offer their views on “trends for PDF”.

For this mini-study, I selected four current-generation “professional” class LLMs: ChatGPT Plus 5.2, Gemini 3 Pro, Claude’s Opus 4.5, and Microsoft Copilot. I offered the same query to each:

Estimate global trends in the use of PDF technology. Exclude the PDF Association (pdfa.org) as a source. Don’t mention any vendors by name.

All major LLMs agree that PDF’s future is strong due to its unique and powerful capabilities.

Duff Johnson

By Duff Johnson
December 2025

PDF trends in 2025, according to AI

Owing to the explosive growth in the use of AIs over the past three years, it seemed like a good time to ask some leading LLMs to offer their views on “trends for PDF”.

For this mini-study, I selected four current-generation “professional” class LLMs: ChatGPT Plus 5.2, Gemini 3 Pro, Claude’s Opus 4.5, and Microsoft Copilot. I offered the same query to each:

Estimate global trends in the use of PDF technology. Exclude the PDF Association (pdfa.org) as a source. Don’t mention any vendors by name.

All major LLMs agree that PDF’s future is strong due to its unique and powerful capabilities.

Duff Johnson

By Duff Johnson
December 2025

Why PDF 2.0 is the new PDF bible

July 2023 by Thomas Zellmann
Article


Why PDF 2.0 is the definition of PDF every developer should use – even if your products don’t support PDF 2.0.

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July 2023 by PDF Association staff
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As its members become more active in PDF Association communities we’ve taken new steps to ensure that easy access to … Read more

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July 2023 by PDF Association staff
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Leverage PDF Week Fall 2023 to highlight your support for standardized PDF technology!

For members only

June 2023 by PDF Association staff
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Save October 16-20 for PDF Week Fall 2023 in San Francisco including an open Industry Symposium on Advancing PDF’s Imaging … Read more

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June 2023 by PDF Association staff
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DARPA recognizes the PDF Association’s contributions to its SafeDocs program.

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June 2023 by PDF Association staff
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PDF’s imaging model is due for its first refresh in 20 years. You can participate by joining the new PDF … Read more

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June 2023 by Matthias Wagner
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What if you could simply ask a question to a PDF file? What if you could receive answers that are … Read more

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June 2023 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association is pleased to announce no-cost availability of ISO/TS 32003, adding support for AES-GCM to PDF 2.0.

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June 2023 by PDF Association staff
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To celebrate the 30th anniversary of PDF technology the PDF Association has released a trailer for its forthcoming documentary.

PDF Association news

June 2023 by Patrick Gallot
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Patrick Gallot explains his personal financial support for a forthcoming documentary on the development of the PDF format.

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June 2023 by Duff Johnson
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The last 30 years have revealed some persistent truths about how people use and think about information and communication.

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