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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

PDF Days Keynotes Announced!

August 2022 by PDF Association staff
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This year’s keynote addresses at PDF Days will be delivered by PDF Association CTO Peter Wyatt and Boeing’s Kenny Swope.

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July 2022 by PDF Association staff
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5 reasons your boss should want you to attend PDF Days Europe 2022 in September!

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July 2022 by PDF Association staff
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The new PDF/UA Processor LWG will work to formalize common understandings on processing PDF/UA-conforming PDF files.

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June 2022 by PDF Association staff
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Visiting the No. 1 PDF event – the PDF Days Europe 2022 – in Berlin? Great! Conference hotel – Novotel … Read more

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May 2022 by PDF Association
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33 educational sessions plus 2 keynotes in 2 days of networking opportunities at PDF Days Europe 2022, live in Berlin … Read more

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May 2022 by Duff Johnson
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Tagged PDF is becoming increasingly common. On #GAAD 2022, PDF/UA’s ISO Project Leader takes stock of the progress and highlights … Read more

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May 2022 by Peter Wyatt
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The PDF Association has updated IANA’s MIME media types registry for FDF, XFDF, PRC and U3D.

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April 2022 by Global Graphics Software
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Martin Bailey reflects on the history of PDF/X and its impact on production printing and the exchange of documents in … Read more

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April 2022 by Peter Wyatt
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Non-rectangular links are coming to PDF 2.0! This article offers some background to link technology in PDF and discusses the … Read more

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April 2022 by Peter Wyatt
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With the publication of ISO/TS 24064 PDF 2.0 now supports three 3D formats: U3D, PRC and STEP.

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April 2022 by Thomas Zellmann
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This post provides a quick overview of PDF/UA that explains what PDF/UA is, why it should be used, what is … Read more

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