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The PDF Association celebrates its members’ public statements
of support
for ISO-standardized PDF technology.

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Twenty Years of Trust: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of PDF/A-1

November 2025 by PDF Association staff

This month the PDF industry is celebrating the 20th anniversary of PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1:2005), the publication of which revolutionized digital preservation.

Before this standard, archiving suffered from dependency issues. PDF/A-1, based on a constrained subset of PDF 1.4, mandated self-contained, device-independent documents. These rules ensure that a PDF/A document’s appearance can be reliably maintained over centuries, regardless of viewing software.

Rapidly adopted globally, the principles established in PDF/A-1 persist in later standards like PDF/A-4, which is based on PDF 2.0, the latest ISO standard for PDF.

Happy 20th, PDF/A! We (ok, not us personally) fully expect to be celebrating your 200th anniversary in November 2225!

This month the PDF industry is celebrating the 20th anniversary of PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1:2005), the publication of which revolutionized digital preservation.

Before this standard, archiving suffered from dependency issues. PDF/A-1, based on a constrained subset of PDF 1.4, mandated self-contained, device-independent documents. These rules ensure that a PDF/A document’s appearance can be reliably maintained over centuries, regardless of viewing software.

Rapidly adopted globally, the principles established in PDF/A-1 persist in later standards like PDF/A-4, which is based on PDF 2.0, the latest ISO standard for PDF.

Happy 20th, PDF/A! We (ok, not us personally) fully expect to be celebrating your 200th anniversary in November 2225!

What AI should be doing with documents

February 2024 by Duff Johnson
Article


It’s time for AI integrators to help authors make semantically rich documents… and step up their game on PDF inputs.

Duff Johnson
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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

January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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A major focus of the PDF Association’s work is to increase awareness and adoption of standards and best practices for … Read more

Article

January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF, ICC, NITF and video datasets used in SafeDocs’ performer hackathons and evaluations are now available for download from … Read more

Article

January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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Adobe’s Standards Support Endowment, now in its sixth year, facilities administration of ISO TC 171 SC 2 and sustains the … Read more

PDF Association news

January 2024 by PDF Association staff
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Greet Melina, our dedicated Member Benefit Manager. From tailored business support to navigating communities, she’s here to amplify your membership … Read more

For members only

January 2024 by Matthias Wagner
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The PDF Association has updated its website to make content and resources easier to find. We hope you like it!

PDF Association news

December 2023 by PDF Association staff
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In 2023, the volunteers and staff of the PDF Association were busier than ever, with new working groups, resources, and … Read more

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December 2023 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Week Online 2024 consists of 16 PDF Association Working Group meetings and 2 ISO working group meetings.

PDF Association news

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