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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!

PDF on GAAD: because it’s the content you keep

May 2022 by Duff Johnson
Article


Tagged PDF is becoming increasingly common. On #GAAD 2022, PDF/UA’s ISO Project Leader takes stock of the progress and highlights what remains.

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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.

Article

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.

Article

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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March 2022 by PDF Association staff
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Members and non-members alike are welcome to submit proposals to present at the world’s premiere PDF technology event this September!

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March 2022 by Dov Isaacs (Dov Isaacs)
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Dov Isaacs discusses the issues and opportunities that the print publishing industry faces and how the PDF/X standard can help … Read more

Article

March 2022 by Dov Isaacs (Dov Isaacs)
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In this part of the ‘Twenty Years of PDF/X’ series, Dov Isaacs discusses the success and adoption of the PDF/X … Read more

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March 2022 by Dov Isaacs (Dov Isaacs)
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In this part of ‘Twenty Years of PDF/X’, Dov Isaacs explores how PDF/X tamed PostScript and its impact on the … Read more

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March 2022 by Dov Isaacs (Dov Isaacs)
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This is the first of a four part series of articles examining the path leading to today’s PDF/X standards.

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