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The PDF Association celebrates its members’ public statements
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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!

A new stressful PDF corpus

September 2020 by Peter Wyatt
Article


Interoperability is the core value proposition of the PDF file format. Although interoperability comes from sharing a clear and precise understanding of the file format specification, test data in the … Read more

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September 2020 by Matthew Hardy (Adobe)
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The PDF Reuse TWG is facilitating the reuse of document content and semantics on a diverse set of devices and … Read more

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September 2020 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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Dietrich von Seggern talks about an example in which the internet community came up with a smart solution for a … Read more

Article

August 2020 by PDF Association staff
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This free educational webinar series celebrates PDF technology capabilities and solutions. OctoberPDFest highlights the latest developments, visions of the future … Read more

PDF Association news

August 2020 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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Ensuring maximum success in RPA processes requires uniformity (standardization) in inputs. That’s where PDF can help.

Article

July 2020 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association is assembling dozens of the world’s leading experts on PDF technology for a free educational webinar series … Read more

PDF Association news

July 2020 by Ferass Elrayes
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Google’s Chrome browser now creates tagged PDF files when the “Save as PDF” option is selected (Control / Command-P).

News

July 2020 by PDF Association staff
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This WG identifies and addresses the interests of service bureau operators working on PDF accessibility, providing a vendor-neutral place to … Read more

PDF Association news

July 2020 by Dietrich von Seggern
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This article provides information about virtual ISO meetings during which PDF proper, PDF/A, PDF/X and PDF/VT were discussed. ISO committees … Read more

PDF Association news

June 2020 by PDF Association staff
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Members should review this post carefully, as these changes affect your current access to PDF Association features including working group … Read more

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June 2020 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association is deepening its commitment to ISO standards development while driving research into enhancing the format and its … Read more

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