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A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs

This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:

  • A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
  • The presence of two incremental updates.
  • The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
  • The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
  • Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Peter Wyatt

By Peter Wyatt
December 2025

A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs

This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:

  • A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
  • The presence of two incremental updates.
  • The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
  • The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
  • Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Peter Wyatt

By Peter Wyatt
December 2025

4th annual PDF accessibility survey for AT users

November 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF and the User survey is back for a fourth year. This survey is designed to capture the perceptions of users with disabilities who use adaptive technology (AT) when … Read more

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October 2018 by Duff Johnson
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How do we gain insight into how users’ views of documents are shifting? Google Trends is an increasingly interesting source … Read more

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October 2018 by PDF Association staff
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This Application Note provides technical background to the definition of Associated Files in PDF 2.0. It is intended for developers … Read more

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October 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association has started to overhaul its website, with the first such change being a new search engine, installed … Read more

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October 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Techniques Accessibility Summit’s objective is to establish a broad-based understanding of how PDF files should be tagged for … Read more

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September 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The typical adoption curve for PDF technologies until approximately 2007 tended to track with that of the original PDF developer. … Read more

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September 2018 by PDF Association staff
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New in PDF 2.0, black point compensation (BPC) is a colour management technique allowing for the alignment of the darkest … Read more

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September 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The industry-supported PDF/A validator created by an EU project, veraPDF is one of four finalists for the Digital Preservation Award … Read more

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August 2018 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Processing Steps allows packaging and product developers and designers to specify post-print workflow components with a PDF file in … Read more

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August 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The Future of Email Archives report calls for the development of email archiving specifications leveraging PDF.

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August 2018 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Techniques Accessibility Summit will identify best-practices in tagging various cases in PDF documents. Questions to be addressed will … Read more

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