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

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PDF Champion 2025

October 2025 by PDF Association staff

This year’s PDF Champion is the man who, as much or more than anyone else, is responsible for launching the institutions that undergird the modern PDF technology industry: Thomas Zellmann.

Thomas has been a steady, energizing presence from the earliest days of the PDF/A Competence Center, which he helped to found in 2006. That organization is now today’s PDF Association thanks a large part to his committment.

In the Competence Centre era Thomas was one of the most visible ambassadors of that mission, speaking and teaching across Europe to help make long-term digital preservation a practical reality for institutions and enterprises. Thomas championed “anything to PDF/A” workflows and promoted archival quality as a first-class requirement, not an afterthought. Our community is stronger because of his work.

On this basis, and as approved by the Board of Directors of the PDF Association, we send our congratulations – and a cube of engraved aluminum – to Thomas Zellmann, PDF Champion for 2025!

This year’s PDF Champion is the man who, as much or more than anyone else, is responsible for launching the institutions that undergird the modern PDF technology industry: Thomas Zellmann.

Thomas has been a steady, energizing presence from the earliest days of the PDF/A Competence Center, which he helped to found in 2006. That organization is now today’s PDF Association thanks a large part to his committment.

In the Competence Centre era Thomas was one of the most visible ambassadors of that mission, speaking and teaching across Europe to help make long-term digital preservation a practical reality for institutions and enterprises. Thomas championed “anything to PDF/A” workflows and promoted archival quality as a first-class requirement, not an afterthought. Our community is stronger because of his work.

On this basis, and as approved by the Board of Directors of the PDF Association, we send our congratulations – and a cube of engraved aluminum – to Thomas Zellmann, PDF Champion for 2025!

Techniques for Accessible PDF: Headings

April 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association news


The PDF Accessibility LWG’s 2025-Q2 release focuses on headings, with 9 new techniques and 8 new failure examples.

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April 2025 by PDF Association staff
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AI’s Pirated-Books Problem | Correcting US financial regulations referencing PDF | New crawl limit improves CC’s capture of PDF | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

March 2025 by Robin Watts (Artifex Software Inc)
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Brotli compression is coming soon to PDF 2.0, enabling smaller file sizes. Sample PDF files are available to kickstart development!

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March 2025 by PDF Association staff
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When will AI understand document semantics? | Will LLM-based OCR live up to the challenge? | Indicating whether the publisher … Read more

PDF in the Wild

March 2025 by Erin Dempsey (TWAIN Working Group)
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This article explores how ISVs can use PDF/R to improve imaging application software’s efficiency, reduce development complexity, and enhance customer … Read more

Article

March 2025 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association will host a trio of PDF technology events in Berlin from September 11-19. Save the date… and … Read more

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February 2025 by PDF Association staff
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The new TWG will explore topics such as verifiable credentials, digital signatures, modern cryptography and content provenance frameworks in alignment … Read more

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February 2025 by PDF Association staff
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These free XMP Extension Schema templates support PDF documents that conform to multiple subset standards, including PDF/A, PDF/X, PDF/VT, and … Read more

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February 2025 by Peter Wyatt
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Google’s Jpegli promises smaller JPEG images (and so, smaller PDF files) with no change to reader software! Check it out … Read more

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February 2025 by PDF Association
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PDF Week Boston 2025 is the first of two members-only events in 2025 focused on PDF technology specifications and standards … Read more

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February 2025 by PDF Association staff
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PDF bookmarks from Google Chrome? | What does “PDF” mean to you? | Two reasons why everyone needs PDF | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

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