PDF Association logo

Discover pdfa.org

Key resources

Get involved

How do you find the right PDF technology vendor?
Use the Solution Agent to ask the entire PDF communuity!
The PDF Association celebrates its members’ public statements
of support
for ISO-standardized PDF technology.

Member Area

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!

Get your tickets for the “PDF Triathlon” in Berlin!

June 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association news


Tickets for PDF Days Europe 2025 and the PDF Workshop are now available! Space is limited and demand is high, so get yours now!

PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff's profile.

June 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

2 keynotes, 21 presentations, 2 poster sessions, briefings from working-group chairs, the elevator pitch session and more. Check out the … Read more

PDF Association news

May 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

Announcing the Monday keynote speaker for PDF Days Europe 2025, the new poster sessions and Peter Wyatt’s PDF Workshop!

Article

May 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

Submit a Technical Poster to showcase your ideas at PDF Days Europe 2025!

For members only

May 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

Accessibility | veraPDF version 1.28.1 | Chrome PDF features updates | Transparency blending | Screen readers and special characters | … Read more

PDF in the Wild

April 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

Members gather for PDF Week Boston 2025 in Concord, Massachusetts! Besides sightseeing and socializing there is also some work getting … Read more

PDF Association news

April 2025 by Duff Johnson
Duff Johnson
Visit Duff Johnson‘s profile.

What does it take to build the organizational skills and resources necessary to succeed in ensuring PDF documents are accessible?

Article

April 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

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

PDF Association news

April 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

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)
Visit Robin Watts‘s profile.

Brotli compression is coming soon to PDF 2.0, enabling smaller file sizes. Sample PDF files are available to kickstart development!

Article

March 2025 by PDF Association staff
PDF Association logo
Visit PDF Association staff‘s profile.

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

Member News

WordPress Cookie Notice by Real Cookie Banner