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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!

SD Times features PDF 2.0

December 2017 by Hans Bärfuss
News


SD Times, a leading periodical targeting systems and application developers, has featured PDF in its December 2017 publication. The journalists at SD Times interviewed various members of the PDF technology … Read more

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November 2017 by PDF Association staff
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PDF 1.7, the final Adobe edition of the PDF specification, was published in 2006, and converted to an ISO standard … Read more

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November 2017 by PDF Association staff
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The latest release of veraPDF, the industry-supported, open source PDF/A validator, is now available for download. Version 1.10 is the … Read more

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November 2017 by PDF Association staff
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PDF Days Europe is the most popular PDF event of the year. It’s where the PDF industry meets, and where … Read more

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November 2017 by PDF Association staff
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The Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) is a new initiative to promote awareness and development of technologies that contribute to … Read more

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November 2017 by PDF Association staff
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The November 2017 updates for Acrobat DC, now available from Adobe, include some significant news for those who pay attention … Read more

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November 2017 by Duff Johnson
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It’s a question that vexes vendors of web-based solutions everywhere: why do people still insist on PDF files? And why … Read more

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November 2017 by PDF Association staff
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PDF is PDF because files produced with one vendor’s software can be read using a different vendor’s software with no … Read more

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October 2017 by PDF Association staff
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Writing in Government Computing News, PDF Executive Director Duff Johnson highlights NARA’s recently-published draft strategic plan and its stated objective … Read more

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October 2017 by PDF Association staff
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NARA (The National Archives and Records Administration) is the final depository for the long-term records generated by all other agencies … Read more

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October 2017 by PDF Association staff
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This PDF Association’s end-user educational event is intended for the managers, executives and professionals developing institutional strategies for managing electronic … Read more

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