PDF 2.0
Representing the PDF industry via our Category A Liaison with ISO TC 171 SC 2, the PDF Association provides a vendor-neutral platform for PDF’s stakeholders to come together to achieve technical consensus on advancing the specifications and standards that define PDF technology.
We are deeply committed to providing the necessary infrastructure, guidance, techniques, and other resources to help developers, regulators, vendors, authors and users get on the same page about how to ensure rich, reliable, accessible PDF documents.
This page gathers content from across pdfa.org pertaining to the latest iteration of PDF’s specification: PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2).
ISO standards for PDF 2.0
The PDF Association is ISO's committee manager for ISO TC 171 SC 2, publisher of all ISO standards for PDF technology. Accordingly, PDF Association members can participate in developing ISO standards for PDF Technology.
ISO provides public access to various clauses of ISO publications including the Normative References clause … Read more
ISO 19005-4, known as PDF/A-4, defines a subset of PDF 2.0 for representing electronic documents … Read more
ISO/TS 32004 is a PDF 2.0 extension that provides integrity protection along with confidentiality for … Read more
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Industry specifications based on PDF 2.0
These formal industry publications build on existing ISO standards or offer guidance in areas that are not yet standardized. In keeping with the spirit of the original PDF Reference, all PDF Association publications are freely available. Some are also published as ISO standards.
Based on PDF/A, the EA-PDF specification defines a specification for a vendor- and platform- neutral … Read more
Comprehensive requirements for software that seeks to create fully reusable and accessible PDF 2.0 files … Read more
An informative representation of the allowable containment of structure element types as defined in ISO/TS … Read more
Other PDF industry publications related to PDF 2.0
Beyond specifications, the PDF Association publishes other working group products, as well as its own FAQs, glossaries and other information.
This Application Note describes means of incorporating custom metadata structures into PDF files, and includes … Read more
This Application Note provides acceptable uses of HDR images and color data when using PDF/A … Read more
Free XMP Extension Schema templates that support compliance with ISO standards and specifications utilizing XMP.
The Arlington PDF Model is a free and open-source machine-readable data model of all PDF … Read more
This page provides external links to all legacy Adobe PDF references and errata, as well … Read more
This glossary includes simplified descriptions of both technical and common-use terms and acronyms, helping both … Read more
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Articles discussing PDF 2.0
The PDF Association publishes vendor-neutral, informative content by PDF Association staff, industry experts, stakeholders and guests.
January 2026 by Patrick Gallot (Datalogics)
Join us for this webinar to discuss ideas for reinventing 3D PDFs. We’ll explore how to make 3D PDFs better, … Read more
September 2025 by PDF Association staff
Thank you Berlin | PDF 2.0 support gets top billing in coverage of LibreOffice 25.8 | Now Tagged PDF and … Read more
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PDF Days presentations related to PDF 2.0
The main stage at PDF Days events is reserved for educational presentations presented by a wide range of industry experts. Sadly, we don't have recordings from every single PDF event back to 2006! These presentations relate specifically to PDF 2.0.
PDF is THE standard for print production and digitally delivered documents. Controversial? Perhaps, but the fact remains that PDF continues to see more adoption every year. It has cracked open … Read more
The term Automated Document Factory (ADF) might sound familiar, especially if you have worked in or around print over the last three decades. For the printing industry, an Automated Document … Read more
Come and learn how an idea becomes a standard! We’ll look at some recent work driven by the PDF Association to advance the state of the art in PDF technology … Read more
A common complaint about making documents accessible is too hard for most. This session will explore many of the common challenges faced by people learning how to make PDF/UA compliant … Read more
Since the original publication of PDF 2.0 as the almost 1000-page ISO 32000-2:2017 specification, ISO subject matter experts have been working on a “dated revision” update to ISO 32000-2. This … Read more
Member news specific to PDF 2.0
PDF Association members have lots to say! pdfa.org provides a means for our members to promote their company, products and services. The PDF Association is not responsible for members' representations.
January 2026 by Ian Morris (Apryse)
iText Suite 9.5 focuses on preparing for two upcoming additions to the PDF 2.0 specification: introducing support for Brotli compression … Read more
January 2026 by Nadir Shah (IDRsolutions)
The December 2025 JPedal release introduces advanced document assembly tools, including page normalisation, an automated Table of Contents, and an … Read more
January 2026 by Dual Lab sprl
Dual Lab is proud to announce the new release of the web application ngPDF. The application demonstrates the implementation of the derivation … Read more
Members' products supporting PDF 2.0
PDF Association members are entitled to post their products and services in the product showcase. The members' posting the products listed below are claiming that the product supports PDF 2.0. The PDF Association is not responsible for members' representations.
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