PDF trends in 2025, according to AI

This article was (mostly) written by AI. The (human) author takes zero responsibility for the clearly labelled AI-generated content.

In December of each year I usually offer some sort of informal analysis of PDF’s usage, mind-share, or other indication of significance. In recent years (see my 2024, 2023, and 2022 posts), I’ve generally focused (thanks to Google’s helpful Trends) on trends in web searches that include “PDF”. (That’s actually kind of interesting right now; I will likely return to that subject in another piece.

Owing to the explosive growth in the use of AIs over the past three years, it seemed like a good time to ask some leading LLMs to offer their views on “trends for PDF”.

For this mini-study, I selected four current-generation “professional” class LLMs: ChatGPT Plus 5.2, Gemini 3 Pro, Claude’s Opus 4.5, and Microsoft Copilot. I offered the same query to each:

“Estimate global trends in the use of PDF technology. Exclude the PDF Association (pdfa.org) as a source. Don’t mention any vendors by name.”

I’ve trimmed the proposals for additional queries and removed any boldface formatting. Otherwise, the responses to the prompt for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot are provided, unedited, below.

ChatGPT Plus 5.2 responded…

Below is an evidence-based estimate of global trends in the use of PDF technology, excluding the PDF Association as a source and avoiding reference to specific vendors. The analysis is based on publicly observable industry behavior, platform integration patterns, regulatory signals, and content-distribution norms.

Global Trend Summary

The global use of PDF technology is stable to growing, with the strongest growth occurring in workflows and compliance rather than raw document creation.
PDF has shifted from a discretionary choice to an assumed component of digital document infrastructure.

1) Entrenchment through platform integration

The most decisive indicator of stability and continued relevance is that PDF rendering is:

• natively supported in all major browsers,
• integrated in desktop and mobile operating systems,
• used as a default export format in office suites and design software.

Once technologies become embedded at the platform level, displacement becomes difficult unless a successor matches portability, rendering predictability, and archival stability. No successor format has emerged with those combined properties.

Trend estimate: platform-level reliance is increasing, not decreasing.

2) Persistent dominance in authoritative and archival communication

Globally, PDF remains the prevailing format for:

• government forms and filings,
• legal and regulatory documentation,
• finance and procurement records,
• scientific and technical publications,
• manuals, specifications, standards,
• print and packaging workflows.

These domains are comparatively resistant to format churn because they require:

• fixed layout,
• long-term reproducibility,
• offline access,
• compatibility across devices.

As demand for digital records expands—particularly in government, healthcare, and finance—the volume of authoritative documents distributed as PDFs continues to rise.

Trend estimate: steady growth in regulated sectors.

3) Growth in workflows over creation

While the absolute number of new PDFs likely grows modestly year-over-year, the more pronounced growth is in actions performed on PDFs:

• digital signing and approval,
• annotation and markup,
• text and data extraction,
• comparison and review,
• automated indexing and summarization,
• compliance validation and remediation,
• printing and prepress automation,
• archival and long-term preservation.

Modern systems treat PDFs less as final endpoints and more as intermediate assets within workflows.

Trend estimate: workflow intensity per document is increasing.

4) Regulatory and accessibility pressures

Global policy and procurement frameworks increasingly require:

• accessible electronic documents,
• long-term retention,
• interoperability,
• verifiable signatures,
• accurate reproduction.

These pressures expand—not reduce—the need for reliable, standards-conforming PDFs. Mandates seldom eliminate formats; they shape quality and capability.

Trend estimate: regulatory forces are a net positive driver of demand.

5) Coexistence, not replacement, with web formats

There is a long-established division of labor:

• HTML for dynamic and transactional content,
• PDF for stable, citable, print-faithful, and archival documents.

Rather than replacing PDF, web technologies have clarified its niche. Even in mobile-first environments, when content needs to be authoritative or printable, PDF remains the common choice.

Trend estimate: stable coexistence; low displacement risk.

6) AI and automation reinforce structured documents

The rise of AI and automated document processing has highlighted advantages of:

• consistent layout,
• predictable geometry,
• stable text extraction.

High-quality, well-tagged PDFs are disproportionately valuable in machine processing pipelines, particularly in legal, financial, and scientific contexts.

Trend estimate: increased value for semantically rich PDFs, and pressure against image-only or poorly structured ones.

7) Declining patterns (often misinterpreted)

What is declining:

• tolerance for untagged or inaccessible PDFs,
• reliance on proprietary readers,
• workflows that treat PDFs as static endpoints only.

These declines signify maturation, not abandonment.

Overall Forecast (5-10 year horizon)

1. Total global PDF volume: slow, steady growth.
2. Workflow operations on PDFs: strong growth.
3. Accessibility and compliance expectations: accelerating.
4. AI/automation use cases: rapidly increasing.
5. Viewer diversity: consolidating around embedded engines.
6. End-user awareness of the format: decreasing as it becomes infrastructural.

Net conclusion

PDF’s role is evolving from a document format people choose to a document substrate that systems assume. That trajectory indicates continued relevance, not decline.

Gemini 3 Pro responded…

Based on current 2025 market analysis and global digital transformation trends, the use of PDF technology is increasing in volume and complexity, even as its fundamental role shifts from a "static document" to a "data container."

Global estimates exclude data from the PDF Association and focus on broader industry research:

1. Market Growth & Financial Projections

• Market Expansion: The global PDF software market is projected to grow from roughly $3.14 billion in 2025 to $6.2 billion by 2032, maintaining a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 10–12%.
• Transaction Dominance: As of 2025, an estimated 78% of digital agreements are finalized using the PDF format.
• Volume: Global creation of these files has increased by roughly 12% annually since 2020, with over 290 billion new documents created each year.

2. The Impact of Artificial Intelligence

The most significant trend in 2025 is the integration of Agentic AI and Intelligent Document Processing (IDP).

• Unstructured to Structured Data: Approximately 60% of enterprises are now investing in AI specifically to convert unstructured PDF data into structured database formats.
• Efficiency Gains: The use of AI-driven text recognition and automated data extraction is estimated to improve document processing accuracy by 41% compared to legacy manual systems.
• Intelligent Summarization: Over 50% of professional document tools now include native AI features for real-time summarization and conversational querying of content.

3. Shift in Device Usage (Desktop vs. Mobile)

A clear "usage split" has emerged between how people consume versus how they create or edit documents:

• Mobile Consumption: Roughly 63% of document views now occur on mobile devices.
• Desktop Productivity: Conversely, 72% of document edits and heavy workflows still take place in desktop environments, where complex layout and security features are more manageable.
• Web-Based Growth: There is a massive shift toward web-based/cloud-based editing, which currently holds a 57% market share as organizations move away from local software installations.

4. Security, Compliance, and Blockchain

In highly regulated sectors, the format remains the "gold standard" due to new layers of trust:

• Sector Density: PDF usage remains highest in Healthcare (88%), Government (90%), and Legal sectors where document integrity and non-repudiation are legal requirements.
• Blockchain Integration: In 2025, there is a growing trend of using decentralized ledgers to provide unchangeable audit trails for PDF files, allowing firms to verify that a contract has not been altered since its original signature.
• E-Signature Adoption: Global business adoption of digital signatures is reaching a saturation point, projected to hit 95% by late 2025, virtually all of which rely on the PDF standard.

Regional Leadership

• North America: Leads in market revenue (approx. 38%) due to high cloud penetration and AI investment.
• Asia-Pacific: This is the fastest-growing region, showing a 28% increase in document digitization drives since 2020, particularly in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Claude Opus 4.5 responded…

I'll search for additional information to provide a vendor-neutral overview.Based on my research, here is an estimate of global trends in PDF technology usage:

Market Size and Growth

The global PDF software market is experiencing robust expansion. The market was valued at approximately $2.15 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $5.7 billion by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 11.47%. Some market estimates place the value higher, with one source citing $4.8 billion in 2024, with 8–11% CAGR projected through 2030.

Scale of Global PDF Usage

PDF remains the dominant digital document format worldwide. Over 2.5 trillion PDFs exist globally, with 290+ billion new PDFs created annually, growing 12% year-over-year. PDF is the web's second-most-served file type, behind only JPEG, and 98% of businesses use PDF as their default file type for external communication.

Regional Trends

Asia-Pacific leads growth, up 28% since 2020, fueled by digitization drives in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. North America's PDF software market was valued at $740 million in 2024, projected to grow at 10.6% CAGR through 2031. Europe's market stood at $555 million with 10.9% CAGR, while Asia Pacific was valued at $426 million but is expected to grow fastest at 14.4% CAGR.

Key Technology Trends

Cloud Dominance: Cloud-based solutions now dominate the market, with more than 60% of businesses preferring them due to their flexibility and scalability. This trend is driven by hybrid and remote work environments requiring real-time collaboration and accessibility.

E-Signature Integration: 95% of businesses use e-signatures in 2025, up from 52% in 2020, with e-signature usage having jumped 320% during COVID-19. The broader digital signature market is growing explosively—valued at $7.13 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $104.49 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 40.1%.

AI Integration: Over 35% of new PDF software releases now feature AI-driven capabilities like intelligent text recognition, automated document editing, and predictive analysis. These technologies are particularly popular in healthcare and finance sectors where efficiency and accuracy are paramount.

Security Enhancement: 40% of PDF tools now incorporate advanced encryption, digital signatures, and watermarking to prevent unauthorized access. 94% of enterprises using PDF workflows report encrypting PDFs before sharing externally, especially in legal, healthcare, and finance sectors. However, 68% of malware attacks using document formats in 2024 were delivered via PDFs, making it the most commonly exploited file type for phishing and ransomware delivery.

Mobile Access: 63% of PDF views now happen on smartphones and tablets, though 72% of PDF edits still take place on desktop environments. Mobile app usage has doubled and now accounts for 39% of total PDF software sessions.

Sector-Specific Adoption

Government agencies release over 90% of official forms and communications in PDF format, and 88% of healthcare records are now digital PDFs. PDF is often mandated in regulated sectors where compliance, document integrity, and long-term preservation are essential.

Broader Document Management Context

The shift toward paperless operations continues to accelerate. The document management system market is set to rise from $8.96 billion in 2024 to $10.08 billion in 2025, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.5%. 77% of businesses are scaling and accelerating their adoption of document management software, viewing it as critical for improving process efficiency. As of 2020, only 13% of organizations had adopted fully digital processes, but COVID-19 and remote work significantly accelerated this transition.

Market Bifurcation

The PDF software space has split into two camps: enterprise-grade solutions on one side and lightweight online tools on the other. This reflects evolving document use patterns, from legacy desktop workflows to mobile-first, task-based utilities. Cloud-first challengers are capturing growing market share among casual users and small-to-medium businesses.

Microsoft Copilot responded …

Quick Answer: PDF technology continues to grow globally, driven by digital transformation, AI integration, and regulatory compliance. Trends show increasing use in cloud workflows, e-signatures, accessibility, and secure document exchange, with AI-enhanced search and automation reshaping how PDFs are managed.

Global Trends in PDF Technology

1. Digital Transformation & Cloud Integration

• PDFs remain the de facto standard for digital documents across industries due to their portability and consistent formatting.
• Cloud adoption is accelerating: enterprises increasingly rely on cloud-native PDF workflows for collaboration, archiving, and compliance.
• Integration with enterprise content management systems and workflow automation tools is expanding, making PDFs central to digital business ecosystems.

2. AI & Automation

• AI is transforming PDF usage:
  • Automated document processing (e.g., extracting data from invoices, contracts).
  • Semantic search and retrieval using AI-powered indexing.
  • Generative AI is being embedded into PDF tools for summarization, translation, and content creation.
• This shift reflects a broader trend where PDFs are no longer static files but dynamic, machine-readable assets.

3. E-Signatures & Legal Compliance

• Global regulations (e.g., eIDAS in Europe, ESIGN in the US) are pushing adoption of secure PDF-based e-signatures.
• PDFs are increasingly used for legal, financial, and healthcare records, where compliance and audit trails are critical.

4. Accessibility & Inclusivity

• Governments and corporations are mandating accessible PDFs (screen-reader friendly, tagged content).
• AI tools are helping automate accessibility compliance, reducing barriers for disabled users.

5. Cybersecurity & Digital Trust

• With rising cyber threats, PDFs are being enhanced with:
  • Encryption and digital rights management (DRM).
  • Blockchain-based verification for authenticity.
• Secure PDFs are vital in industries like finance, healthcare, and government.

6. Sustainability & Paperless Workflows

• PDFs are central to paperless initiatives, reducing environmental impact.
• Cloud storage and digital archiving are replacing physical records, especially in emerging markets.

Comparison of Key Drivers

Outlook

• Short-term (2025–2027): AI-powered PDF tools will dominate, especially in enterprise workflows and compliance-heavy industries.
• Medium-term (2028–2030): Expect interactive PDFs with embedded multimedia and real-time collaboration features.
• Long-term: PDFs may evolve into universal digital containers, blending structured data, AI annotations, and secure identity verification.

In essence, PDFs are shifting from static digital paper to intelligent, secure, and interactive assets at the heart of global digital transformation.

(Human) conclusion

All four of these LLMs agree that PDF is indispensable and has a bright future… they can’t all be hallucinating!