ISO 19005-1

Electronic document file format for long-term preservation – Part 1: Use of PDF 1.4 (PDF/A-4)

This part of ISO 19005 specifies how to use the Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.4 for long-term preservation of electronic documents. It is applicable to documents containing combinations of character, raster and vector data.

This part of ISO 19005 does not apply to:

• specific processes for converting paper or electronic documents to the PDF/A format;
• specific technical design, user interface, implementation, or operational details of rendering;
• specific physical methods of storing these documents such as media and storage conditions;
• required computer hardware and/or operating systems.

Based on PDF 1.4, PDF/A-1 is the original PDF/A specification published in 2005 and defined two conformance levels:

• PDF/A-1b – Level B (basic) conformance defines a minimal set of requirements for the reliable reproduction of a document’s visual appearance;
• PDF/A-1a – Level A (accessible) conformance extends Level B to include additional features to improve a document’s accessibility and reliable text extraction.

PDF/A-1 does not support transparency.

PDF/A-1 requires the inclusion of XMP Extension Schema for any custom XMP metadata not defined in ISO 19005-1 (such as conformance with other ISO PDF standards or PDF Declarations). The PDF Association provides free XMP Extension Schema templates for these other ISO standards and PDF Declarations, which can be adapted.

Purchase PDF/A-1 from the PDF Association (it’s the same price as from ANSI or ISO). When doing so, add corrigenda 1 and corrigenda 2 to your cart (these are free).

Technical Notes

The Notes published through 0009 were published by the original PDF/A Competence Center, the organization that became the PDF Association.

Additional PDF/A Resources

For more information, refer to the PDF Association’s Technical Resources.

Comments?

Buy ISO 19005-1
Download PDF/A-1 Cor.1
Download PDF/A-1 Cor.2

PDF/A