This page gathers articles specific to the changing landscape of PDF Standards.
PDF/UA is the ISO standard for accessible PDF technology. The PDF Association’s PDF/UA Competence Center has released an algorithm encompassing all “shall” statements in ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA). This document, the Matterhorn Protocol, provides the definitive technical blueprint for accessible PDF files. There’s already an implementation of the Matterhorn Protocol in PAC 2.0, the free accessibility checker […]
ISO Standard, PDF/UA, Universal AccessibilityHighlights from last week’s meetings in Salt Lake City. Determining the future trajectory of a technology – if you’re interested in the technology and in the uses to which that technology is put – can be fascinating. If your business or institution has a significant investment in electronic document technology, then you’ll probably find it useful to […]
ISO Standard, PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/UAHighlights from last week’s meetings in Salt Lake City. Determining the future trajectory of a technology – if you’re interested in the technology and in the uses to which that technology is put – can be fascinating. If your business or institution has a significant investment in electronic document technology, then you’ll probably find it useful to […]
PDF is one of the most common file-formats on the planet. Why is it so pervasive? Why is it PDF that serves mankind as the undisputed universal electronic equivalent of paper, and not some other technology? A large part of the answer lies in the fact that PDF is extraordinarily sophisticated; clever and robust enough to […]
Time for a fresh look Last March we reviewed a crop of free PDF readers available for Windows. This time, we add a new contender to the list (Nitro’s PDF Reader) and check for updates to the software reviewed in our previous survey. Bloatware? Really? It’s a sad fact that the quality of PDF files […]
As stated in the Introduction to ISO 19005-1, the primary purpose of PDF/A is to provide: “… a mechanism for representing [PDF] electronic documents in a manner that preserves their visual appearance over time, independent of the tools and systems used for creating, storing, or rendering the files.” The text goes on to identify a […]
On May 13, the founders of Adobe Systems stepped up to the microphone to deliver a response to Steve Jobs’ open letter about Flash. They say Adobe has acted on open standards while Apple offers mere words. At the outset, I must acknowledge that I owe my livelihood to the genius of these two gentlemen. […]
“Adobe owns PDF, so PDF is a proprietary format” I’ve heard it said so often. I’ve decide to correct it once and for all. While PDF was invented by Adobe, the company no longer owns PDF. We all do. Let me explain. Most people closely identify PDF with Adobe Systems, and I can’t fault the […]
I recently returned from 4 days in Orlando, Florida, where committees of the International Standards Organization (ISO) met to discuss, among other things, the future and direction of the PDF format (ISO 32000) and various subset PDF standards, including PDF/A (Archive), PDF/E (Engineering) and PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility). PDF Standards set technical benchmarks for PDF technology […]
Almost 4 1/2 years after initiation of the PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) project, ISO has now granted “Approved Work Item” (AWI) status to PDF/UA, the first formal step in the ISO process which ends (we hope) in an ISO Standard for accessible PDF. From this point forward, the US and International Committees for PDF/UA will be […]
Nearly four years in the making, AIIM’s PDF/UA Committee today agreed to submit their draft standard to ANSI to be submitted to ISO as an ISO NWI (New Work Item). It’s the first formal step from the Working Group’s document to begin the full international process. AIIM and Adobe launched the PDF/UA effort knowing that […]
