PDF standards at a glance

PDF Standards

One of the biggest advantages of PDF documents is certainly that they can be used flexibly for many different purposes. They are ideal for exchanging information within a company or with business partners.

For this reason, binding requirements are necessary to ensure interoperability, which is one of the major strengths of the PDF format. Therefore, standard formats were defined for creating PDF documents so that quality requirements are clearly described and compliance is easier.

More detailed information on PDF standards and more technical background can be found here: https://www.pdfa.org/

Binding PDF ISO Standards​

ISO standards ensure that reliable and valid PDF processing is possible, even though many different applications are used to create PDF files.

Since PDFs are used in many different scenarios, there is not just one standard but several. This allows users to generate PDFs that fit their purpose, for example for high-end print, long-term archiving, or accessibility.

Overview of the Most Important PDF Standards​

  1. ISO standard PDF 2.0: The current ISO standard for PDF with clarifications and technical improvements. Details: https://www.pdfa.org/resource/iso-32000-pdf/ and https://www.pdfa.org/iso-status/

  2. PDF/X: The standard for the print industry. Its requirements differ from screen display, archiving, or accessibility use cases. The goal is optimized output for professional printing. PDF/X-6 is based on PDF 2.0: https://pdf-aktuell.ch/pa/language/de/pdf-x-6-iso-15930-9-ist-endlich-veroffentlicht/

  3. PDF/A: This format was developed for long-term archiving. It is used wherever document management and permanent retention are important, especially in companies and public institutions.

  4. PDF/VT: The standard for variable data printing and transactional print, and an alternative to formats such as PCL, PPML, and AFP. The current version is PDF/VT-3, based on PDF/X-6 and PDF 2.0. More on personalized print: https://www.webpdf.de/blog/en/category/digital-printing/ and https://www.pdfa.org/resource/pdf-vt/

  5. PDF/UA: The standard for accessible documents. UA stands for Universal Accessibility. A PDF/UA-compliant file must be structured so that text, images, forms, and other content are machine-readable and usable by all people, including users with disabilities. More about PDF/UA: https://www.pdfa.org/resource/pdfua-1/

More about the Matterhorn protocol (as guidance for PDF/UA users): https://www.webpdf.de/blog/en/matterhorn-protocol-1-1-available/

Index Overview from pdfa.org​

The PDF Association has also published a detailed overview that lists ISO publications related to PDF as an index. It maps ISO document numbers, parts, and publication years to the PDF nomenclature commonly used in the industry.

Ongoing ISO work and planned publications are listed there as well. You can find this helpful tool here:

https://www.pdfa.org/iso-status/