From Just Solve the File Format Problem
PDF, portable document format, based on PostScript and originally from Adobe, has many subsets.
As well as the 'full function' ISO 32000-1:2008 (or PDF 1.7), there are also PDF/X, PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/VT and PDF/UA, all of which are ISO specifications.
PDF profiles (formalized subsets) include the following:
- PDF/A (optimized for preservation)
- PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1:2005)
- PDF/A-2 (ISO 19005-2:2011)
- PDF/A-3 (ISO 19005-3:2012) (extends PDF/A-2 by allowing embedded files of any type)
- PDF/E (ISO 24517-1:2008) (for engineering workflows)
- PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1) (making documents accessible through assistive technologies)
- PDF/VT (ISO 16612-2) (support for variable document printing)
- PDF/X (support for prepress graphics exchange)
- PDF/X-1 (ISO 15930-1:2001)
- PDF/X-1a (ISO 15930-4:2003)
- PDF/X-2 (ISO 15930-5:2003)
- PDF/X-3 (ISO 15930-6:2003)
- Tagged PDF
Also see: extension PDF
References
- PDF Reference and Adobe Extensions to the PDF Specification Adobe page linking to specification for PDF 1.7 (equivalent to ISO 32000-1:2008) and two Adobe extensions that are expected to be incorporated into ISO 32000-2. These extensions include support for geospatial features and for 3-D content using U3D and PRC formats.
- Adobe PDF Reference Archives. Archive of specifications for earlier Adobe versions of PDF, starting with Version 1.3.
- Portable Document Format (Wikipedia)
- PDF/A Competence Center
- The Network is the Format: PDF and the Long-term Use of Digital Content Article by Sheila Morrissey of ITHAKA on the challenges of preserving PDF files based on experience. She illustrates the challenge of defining a "sufficient sub-graph of the network of information about a digital object, for effective future use."
