The Content that Endures

PDF/A (’A’ is for ‘archive’), otherwise known as ISO 19005, is the subject of my latest feature article, The Content that Endures: What to know about PDF/A, now available at Planet PDF.

Opening with the question “What happens in the year 2023, when someone has to open an Outlook PST file from 2003 to settle a lawsuit?” the article draws on numerous interviews with industry experts, including members of the PDF/A Competence Center.

In this piece, I focus on the relevance of PDF/A to current document-management and retention practices, attempting to address key questions such as:

  • Why is PDF better than TIFF?
  • Is PDF/A really an archive standard?
  • What challenges await PDF/A implementers?
  • Why is Europe ahead of the US in adopting PDF/A?
  • PDF/A is already being adopted by some government agencies and other “heavyweight” organizations, but many others have barely begun to grapple with the issues PDF/A addresses, let alone consider their options.

    The fact that Adobe’s PDF Reference, a document on which PDF/A depends, is now ISO 32000 should set to rest lingering concerns about the “proprietary” nature of PDF and spur interest in PDF/A.

    One Response to “The Content that Endures”

    1. GRoberts Says:

      Could you discuss the inter-relationships of Clearscan technology and how it will or will not affect PDF/A? As an example, if a document is processed with Clearscan, can it be converted to PDF/A at a later time, or is it necessary to process the master document twice, once with Clearscan and once to PDF/A?

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