4 subsets of PDF - PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/X and PDF/UA

Portable Document Format (known as PDF) is an open standard for document exchange. The file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system.

 

"PDF, a digital form used to represent electronic documents, allows users to exchange and view the documents easily and reliably, independent of the environments in which they are created, viewed and printed, while preserving their content and visual appearance." ISO reference, "With the explosive growth of the Internet, PDF has become one of the most common formats for document exchange, widely used in all professional and personal contexts. "

 

There are four subsets of PDF to fulfill your different needs in different areas: PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/X and PDF/UA.

 

PDF/A (PDF/Archive): It was designed specifically for the long-term archiving of digital documents. It is certified by the International Organization for Standardization as International Standard ISO 19005-1:2005. PDF/A is in fact a subset of PDF, obtained by leaving out PDF features not suited to long-term archiving. In addition, the standard places requirements on software products that read PDF/A files. A "conforming reader" must follow certain rules including following color management guidelines, using embedded fonts for rendering, and making annotation content available to users.

 

PDF/E (PDF/Engineering): It is a PDF subset whose purpose is to handle engineering and design documents. It is certified by ISO as Standard ISO 24517-1:2008. The PDF/E format has widespread use in the creation and exchange of various engineering and technical documents. It is being developed and supported by AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management).

 

PDF/X: It is an umbrella term for several ISO standards that define a subset of the PDF standard. It is certified by the International Organization for Standardization as Standard ISO 15930-1:2001. As set forth in the above standard, PDF/X may be used for a blind interchange of electronic documents whose printing output intent is fully defined and does not require additional negotiation between sender and recipient.

 

The PDF format was originally designed as an electronic representation of any completed printed product but not for pre-print processing. However, given the breadth of its spread, it came increasingly to be used in this application. Thus, in time PDF/X was created.

 

PDF/UA (PDF/Universal Accessibility): It is a Standards Committee formed by AIIM. The mission of PDF/UA is to develop technical and other standards for the authoring, remediation and validation of PDF content to ensure accessibility for people that use assistive technology such as screen readers for users who are blind. In 2007 the International Organization for Standardization commenced PDF/UA review as an ISO standard.