ISO Approves PDF for Document Archives

By Staff -- Control Engineering, 11/1/2005

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has approved ISO 19005-1, Document management-electronic document file format for long-term preservation. Part 1: Use of PDF 1.4 (PDF/A-1), defines a file format based on Portable Document Format (PDF) which provides a mechanism for representing electronic documents in a manner that preserves their visual appearance over time, independent of the tools and systems used for file: creation, storage, and rendering.

"PDF/A files will be more self-contained, self-describing, device-independent than generic PDF 1.4 files, and should allow information to be retained longer as PDF," says Susan Sullivan of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. "But users should be aware that PDF/A does not stand alone. PDF/A must be implemented in conjunction with records management policies meeting legal and domain-specific requirements."

The standard is available for purchase from:

http://www.aiim.org/bookstore

http://www.npes.org/standards/orderform.html

http://www.ansi.org.