Adobe moves towards ISO standardisation for PDF

 

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By Maggie Holland

Posted on 30 Jan 2007 at 10:50

Adobe has confirmed that it plans to share the full specification of PDF (portable document format) with the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) so that it can be recognised by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

Specialised elements of the PDF specification have already been ratified for specific industries or tasks, such as PDF for Archive (PDF/A) and PDF for Exchange (PDF/X), with others in the pipeline as a proposed standard, such as PDF for Engineering (PDF/E).

To build on this already solid foundation, Adobe will now release the full PDF 1.7 specification to AIIM so that the latter can champion its cause as a deserved candidate for recognition as a global standard.

'[This] is the next logical step in the evolution of PDF from de facto standard to a formal, de jure standard,' said Kevin Lynch, senior VP and chief software architect at Adobe.

'By releasing the full PDF specification for ISO standardisation, we are reinforcing our commitment to openness. As governments and organisations increasingly request open formats, maintenance of the PDF specification by an external and participatory organisation will help continue to drive innovation and expand the rich PDF ecosystem that has evolved over the past 15 years.'

AIIM will help Adobe identify and resolve issues in addition to assisting with the creation of a draft document for onward presentation to the ISO.

'As the administrator for several specialised ISO standard subsets of PDF, AIIM is pleased to receive this proposal from Adobe,' said John Mancini, president of AIIM.

'Over the last several years we have seen and in many cases helped facilitate a range of ongoing market and customer focused efforts around PDF. These efforts have grown so broadly that it now makes sense for Adobe to let the full specification serve as a unifying umbrella and submit it for approval under the formal ISO standards process.'