http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1141


The Portable Document Format (PDF), undeniably one of the most commonly used formats for electronic documents, is now accessible as an ISO International Standard - ISO 32000-1. This move follows a decision by Adobe Systems Incorporated, original developer and copyright owner of the format, to relinquish control to ISO, who is now in charge of publishing the specifications for the current version (1.7) and for updating and developing future versions.
“By releasing the full PDF specification for ISO standardization, we are reinforcing our commitment to openness", says Kevin Lynch, Chief Technology Officer at Adobe. "As governments and organizations increasingly request open formats, maintenance of the PDF specification by an external and participatory organization will help continue to drive innovation and expand the rich PDF ecosystem that has evolved over the past 15 years.”
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.

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. The format enables:

preservation of document fidelity independent of device or platform
merging of content from diverse sources
collaborative editing of documents using multiple platforms
digital signatures for authenticity
security and permissions to preserve control over content
accessibility of content to those with disabilities
extraction and reuse of content for use with other file formats, and
gathering data and integrating it with business systems using PDF forms.
Major corporations, government agencies and educational institutions use PDF to streamline their operations by replacing paper documentation with electronic exchange. Already, over 2 000 PDF product developers use this standard for their products and billons of PDF files are in existence today.
ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden comments: “As an ISO standard, we can ensure that this useful and widely popular format is easily available to all interested stakeholders. The standard will benefit both software developers and users by encouraging the propagation and dissemination of a common technology that cuts across systems and is designed for long term survival.”
The new standard, ISO 32000-1, Document management – Portable document format – Part 1: PDF 1.7, is based on the PDF version 1.7 developed by Adobe. This International Standard supplies the essential information needed by developers of software that create PDF files (conforming writers), software that reads existing PDF files and interprets their contents for display and interaction (conforming readers), and PDF products that read and/or write PDF files for a variety of other purposes (conforming products).
Future versions of the format will be published as subsequent parts of the standard by the ISO subcommittee in charge of its maintenance and development (SC 2, Application issues, of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 171, Document management applications).
ISO 32000-1, Document management – Portable document format – Part 1: PDF 1.7 costs 370 Swiss francs and is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list (http://www.iso.org/iso/about/iso_members.htm) with contact details) and from ISO Central Secretariat through the ISO Store (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=51502) or by contacting the Marketing & Communication department (see right-hand column).

http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1141

Will the PDF Reader remain free of charge?

Stijloor.

Will the PDF Reader remain free of charge?

Stijloor.

If you mean the Adobe reader, which is a bloated, slow abomination, I don't know. But there are now (and most likely always will be) free PDF readers available. I use the free Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php).

Sidney, as usual, thanks for the information.:agree1:

I'm confused:confused:. If everyone generally agrees that it was the standard before, why is it necessary to make a move to "officially" make it a standard?

The Portable Document Format (PDF), undeniably one of the most commonly used formats for electronic documents, is now accessible as an ISO International Standard - ISO 32000-1.
Nice to see ISO get an office document interchange standard right.

Sidney, as usual, thanks for the information.:agree1:

I'm confused:confused:. If everyone generally agrees that it was the standard before, why is it necessary to make a move to "officially" make it a standard?

It's more a question who's responsible for updating and maintaining it, as well as being the center of control. From the article Sidney posted:
Future versions of the format will be published as subsequent parts of the standard by the ISO subcommittee in charge of its maintenance and development (SC 2, Application issues, of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 171, Document management applications).

I'm confused:confused:. If everyone generally agrees that it was the standard before, why is it necessary to make a move to "officially" make it a standard?Two words: Micro & soft:lmao:

According to the release:“As an ISO standard, we can ensure that this useful and widely popular format is easily available to all interested stakeholders. The standard will benefit both software developers and users by encouraging the propagation and dissemination of a common technology that cuts across systems and is designed for long term survival.”

I'm confused:confused:. If everyone generally agrees that it was the standard before, why is it necessary to make a move to "officially" make it a standard?
Before standardization, the file format was the sole property of Adobe. Now it belongs to the ISO technical committee or work group that released it.

Before, Adobe could have forced commercial users to purchase software upgrades by making the new software use a file format that older versions couldn't read or write.

They could also change the file format to freeze out competitors.

Now, the TC or work group will be making any changes. Though I don't know the makeup of this particular TC, generally they represent a balance of industry players.

In the world of office documents, ISO 26300 defines an open document format (ODF) for office applications such as word processors, spread sheets and presentation creators.

Two words: Micro & soft:lmao:


Since you mention it, Microsoft is the world champ at using file formats to lock users to its upgrade treadmill and lock out competitors.

Witness the forced migration of MS word document formats with Office 2007.

I agree with Jim W. I also use foxit reader instead of adobe. Much easier to use.

tlonkey

I agree with Jim W. I also use foxit reader instead of adobe. Much easier to use.

tlonkey

Then again, on a Linux box the pdf reader is built right into the file browser. That would be the same as having it in Windows explorer.

There's also a version of Adobe Reader for Linux.

Very forward-thinking company, Adobe. (No affiliation whatever.)

I'm still trying to figure out why one would have to pay 370 swiss francs for a booklet of the Standard (I think that's more than the current version of pdf Acrobat Version 9 from Adobe which ranges from $300 for "plain vanilla" to $700 for "extended pro."

Added in edit - currency conversion as of July 2
370.00 CHF

=

364.841 USD

Switzerland Francs United States Dollars 1 CHF = 0.986057 USD 1 USD = 1.01414 CHF

I'm still trying to figure out why one would have to pay 370 swiss francs for a booklet of the Standard (I think that's more than the current version of pdf Acrobat Version 9 from Adobe which ranges from $300 for "plain vanilla" to $700 for "extended pro."


747 pages (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=51502) is a bit more than a "booklet," and 370 Swiss francs perhaps isn't so much when you consider that ISO 9001:2000 is 102 francs (http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=21823), and 27 pages.

747 pages (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=51502) is a bit more than a "booklet," and 370 Swiss francs perhaps isn't so much when you consider that ISO 9001:2000 is 102 francs (http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=21823), and 27 pages.

:topic: Where I grew up, we used to say: "No money, no Swiss." :D

Seriously, standards development and maintenance is very expensive.
Charging for Standards is one of ISO's ways to recoup expenses and keep this non-profit organization afloat...

Stijloor.

:topic: Where I grew up, we used to say: "No money, no Swiss." :D

Seriously, standards development and maintenance is very expensive.
Charging for Standards is one of ISO's ways to recoup expenses and keep this non-profit organization afloat...

Stijloor.What did I miss? Hasn't Adobe already created this "Standard?" Isn't ISO merely "adopting" it?

Although there are many free pdf readers, isn't this move more of a good business for Adobe by Adobe? As someone mentioned earlier, pdf has been used widely before, making it a standard now seems more like making business for someone.

Although there are many free pdf readers, isn't this move more of a good business for Adobe by Adobe? As someone mentioned earlier, pdf has been used widely before, making it a standard now seems more like making business for someone.I note several OTHER programs (non-Adobe) also convert text to pdf files. I wonder if making the format a Standard, means anyone can now use the format to convert a text or graphic to the "portable document format" without royalty payment to Adobe.

I note several OTHER programs (non-Adobe) also convert text to pdf files. I wonder if making the format a Standard, means anyone can now use the format to convert a text or graphic to the "portable document format" without royalty payment to Adobe.

Here is a program we use besides Adobe that converts PDF to Text or text to PDF.

Here is the Read Me first from the Program:

If you can read this document, then you have successfully installed LEADTOOLS ePrint IV - the
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When you select "Print" from your application's menu, the Print dialog appears. Select LEADTOOLS ePrint IV
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A powerful screen capture utility is included with LEADTOOLS ePrint IV. If you do not have this already installed, you can install it from http://www.leadtools.com/download/eprint_download.htm.

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a raster image, such as Tiff, JPEG, GIF, PNG, Raster (non-searchable) PDF, BMP, etc.

or a vector file, such as DXF, PCL, DWF, CGM, etc.

2. Combine multiple documents or images into one single document (such as PDF) file or image
(such as TIFF) file.

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For more information, and for using the more advanced features, please refer to the following topics in the
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"How To: Use LEADTOOLS ePrint for the First Time" section in the help file.
"How To: Save to a Searchable PDF, Doc, etc. File"
"How to: Save to an Image File (TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, etc.)
"How To: Send an Email"


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Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company, just using their software. I am not endorsing them either.