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PDF/A-1b, PDF for Long-term Preservation, Based on PDF 1.4, Level B Conformance
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Format Description Properties
• ID: fdd000252
• Short name: PDF/A-1b
• Content categories: text
• Format category: file format, bitstream encoding
• Last significant update: 2007-02-06
• Draft status: Partial
Identification and description 
| Full name | ISO 19005-1. Document management - Electronic document file format for long-term preservation - Part 1: Use of PDF 1.4, Level B Conformance (PDF/A-1b) |
| Description |
Part 1 of the PDF/A ISO standard [ISO 19005-1:2005] is a constrained form of Adobe PDF version 1.4 intended to be suitable for long-term preservation of page-oriented documents for which PDF is already being used in practice. Level B conformance (PDF-1b) indicates minimal compliance to ensure that the rendered visual appearance of a conforming file is preservable over the long term. Level A conformance (PDF-1a) indicates complete compliance with the ISO 19005-1 requirements, including those related to structural and semantic properties of documents.
See PDF/A-1.
|
| Production phase |
A final-state format for delivery to end users and long-term preservation of the document as disseminated to users. |
| Relationship to other formats | |
| Subtype of | PDF (Portable Document Format) |
| Subtype of | PDF_1_4 |
| Subtype of | PDF/A-1 |
Local use
| LC experience or existing holdings | See PDF/A-1. |
| LC preference | See PDF/A-1. |
Sustainability factors
Quality and functionality factors
| Normal rendering for text | See PDF/A-1. |
| Integrity of structure | PDF/A-1b does not require representation of the logical structure of the document as specified in section 6.8 of ISO 19005-1. |
| Integrity of layout | See PDF/A-1. |
| Integrity of rendering of equations, etc. | See PDF/A-1. |
| Beyond normal rendering | See PDF/A-1. |
File type signifiers
| Tag type | Value | Note |
| Filename Extension | pdf |
The standard does not indicate that a different extension should be used to distinguish PDF from PDF/A. |
| Internal Identification | pdf |
The standard specifies that the PDF/A version and conformance level of a file shall be specified using the PDF/A Identification extension schema defined in the standard. This schema has two mandatory elements: pdfaid:part and pdfaid:conformance. A PDF-1b file should have the integer value 1 for pdfaid:part and the value "B" for pdfaid:conformance. |
Notes
Format specifications
URLs
• See PDF/A-1.
Print
• See PDF/A-1.
Useful references
URLs
• See PDF/A-1.
Last updated Monday, 05-Mar-2007 16:33:15 EST
