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PDF/A-1b, PDF for Long-term Preservation, Use of PDF 1.4, Level B Conformance
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- Identification and description
- Local use
- Sustainability factors
- Quality and functionality factors
- File type signifiers
- Notes
- Format specifications
- Useful references
Format Description Properties
- ID: fdd000252
- Short name: PDF/A-1b
- Content categories: text
- Format Category: file-format, encoding
- Other facets: binary, structured, symbolic
- Last significant FDD update: 2019-01-05
- 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/A-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/A-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_family, Portable Document Format |
| Subtype of | PDF_1_4, PDF 1.4 |
| Subtype of | PDF/A-1, PDF for Long-term Preservation, Use of PDF 1.4 |
Local use
| LC experience or existing holdings | See PDF/A-1. |
| LC preference | See PDF/A-1. |
Sustainability factors
| Disclosure | See PDF/A-1. |
| Documentation | See PDF/A-1. |
| Adoption | See PDF/A-1. |
| Licensing and patents | See PDF/A-1. |
| Transparency | See PDF/A-1. |
| Self-documentation | See PDF/A-1. |
| External dependencies | See PDF/A-1. |
| Technical protection considerations | See PDF/A-1. |
Quality and functionality factors
| Text |
| Normal rendering | PDF/A-1b may contain only scanned images without any representation of text. OCR text that supports indexing or extraction of text is permitted, but only if it is invisible. See also PDF/A-1. |
| Integrity of document 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 and display | See PDF/A-1. |
| Support for mathematics, formulae, etc. | See PDF/A-1. |
| Functionality beyond normal rendering | See PDF/A-1. |
File type signifiers and format identifiers
| Tag | Value | Note |
| Filename extension | pdf | The standard does not indicate that a different extension should be used to distinguish PDF from PDF/A. |
| Internet Media Type | See related format. | See PDF_family. |
| Magic numbers | See related format. | See PDF/A-1. |
| Indicator for profile, level, version, etc. | See note. | 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/A-1b file should have the integer value 1 for pdfaid:part and the value "B" for pdfaid:conformance. |
| Pronom PUID | fmt/354 | See https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/fmt/354 for PDF/A-1b. |
| Wikidata Title ID | Q26543628 | See https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26543628 for PDF/A-1b. |
Notes
| General | See PDF/A-1. |
| History | See PDF/A-1. |
Format specifications
Useful references
URLs
- PRONOM entry for fmt/354 (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/fmt/354). Information in PRONOM on PDF/A-1b. PUID: fmt/354.
- Wikidata entry for Q26543628 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26543628). Information in WikiData about PDF/A-1b. WikiData Title ID: Q26543628
- See also PDF/A-1.
Last Updated: 10/12/2020
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