Archives of France published the “Methodological Guide. The PDF file format “and the information note DGP/SIAF/2012/011 dated 30 August 2012 accompanying.
Available here: ” guide”. ” note”.
“Le Service Interministériel des Archives de Francehas indeed entrusted CINES (national computing center of higher education) to conduct a study on PDF file format, in collaboration with the company NUMEN. The project is also supported by the TGE Adonis.
The first part of the Guide is to provide an overview of the PDF file format describing, after explaining the origins of the format (Postscript), its main characteristics. In the second part, each PDF version from the first version 1.0 to the future version 2.0, is detailed in the form of a notice label specifying the features previously identified. Finally, the last part is dedicated to the presentation of the features of PDF standards following the same grid.
Within six months, the study will continue to compare the conversion tools and validation tools from a number of representative test sets.
This appears to be the first overall study made on PDF file format. It is in the common desire to advance in the search for target formats for long-term preservation of digital data and documents, with the concern of sharing with all the affected communities. “
