[Infowarrior] - Adobe submits PDF standard to ISO

[Richard Forno]

Adobe Systems turned over the full Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7
specification to AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, for
publication by the International Standards Organization (ISO). Yep, that¹s a
mouthful. Why would Adobe bother? The company claims that this is simply the
³next logical step² for the PDF format. However, it is more likely that the
main reason for the move is Microsoft¹s competing XPS format. Both
technologies allow customers to print documents without needing the actual
application that created it. Adobe is just taking precautionary steps to
make sure XPS doesn't make PDF disappear.

"We're handing it over to a group that will eventually drive it to become a
recognized ISO standard. We're doing it because we feel it's the next
logical extension of where PDF has been in the past and where it needs to go
in the future. This move, making the entire PDF specification an ISO
standard, will go to allay concerns that some people have voiced that at
some point in the future it could go away," said Sarah Rosenbaum, director
of product management at Adobe.

"By releasing the full PDF specification for ISO standardization, we are
reinforcing our commitment to openness. 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," said Kevin Lynch, chief software architect and SVP of the
platform business unit at Adobe.

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