ISO Standard PDF?

acme on 2007-01-29T12:55:58

Adobe mentions on the PDF Reference page that:

On January 29, 2007, Adobe announced its intent to release the full Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7 specification to AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, for the purpose of publication by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

As you know, I'm a big fan of PDF. Will this help PDF take off more or is it too little too late?

PDF adoption

jplindstrom on 2007-01-29T13:45:22

Well, isn't PDF already _the_ preferred format for some purposes (like pre-press deliveries and such)?

To me it seems the adoption of PDF is more restricted by what the format in itself is suitable for (e.g. it should not be used to present information meant for online consumption).

Trying to maintain dominance

clscott on 2007-01-29T18:24:30

I think that PDF is already the dominant exchange format for "pixel perfect" and printable documents.

Adobe is likely taking the standardisation route in response to a Microsoft entry into this domain called XML Paper Specification (XPS). It makes a lot of sense, PDF is already dominant and now with the specification being shepherded by a standards body XPS won't get off the ground. Which would you choose: a fledgling the format governed by a single company or a long standing, widely used format where the standard is "open?"

I put open in quotes because even though PDF will be a standard I doubt that anyone other than Adobe will be contributing to it for quite awhile to come.

Clayton