About us

Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with staff in Europe, the US and Australia, we are an international collaboration of member organizations and individuals actively learning from and supporting each other in the development and use of PDF technology.  

Our membership spans businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies and individual consultants from over 20 countries world-wide.

We invite developers of PDF solutions; companies that work with PDF in document management and enterprise content management; interested individuals; and users who want to advance their implementation of PDF technology in their organizations, to join, learn from and contribute to our efforts.

How does the PDF Association community benefit from membership?

• Developers use the PDF Association to share knowledge and experience with PDF technology, and to collaboratively develop best-practice guidelines and other resources for its implementation.
• Decision-makers use the PDF Association to learn about the role and capabilities of PDF and PDF’s subset standards in ECM and other electronic document applications.
• End-users benefit from improved reliability, quality, functionality and interoperability in their experience of electronic documents.

“The most useful aspect of my membership with the PDF Association is access to the community, and the opportunity to help drive development of resources and content that advance the industry, and that are driven by the industry.”

Martin Bailey, CTO, Global Graphics

A global organization, the PDF Association is an initiative of the Association for Digital Document Standards (ADDS) e.V., founded in September 2006.

Founded as the PDF/A Competence Center, in 2011 the organization broadened its scope to cover all aspects of PDF technology. Today, it provides an industry meeting-place, and a platform for members to exercise thought-leadership in the community.

Mission statement

As adopted by the Board of Directors, the Mission of the PDF Association is:

To promote Open Standards-based electronic document implementations using PDF technology through education, expertise and shared experience for stakeholders worldwide.

Board of Directors, October 2015.

Download our Charter (PDF).

E-Mail: editors@pdfa.org