What's the difference between a PDF and PDF/A document?

Let’s Have A Head-2-Head : PDF Vs PDF/A

PDF …………… The “Format”

• Portable Document Format (PDF)
• Widely used worldwide
• Information is kept for a long period of time
• Data remains usable and accessible across multiple generations of technology
• Reliable consistent viewing and ease of printing
• Easy navigation, fast access to nay page or view
• Small file size
• Focused on the needs of Individuals, low level firms, schools and colleges i.e. mainly for Private Sector

Why Standardize a Current version of PDF?

• No doubt, PDF is powerful and flexible. May be too flexible for some applications
• Needs higher degree of reliability
• May want standards in the hands of a neutral-noncommercial body

PDF/A ……………. The “Standard”

• Electronics document management file format/standard for long term preservation
• PDF/A is just a single component of a comprehensive and complex preservation strategy
• Focused on the needs of Government offices, libraries and corporations i.e. mainly for Public Sector

P.S. Thanks for A2A … :)