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2007–2008 · Software

How PDF became an international standard

Last reviewed 5 October 2026

Adobe handed control of PDF 1.7 to ISO, turning a proprietary format into ISO 32000-1 in 2008.

From Adobe format to everyone’s format

Adobe introduced the Portable Document Format in 1993 and published its specification, which let other companies build PDF tools. By the 2000s PDF was the default way to share fixed-layout documents.

Specialised subsets had already been standardised by ISO, including PDF/A for archiving and PDF/X for print exchange.

Handing over PDF 1.7

In early 2007 Adobe announced it would release the full PDF 1.7 specification to AIIM for submission to the International Organization for Standardization. The format was approved and published as ISO 32000-1 in 2008.

Governments and archives, which prefer formats controlled by standards bodies rather than single vendors, welcomed the move.

What followed

Development of PDF continued under ISO. PDF 2.0 was published as ISO 32000-2 in 2017. PDF’s status as an open standard is a large part of why it remains the format of record for forms, contracts and archives.

Sources

  • Wikipedia: PDF
  • Adobe, announcement of PDF 1.7 submission to ISO, January 2007
  • ISO 32000-1:2008, Document management — Portable document format