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That's a really useful summary Jenny, thanks. PDF/A is something we've been thinking about in Highland for a while, but there do seem to be a number of limitations and constraints at the moment. I think most of our contractors would throw up their hands in horror if we were to insist on this at this stage. We would not generally view ourselves as an archive per se and our position up to now has been that other organisations such as the ADS and RCAHMS have the primary responsibility (and resources) for the long term digital archiving of fieldwork reports and the like. On the other hand, we do generate a substantial amount of digital material that is probably never going to be held elsewhere so I guess it is something we do need to address at some point. File size is something that has really put me off up to now - is the difference substantial? I also take it from your last point that it isn't currently possible to easily batch process PDF files into PDF/A? Sylvina Sylvina Tilbury | HER Officer | Planning & Development Service | Highland Council Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX | T: 01463 702503 | F: 01463 702298 Highland HER: http://her.highland.gov.uk <http://her.highland.gov.uk/> -----Original Message----- From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Mitcham Sent: 19 March 2010 15:44 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: PDF A Hi there, I did reply to Krysia direct initially with an ADS perspective, but will send some highlights to the list just for those who are interested. :-) PDF/A is a cut down version of the PDF specification (based on PDF 1.4) and is much more suitable for archiving than the standard PDF format. That is the short answer ...if you are more interested then there is a useful DPC Technology Watch Report available online that goes into a lot more detail: http://www.dpconline.org/technology-watch-reports/download-document/86-p reserving-the-data-explosion-using-pdf.html Also a report by Koninklijke Bibliotheek containing recommendations on creating PDF files that are suitable for archiving: http://www.kb.nl/hrd/dd/dd_links_en_publicaties/PDF_Guidelines.pdf Yes, PDF/A files can be created in a number of ways but do watch out because some files that appear to be PDF/A files turn out not to actually validate against the detailed PDF/A spec that is held in Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 (however on the plus side, these files should be easier to convert to PDF/A than a standard PDF would be). Through the OASIS project we have been trying to persuade contractors that it is better to upload their grey literature as PDF/A than standard PDF, but as Krysia says it is not a simple exercise for contractors. Even those who are keen to give it a try have had difficulties actually creating a PDF/A file that validates. Many contractors would rather not use PDF/A for other reasons. The file size is often much larger thus it takes a long time to upload the files to OASIS. Also, as already mentioned the PDF/A standard does not allow whizzy stuff like transparency which some contractors like to use in their PDF files. I don't want to paint too negative a picture though. We do think PDF/A is a good format for archiving documents, but I think we will need to wait a little while before the technology catches up and provides cheap and reliable ways to create and batch process valid PDF/A files. I hope this helps, Jen _________________________________________________ Jenny Mitcham Curatorial Officer Archaeology Data Service Room G08 The King's Manor York YO1 7EP UK phone +44 (0)1904-433967 fax +44(0)1904-433939 http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/ _________________________________________________ From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Crispin Flower Sent: 19 March 2010 15:19 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: PDF A PDF A is better for archiving - I'm sure someone at ADS can go into the reasons why..... PDF A can be created with free utilities like Solid PDF. Also it can be created directly from Microsoft Office 2007 (e.g. from Word) - "free" if you are already licensed for Office! You may have to download the PDF exporter, or it may be built in, I can't remember. The anti-Microsoft lobby tried to keep this out of the standard Office install but I'm not sure whether they succeeded! Cheers Crispin From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Webster Sent: 19 March 2010 14:46 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: PDF A I'll reply via the list as I think this subject may be of general interest. The main difference between PDF and PDF A is that the PDF A doesn't allow anything very wizzy and doesn't contain external links to anything else. Most reports that we see are going to fit these criteria anyway so we only ask for standard PDF. This may of course change as people start to add video or 3D models and such to reports but I've not seen a pdf like that yet. London may be more sophisticated of course! I'm sure ADS will be able to provide more details. Chris Webster Somerset Historic Environment Record Taunton Castle Taunton TA1 4AA 01823 255080 Visit the online HER at www.somerset.gov.uk/her -----Original Message----- From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of TRUSCOE, Krystyna Sent: 19 March 2010 14:27 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: PDF A Dear all We are just getting to the end of a digitising project in London and so far we have had everything scanned in PDF Archive format. We were planning to ask units to provide reports in this format in the future, but have heard that the software can be prohibitively expensive for some. What format are other HERs asking for? Are you happy with PDFs or do you ask for other archival formats? Any information/suggestions would be gratefully received, off list preferably. Thanks! 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