Identification of preservation risks in PDF with Apache Preflight - a first impression

This report explores the feasibility of using the Apache Preflight PDF/A validator to detect 'risky' features in 'regular' (i.e. non-PDF/A) PDF documents. The specific objectives of this work were: To get a first impression of the Apache Preflight (part of PDFBox) PDF/A-1b validator. To investigate if Apache Preflight is able to detect unwanted (from a preservation point of view) features in PDF files (i.e. PDFs that are not necessarily of the PDF/A sub-type) such as password protection, encryption and non-embedded fonts. To provide a comparison with the Preflight module of Adobe Acrobat 9.5. To decide if doing more work on Apache Preflight (more elaborate testing, possible involvement in its development) are worthwhile.

Keywords

digital preservation

Impact byBIP!

	selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	0
	popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.	Average
	influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	Average
	impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.	Average