February 8, 2011

A couple weeks ago, we talked about some of the hurdles that the healthcare industry was trying to jump as it moved to electronic health records (EHRs), in our blog about “Managing Documents in HER Systems .”  But as more and more hospitals and medical offices move to EHR systems, they need to consider more than just how they’ll get their paper documents into the electronic records.

One major decision is in which format these electronic records should be saved.  There are many formats in use today, but perhaps the best one for ensuring accessibility of patient records for the entire lifetime of the patient is PDF/A.

Most people are familiar with PDF – one of the most popular formats in use today for being able to read documents with various components, such as text, pictures, graphics and other content.  PDF/A is an update of the PDF standard designed for long-term archiving because it will be able to be accessed and viewed regardless of hardware or software used by offices in the future.

PDF/A can offer the medical industry a number of benefits:

• Available for the life of the patient – The standardization of PDF/A guarantees that documents saved in this format can be accessed long into the future, regardless of new or enhanced applications that may be developed and adopted.
• Reduced file size – Scanned medical records can be compressed to be 100 times smaller (black and white documents compress up to 10 times smaller) within PDF/A than other outdated and less dependable file formats. This will help minimize storage requirements and costs, while allowing medical offices and hospitals to save digital documents in both color and black-and-white. The smaller file sizes also support ease of access and sharing by email for medical consultations.
• Use of Color – Because of the compression capabilities of PDF/A, medical records don’t have to be scanned in just black and white.  Hospitals and medical offices can scan documents in full color – to show where doctors or nurses have highlighted specific information, or handwritten notes in different color ink.
• Searchability – PDF/A can include hidden text, indexing and metadata. As a result, PDF/A supports OCR and full-text searching in the documents – a feature not incorporated into other formats.
• Digital Signature – The PDF/A format also allows digital signatures, enabling users to electronically sign-off to verify that the electronic document is an accurate representation of the original.
• Vendor independence – Because it is an ISO standard platform, users of PDF/A do not need to purchase proprietary software or applications to share or view PDF/A-based documents.  With PDF/A, documents can be rendered reliably and consistently without regard to the hardware or software platform.

If you’re interested in more information about implementing EHRs in PDF/A format, please e-mail me at m.mckinney(at)luratech.com.  

January 24, 2011

Over the last several months, there’s been a growing buzz about the use of a document archiving format by the federal government, including the U.S Federal Court system.  That format – called PDF/A – is designed to improve the ability to archive documents. While most of European governments have mandated its use, the U.S. government has not yet taken such a specific step.

Instead, various U.S. government agencies and groups are beginning to give recommendations that support use of PDF/A for documents, because it is an open, non-proprietary standard that will guarantee long-term accessibility and ensure the security and validity of documents. For example, requirements from the National Archive and Records Administration make a case for agencies to transition to PDF/A format for all documents that must be archived.

Some agencies are considering and recommending PDF/A. One is the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, which now accepts filings in PDF/A from the companies it regulates.  The nuclear companies have realized that they can adopt PDF/A, and gain the benefits of the format for their own electronic archiving needs, while still supporting the necessary regulatory guidelines.

Now momentum is growing for use of PDF/A in the U.S. Federal Court system. According to Public Access to Court Electronic Records – or PACER – the judiciary is planning to change the standard in use for filing documents in the Case Management and Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system to PDF/A.  Courts currently accept PDF/A documents, but there has not been a specific date set that mandates when all new documents must be filed in PDF/A.

Stay tuned to the LuraTech blog, as we’ll be following the developments and deadlines the court system sets for implementing PDF/A across the board.  Also, in future blogs, we’ll dive into the nuances of how to implement PDF/A within your organization, particularly when dealing with born digital documents and the variety of content that can be included in a PDF/A file.

November 23, 2010

It seems that PDF/A – a standard that’s in common and widespread use throughout Europe – is starting to make waves on U.S. shores. At least, we noticed a lot more buzz about this standard at the recent ARMA 2010 – the 55th Annual Conference & EXPO hosted by ARMA International, this year in San Francisco.

We were at ARMA earlier this month, as part of the PDF/A Competence Center booth, and there we had the chance to talk to record managers and other attendees. Compared to the ARMA event in 2009,  we found that more of the people we talked to knew about PDF/A in general, and were interested in learning more about how used of this format could benefit them.

The attendees interested in PDF/A, too, were a varied bunch – from those working for small city governments to individuals who managed substantial archives for large energy companies. They visited the PDF/A Competence Center booth to discover how PDF/A will be vital to implement in the future of their digital records, and what they need to do to prepare for it.

We were excited to see the growing interest for PDF/A, because we believe that the standard offers a tremendous amount of benefits for organizations of any size that are digitizing their records and maintaining these files for many years to come.

If you missed ARMA and the chance to visit with us at the PDF/A Competence Center’s booth and you have questions about why your organization may want to adopt PDF/A for its archives, please e-mail me at m.mckinney(at)luratech.com and I’m happy to answer your questions.  I can also tell you more about how a number of federal, state and local government agencies have begun to adopt the PDF/A standard, and what’s the best way to optimize your processes for PDF/A.

November 17, 2010

Did you know that PDF/A is being updated? Let us tell you a bit more about the changes taking place, and how you could benefit from this new version of the standard. 

The new version is called PDF/A-2.  Technical work on it was completed this past summer and the standard is set to be published in early 2011.

PDF/A-2 is an internationally approved ISO standard (ISO 19005-2) based on Adobe PDF 1.7 as defined in ISO 32000-1. It extends the functionality of PDF/A-1 without compromising the goal of long term reproducibility. 

Some PDF/A-2 features that may be of interest include:

• JPEG2000 – Higher compression ratios with better image quality is delivered with JPEG2000 compression technology when working with digital archival images and scanned documents.  For example, JPEG2000 supports lossless compression (or visually lossless), which can prove important for higher-end archival images, such as maps, art or historic documents.  Additionally, JPEG2000 can be applied to color layers of scanned documents optimized with mixed raster content (MRC) compression.  These attributes enable it to achieve greater compression with higher image quality for color and grayscale scanned documents. 
• Layers / Optional Content – PDF/A-2 will allow switching between two or more versions of the same content within one PDF document. This feature is particularly useful for multilingual documents where different languages can be displayed, for example toggling between English and Spanish.  It also can be used within construction industries, for hiding or displaying specific aspects of detailed design drawings.
• Transparency – PDF/A -2 will support transparent objects. Transparency can affect images, graphics and text.  Transparent objects are not 100 percent opaque; instead content behind these objects can be seen providing interesting effects, like highlighting and shading of select content.
• OpenType Fonts – Because of their versatility and comprehensive Unicode support, OpenType fonts are more frequently used today than ever before. With PDF/A-2, OpenType fonts can be embedded.
• Collections – Also known as portfolios in Acrobat, collections refers to merging several documents into one PDF container, such as groups of e-mails or e-mail attachments.  Each collection of PDFs can still be identified individually within the PDF container.
• Conformance Levels – As with PDF/A-1, PDF/A-2 defines conformance levels targeting different audiences. For example, PDF/A-1a and -2a require creators to manually tag documents, in most cases, to maintain the semantic reading order and meaning of the content.  This allows PDF/A content to be displayed accurately on smaller display devices or read aloud with audible readers.  This tagging is not required in PDF/A-1b and-2b, which therefore is more widely used since maintaining only the visual static representation is sufficient for many users. With PDF/A-2, there is a new level of compliance, PDF/A-2u.  This new level leverages the benefits of Unicode fonts without needing to tag each Unicode character’s corresponding glyph.

So now what?

If you or your organization is using PDF/A-1, you don’t have to migrate to PDF/A-2 since the earlier version will continue to be a valid standard and compatibility is ensured. However, if the new functions we talked about above could be a benefit to your organization or a specific project, it may be a good idea to switch to PDF/A-2, irrespective of the other tools you’re using.

Question:
I have been told that there is a new version of the PDF/A standard coming soon. What does this mean for me?  

Answer:
The first important message is that the new part PDF/A-2 will not substitute or ‘fix’ the current one. PDF/A-1 will remain available as an independent, valid standard. All existing PDF/A-1 documents and those that will be created in future are perfectly well suited for long-term archiving. That said, why do we need a part of the standard then? The PDF format is constantly being enhanced and improved. The current version of PDF/A is based on the PDF specification 1.4. But in the meantime the PDF specification reached version 1.7 and has even been published as an ISO standard itself (ISO 32000-1).  Since PDF 1.4 there were added numbers of new features to the PDF format, and some of these are also useful for long-term archiving. So PDF/A-2 will be based on the new PDF standard. The new features in PDF/A-2 cover document collections, metadata, image formats, transparency, among other things. The most important aspect for LuraTech customers will be the new support for JPEG 2000 in PDF/A-2. Now highly compressed PDF/A documents will be possible with the same great visual quality and small file size as it could so far only be gained for standard PDF output. LuraTech is actively involved in the development of the PDF/A standard. So our customers will always be among the first who can benefit from the new possibilities.

With the increasing spread of PDF/A as the ISO standard for long-term archiving, unfortunately a few misunderstandings have been popularized as well. After nearly four years, some DMS providers still seem intent on “riding out” the PDF wave. But as I see it, the saying applies that “you snooze, you lose!”

Myth #1: TIFF is secured against tampering, PDF and PDF/A are not

This assertion is clearly incorrect. There is no document format which is inherently secured against alteration and compliant with auditing requirements. A TIFF-file can be modified with simple tools just like a PDF/A document or any other format. “Inalterability” of documents can only be achieved using a signature. If files must be archived in compliance with auditing requirements, then a system or process is necessary to ensure protection against changes.

Myth #2: PDF is a standard from one provider, TIFF is a disclosed standard

Yes and no.  TIFF is a de facto industry “standard”, but it has never been standardized by an international standards organization such as ISO or DIN. Both PDF itself (ISO 32000) and PDF/A (ISO 19005) are disclosed ISO standards and are thus not only de facto but also de jure standards.

Myth #3: PDF/A does not support signatures

On the contrary.  PDF/A even permits embedded signatures – including qualified electronic signatures. To do this, the signature provider must simply apply the product in a PDF/A-compliant manner, but there are still some signature providers who have not yet accomplished this with their products.

Myth #4: PDF/A does not support compression

Wrong. PDF/A permits all common compression methods to be used, such as JBIG2, JPEG, etc. The exception is LZW, where at the time of the standardization patents were still in force. For these reasons of time, JPEG2000 was not incorporated in the PDF/A-1 standard, but it will be covered in the new version (PDF/A-2).

Myth #5: PDF/A does not allow OCR for scanned documents

Wrong. OCR is possible in both PDF/A-1b as well as PDF/A-1a, of course. A minor point – perhaps the cause of the confusion - is the exception that this invisible font does not have to be embedded.

Myth #6: PDF/A files are too large due to font embedding

Yes and no.  It is true that fonts (except for OCR) must be embedded. Based on practical experience, this is only a problem in the particular application area for bulk outgoing mail. In this regard, one can apply font reduction and subsetting or pragmatically omit font embedding in a solution tailored to individual company needs. These files are then no longer PDF/A-compliant in a strict sense. However, except for the deliberate exception they retain all the advantages of PDF/A.

Myth #7: PDF/A does not support metadata

On the contrary. XMP particularly facilitates standardized metadata in PDF/A. Metadata can be managed in the surrounding systems as before. An advantage of PDF/A is that these data can also be embedded inseparably in the document.

Myth #8: PDF/A is not supported by DMS systems

Yes and no.  Simply put, an ECM system which can handle PDF can also support PDF/A well. However, (unfortunately) there are still a number of DMS providers wedded to their outmoded TIFF viewers, and that can sometimes be a stumbling block in practice.

Myth #9: PDF/A is only supported by a small group of local German providers

Not at all! It is certainly true that PDF/A was first accepted in German-speaking countries – and that the PDF/A Competence Center originated in Germany. However, in the meantime many countries and industries recommend PDF/A or even require it by statute. Moreover, the PDF/A Competence Center now has over 100 members from about 20 countries!

Myth #10 PDF/A is expensive!

Yes and no.  Of course the deployment of PDF/A tools requires an initial investment. Sometimes the ROI from highly compressed PDF/A files can be calculated within a few months even without an Excel spreadsheet, for example with the Sparkasse savings banks.  But that is perhaps more of an exception. The problem here is assessing the benefits: how much is it worth if unifying formats saves training time and expense as well as viewer license fees. And when fewer migrations are necessary in the future? And last but not least, how do you place a value on a “good” archive thanks to standardized PDF/A files?

Thomas Zellmann is an executive board member of the PDF/A Competence Center

Question:
I have hundreds of boxes of documents that contain information I am required to store for at least ten years. I understand the best format to archive these documents is PDF/A? Will your PDF Compressor Enterprise output to PDF/A and make these documents full-text searchable?

Answer:
Yes, PDF/A is the best format for long-term archiving (defined by ISO 19005-1:2005). This standard offers assurance that archived documents will maintain their appearance and readability regardless of which applications and systems were used to create them. And yes, the PDF Compressor Enterprise has an integrated ABBYY FineReader OCR engine and with this tool you can create full-text searchable PDF/A documents in one pass. Additionally, the PDF Compressor applies award-winning mixed raster content (MRC) compression technology and therefore you will save on storage costs with smaller file sizes!

Learn more about PDF/A at www.pdfa.org

Click here to download a trial of PDF Compressor

Question:
We are a scan service provider and we’d like to offer your PDF Compressor Enterprise to one of our customers. We’d like to calculate the time needed to complete their project before we finalize the deal. What information is needed in order to calculate how long it will take to compress and convert all of their documents to PDF/A with the PDF Compressor Enterprise?

Answer:
Thank you for your inquiry. The time it will take for you to process this job (or any job) depends on a number of factors. So that we can best estimate, can you provide us with more information regarding the scope of this project? Here are some important variables that we need to solve for before estimating the time it will take to complete this conversion project:

• Number of pages
• Size and resolution (e.g. 8.5 x 11’’ at 300 DPI)
• Various page sizes? Quantity of varying page sizes
• Quality of documents (e.g. grayscale, full-color, black and white)
• File format (e.g. PDF, TIFF, JPEG)
• With or without OCR
• Do you have a deadline or timeframe for completion
• Available hours per day (e.g limited time per day, 24/7)

As soon as we have this information, we can best calculate the time it will take for you to complete this project. Additionally, this information will allow us to recommend a license model best suited for your project. For example, if you are working to meet a deadline we might suggest purchasing additional CPU-core licenses to complete your projects on time.

Click here to download a trial of PDF Compressor

For more information about our license models please click here

Question:
Is it possible to batch convert my Microsoft Office documents to PDF/A?

Answer:
Yes, now you can easily batch convert your born digital documents - such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint - to PDF/A for long-term archiving. With the Born Digital Module option available with our PDF Compressor Enterprise, document types supported by Microsoft Office, Outlook e-mails with attachments and digitally created PDFs can be converted to PDF/A in the same way that scanned documents can be converted to PDF/A. The Born Digital Module is available for all PDF Compressor Enterprise license models.

Click here to download a trial of our Born Digital Module

Question:
What is the difference between PDF and PDF/A?

Answer:
Good question. PDF/A is a special kind of PDF. In contrast to the common PDF, the PDF/A ISO standard is defined for long-term archiving. Essentially, PDF/A identifies a ‘profile’ for electronic documents that ensures the documents can be reproduced in years to come. It offers users a way for representing electronic documents in a manner that preserves their visual appearance over time, independent of the tools and systems used for creating, storing or rending the files.

Click here for more information about LuraDocument PDF/A