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PDF Spec Index
Marc Jones edited this page Dec 30, 2025
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Complete PDF 1.7 specification split into 69 navigable pages.
- PDF-Spec-Glossary - Quick reference for key concepts
- PDF-Spec-09-Text-Objects - Tj, TJ, Td, Tm (most relevant for redaction)
- PDF-Spec-08-Graphics-State - q, Q, cm operators
- PDF-Spec-07-Content-Streams - How PDF content is structured
- PDF-Spec-Annex-A - Complete operator reference
| Chapter | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-Front-Matter | Disclaimer, Copyright |
| PDF-Spec-01-Scope | Scope |
| PDF-Spec-02-Conformance | Conformance |
| PDF-Spec-03-Normative-References | Normative References |
| PDF-Spec-04-Terms-and-Definitions | Terms and Definitions |
| PDF-Spec-05-Notation | Notation |
| PDF-Spec-06-Version-Designations | Version Designations |
PDF file structure, objects, content streams
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-07-General | 7.1 General |
| PDF-Spec-07-Lexical | 7.2 Lexical Conventions |
| PDF-Spec-07-Objects | 7.3 Objects (dictionaries, arrays, streams) |
| PDF-Spec-07-Filters | 7.4 Filters (compression) |
| PDF-Spec-07-File-Structure | 7.5 File Structure |
| PDF-Spec-07-Encryption | 7.6 Encryption |
| PDF-Spec-07-Content-Streams | 7.7-7.9 Content Streams & Structure |
| PDF-Spec-07-Resources | 7.10-7.12 Resources & Extensions |
Drawing, color, images, transformations
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-08-General | 8.1-8.2 General & Coordinate Systems |
| PDF-Spec-08-Graphics-State | 8.3-8.4 Graphics State |
| PDF-Spec-08-Path-Construction | 8.5 Path Construction & Painting |
| PDF-Spec-08-Clipping-Paths | 8.6 Clipping Paths |
| PDF-Spec-08-Color-Spaces | 8.7 Color Spaces |
| PDF-Spec-08-Patterns | 8.8 Patterns |
| PDF-Spec-08-XObjects | 8.9 External Objects (XObjects) |
| PDF-Spec-08-Images | 8.10-8.11 Images & Form XObjects |
Text operators, fonts, encoding
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-09-Organization | 9.1-9.2 Organization & Use of Fonts |
| PDF-Spec-09-Text-State | 9.3 Text State Parameters & Operators |
| PDF-Spec-09-Text-Objects | 9.4 Text Objects (BT, ET, Tj, TJ, Td, Tm) |
| PDF-Spec-09-Fonts | 9.5-9.6 Font Data Structures & Simple Fonts |
| PDF-Spec-09-CIDFonts | 9.7 CIDFonts & Composite Fonts |
| PDF-Spec-09-Font-Descriptors | 9.8 Font Descriptors |
| PDF-Spec-09-Encoding | 9.9-9.10 Encoding & Text Extraction |
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-10-General | 10.1-10.2 General & CIE-Based Color |
| PDF-Spec-10-Color-Conversions | 10.3-10.4 Color Conversions & Transfer Functions |
| PDF-Spec-10-Halftones | 10.5 Halftones |
| PDF-Spec-10-Scan-Conversion | 10.6 Scan Conversion |
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-11-Model | 11.1-11.3 Transparency Model |
| PDF-Spec-11-Groups | 11.4 Transparency Groups |
| PDF-Spec-11-Soft-Masks | 11.5-11.6 Soft Masks & Color |
| PDF-Spec-11-Specifying | 11.7 Specifying Transparency |
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-12-General | 12.1-12.2 General & Viewer Preferences |
| PDF-Spec-12-Navigation | 12.3 Document-Level Navigation |
| PDF-Spec-12-Page-Navigation | 12.4 Page-Level Navigation |
| PDF-Spec-12-Annotations | 12.5 Annotations |
| PDF-Spec-12-Actions | 12.6 Actions |
| PDF-Spec-12-Forms | 12.7 Interactive Forms |
| PDF-Spec-12-Signatures | 12.8 Digital Signatures |
| PDF-Spec-12-Security | 12.9 Security |
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-13-Multimedia | 13.1-13.2 Multimedia |
| PDF-Spec-13-Sounds | 13.3 Sounds |
| PDF-Spec-13-Movies | 13.4 Movies |
| PDF-Spec-13-3D | 13.5-13.6 3D Artwork |
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-14-Metadata | 14.1-14.3 Metadata & File Identifiers |
| PDF-Spec-14-Page-Piece | 14.4-14.5 Page-Piece & Marked Content |
| PDF-Spec-14-Structure | 14.6-14.7 Logical Structure |
| PDF-Spec-14-Accessibility | 14.8 Tagged PDF & Accessibility |
| PDF-Spec-14-Web-Capture | 14.9-14.11 Web Capture & Prepress |
| Annex | Title |
|---|---|
| PDF-Spec-Annex-A | Operator Summary ⭐ |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-B | Operators in Type 4 Functions |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-C | Implementation Limits |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-D | Character Sets and Encodings |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-E | PDF Name Registry |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-F | Linearized PDF |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-G | Example PDF Files |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-H | Compatibility and Implementation Notes |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-I | PDF Versions and Compatibility |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-J | PDF Subsets |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-K | XMP Metadata |
| PDF-Spec-Annex-L | Bibliography |
- Parse content stream → PDF-Spec-07-Content-Streams
- Track graphics state (CTM) → PDF-Spec-08-Graphics-State
- Track text state (font, matrix) → PDF-Spec-09-Text-State
- Find text operators (Tj, TJ) → PDF-Spec-09-Text-Objects
- Calculate glyph positions → PDF-Spec-09-Organization
- Rebuild content stream → PDF-Spec-07-Content-Streams
- Redaction-Engine - How pdfe implements redaction
- PDF-Content-Streams - Our content stream documentation
- PDF-Text-Operators - Our text operator guide
This specification is derived from ISO 32000-1:2008, made available by Adobe Systems under agreement with ISO.