PDF Days Europe 2018 in Berlin

Trade fair image

The PDF Days, launched by the PDF Association, have taken place since 2012 and are now an established event for everyone working with the Portable Document Format (PDF) or following trends and innovations in this field.

You should distinguish between the international PDF Days in Washington DC and PDF Days Europe in Berlin.

We already reported on the 2016 conference in Berlin. Back then, the focus was already on strengthening the event as an important platform around the PDF standard and presenting current trends. It also provided space to exchange ideas with other professionals.

A hot summer in 2018: PDF Days Europe​

The conference, held since 2012, is one of the key dates of the year in the PDF industry. End users, developers, and vendors meet there, and the event is traditionally organized by the PDF Association.

This year's edition covered several focal points, including PDF/UA in office environments, PDF accessibility in 2018, and replacement scanning for electronic personnel files. In summary, the program focused on:

  • Usability: user reports and practical solutions for real workflows
  • PDF for developers: updates and insights on the new PDF 2.0

Key moments in PDF development: 2018 as a year of anniversaries​

2018 was a notable year for the PDF format, with two key anniversaries:

  • 25 years of PDF (first published in 1993)
  • 10 years as an ISO standard (since 2008)

These milestones were the basis for an insightful review at PDF Days: 25 years of PDF and 10 years of ISO standardization.

Around the main event from May 14 to May 15, 2018, attendees had access to a wide range of presentations and training sessions from across the PDF technology landscape. Based on participant interests, the program was structured into three clear tracks:

  • PDF for users: practical reports and implementation-focused solutions
  • PDF for developers: technical sessions and PDF 2.0 features
  • PDF for your business: industry solutions and specialized topics for PDF Association members

Other key topics included ISO standardization, PDF market analysis, next-generation PDF, PDF implementations for mobile devices, and accessible PDF.

Good to know: The event was followed by a post-conference program and a PDF 2.0 workshop for developers.

More information about the PDF Association, active since 2006