Berlin, Germany -- callas pdfaPilot takes the lead among seven tested PDF/A validation tools in a recently published comparative study.
 
The main goal of the 'Bavaria Report', initiated by the renowned PDF expert Thomas Merz, CEO of PDFlib GmbH, was to test the PDF/A validation tool's ability to identify problems in PDF/A files that are not compliant for archiving only, and therefore not triggering false alarms and rejecting correct files. The Bavaria Report uses the PDF/A Competence Center's Isartor Test Suite - an extensive set of about 200 PDF files where each file is in a very specific way not compliant with the PDF/A standard.  Taken as the foundation for the comparative analysis, the set was complemented by a balanced selection of compliant PDF/A files.

According to the study, callas pdfaPilot not only correctly detected all relevant problems, but at the same time accepted the valid files.
 
Says Merz: "In our comparative analysis, pdfaPilot was the only validator that correctly identified all standard-compliant test files."
 
PDF/A validation tools are applied where there's a need to check the quality of PDF/A files so that they comply with the ISO standard for long term archiving. Files should not be rejected for irrelevant reasons such as color space errors -- even though these types of errors affect output quality, they are not germane to archiving, necessarily.
 
Olaf Drümmer, Managing Director of callas software, says: "The quality of a PDF/A validation tool is not only about filtering out files that do not comply with the PDF/A standard. For practical reasons, it is equally important that valid PDF/A files are clearly identified as valid without hesitation.

"We are very proud of the result of the Bavaria Report, which shows that pdfaPilot is also ahead when it comes to dealing with compliant files. Just imagine the confusion when a validation tool would flag valid files as invalid".
 
Designed for archive users in the public sector as well as enterprises, callas pdfaPilot enables the verification of documents according to ISO 19005-1. Non-compliant PDF files can be saved as valid PDF/A documents with the touch of a button.
 
callas sofware, including new pdfaPilot 1.3, is available in North America through Tools4Media and its distribution.  pdfaPilot is available in desktop- and server-versions for use on all major platforms, including Windows, Linux, Unix and Mac. It is also available as a programming library for developers.                     
 
References:
Bavaria Report on PDF/A Validation Accuracy, April 3, 2009 - PDFlib GmbH, München.
http://www.pdflib.com/developer/pdfa/validation-report  
 
Isartor Test Suite 1.0, August 2008 - PDF/A Competence Center.
www.pdfa.org/doku.php?id=pdfa:en:isartor_test_suite