We knew that Adobe was working with several CAD vendors to make its PDF file format friendlier towards drawings, and this morning comes the formal announcement.
A new organization is formed to "advance standards and best practices for the use of the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) in engineering workflows" -- or PDF/E for short. The job is to improve collaboration and print accuracy of large documents, and eventually create a standard approvied by ISO in 2006.
The PDF Engineering (PDF/E) Working Group consists of:
* Adobe Systems - owns PDF.
* Agile - PLM software company.
* Bentley Systems - CAD vendor.
* Hewlett Packard - plotter manufacturer.
* Océ - plotter manufacturer.
* Intel - not sure what their role is.
* PTC - CAD vendor
* Layton Graphics - CAD-to-PDF conversion software.
* Dell - also no sure their role.
* UGS PLM Solutions - CAD vendor.
... and unnamed "others".
Overseeing the project are two organizations I never heard of, AIIM and NPES. First planning meeting is later this month, as part of AIIM Standards Week 2004 Meetings: March 10 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. The Web page for the new group isn't working yet: www.aiim.org/pdf_e.
Other companies are invited to take part. Will Autodesk and SolidWorks show up?
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