What PDF Features Are Supported?

This document list areas of the PDF format specification and covers their implementation status. It refers to the latest full release.

Note on PDF format implementation

The PDF format specification was created by Adobe. This is a very large specification and leaves a number of undocumented and grey areas. JPedal currently implements about 85% of the Adobe specification. The ultimate aim is 100%. Some PDF generators interpret the specification in different ways. Most of these should work with JPedal or can be made to work with minor modifications.

If you have any questions regarding PDF features, feel free to reach out to us.

Contents

1. Note on PDF format implementation
2. Contents
3. Color Spaces
4. Blending
5. Shading & Patterns
6. XObjects
7. AcroForms
8. Interactive Features
9. Fonts
10. Security
11. Filters
12. Other Features

Color Spaces

• DeviceRGB - Supported
• CalRGB - Supported
• DeviceGRAY - Supported
• CalGRAY - Supported
• ICC - Supported
• Indexed - Supported
• Lab - Supported
• DeviceCMYK - Supported (blending with CMYK not support)
• DeviceN - Supported
• Pattern - Supported
• Shading - Supported

Blending

• Normal/Compatible - Supported
• Multiply - Supported
• Screen - Supported
• Darken - Supported
• Lighten - Supported
• ColorDodge - Supported (using PDF 2.0 revised formula)
• ColorBurn - Supported (using PDF 2.0 revised formula)
• HardLight - Supported
• SoftLight - Supported
• Overlay - Supported
• Difference - Supported
• Exclusion - Supported
• Hue - Supported
• Saturation - Supported
• Color - Supported
• Luminosity - Supported

Shading & Patterns

• Function - Supported
• Axial - Supported
• Radial - Supported
• FreeForm/Gouraud - Supported
• LatticeForm/Gouraud - Supported
• Coons - Supported
• Tensor - Supported, though implemented as an approximation using Coons

XObjects

• Images - Supported
• XForms - Supported
• Inline images - Supported (including PDF 2.0 length support)

AcroForms

• Read AcroForm/XFA - Supported
• Display AcroForm - Supported (Swing widget set in JPedal. Rasterized in BuildVu. Converted to HTML5 forms in FormVu. User can add own implementation/modify)
• Open external AcroForm - Supported
• Display dynamic XFA - Supported (FormVu only)
• Display static XFA - Supported (FormVu, JPedal, and rasterized in BuildVu and JPedal Image conversion)
• Dynamic Javascript validation - Supported in FormVu
• Javascript in forms - Supported in FormVu

Interactive Features

• Annotations - Supported except where specified
  • Movie - Supported BuildVu/FormVu only
  • Screen - Supported BuildVu/FormVu, Icon only no playback in JPedal
  • 3D - Not Supported
  • Redact - Not Supported, though the PDF Manipulator can perform one-step text redactions
  • Projection - Not Supported
  • RichMedia - Not Supported
• Bookmarks - Supported
• Optional content groups (Layers) - Supported
• Digital signatures - Supported (Specifically the creation of PAdES Level B signatures)

Fonts

• Subsetted font support - Supported
• Dynamically substitute non-embedded fonts - Supported
• Embedded font support - Support for TrueType, OpenType, Type 1, CID fonts with embedded data using IDRsolutions own internal renderer or Webfont converter for BuildVu and FormVu.
• Type0 - Supported
• Type1 - Supported
• Type1C - Supported
• Type3 - Supported
• TrueType - Supported
• OpenType - Supported
• CID0 - Supported (Note it’s not fully defined in the PDF spec)
• CID2 - Supported (Note it’s not fully defined in the PDF spec)

Security

• 40/128-bit RC4 - Supported
• 128/256-bit AES encryption - Supported
• Certificates - Supported (Support to read certificates and code to display in JPedal)
• Adobe custom security - Not implemented due to patent restrictions

Filters

• ASCII85 - Supported
• ASCIIHex - Supported
• CCITT - Supported
• Crypt - Not supported
• DCT - Supported
• Flate - Supported
• JBIG2 - Supported
• JPEG2000/JPX - Supported
• LZW - Supported
• Run Length Decode - Supported

Other Features

• Compressed streams - Supported
• Embedded files/attachments - Supported
• File metadata/XMP - Supported
• Geospatial features - Not supported
• Initial view (PageLayout/PageMode) - Supported
• Linearized PDF (fast web view) - Supported
• PDF layers/Optional content - Supported
• Portfolio support - Supported
• Tagged PDF/Marked content/Structured text - Supported
• Transparency - Partially Supported (Semi-transparent XObject/XForms and overprinting is not fully supported due to Java limitations)

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