What is the difference between PDF 1.3, PDF 1.4,1.5 and the recently released PDF 1.6?
PDF 1.2 = Acrobat 3.0 – relatively obsolete now PDF 1.3 = Acrobat 4.0 – The first version of PDF which truly had all the needed features to support “press-ready” PDF’s including color managment, ICC profiles etc. It also added javascript, interactive and multimedia capabilities. This standard is probably the safest to send if you are unsure of the capabilities of the receiver of your file. PDF/X-3 and a number of commercial print work flows are based on PDF 1.3. PDF 1.4 = Acrobat 5.0 – Actually, introduced with Illustrator 9, The main difference to concern Scribus users is PDF 1.4, has both transparency and alpha transparency capabilites, which make a major difference in where a PDF with these features can be printed. It takes wither the latest commerical RIP’s or a Level 3 Postscript printer to use these features properly. The latest versions of Ghostscript suport the advanced PDF 1.4 features Scribus can create when exporting PDF. PDF 1.5 = Acrobat 6.0 – The release of PDF 1.5 specs
