[cess11]

One should reject all PDF:s except /a-standards compliant ones.

[belval]

Maybe if one enjoys endless conversations with unhappy customers. Easier to simply isolate the PDF rendering/parsing and move on.

[silon42]

A conversion tool would be useful.

[martin_a]

Let me tell you about the lord and savior of the printing industry, the PDF/X standard...

[cess11]

It allows external sources. I think even the ICC profile can sit outside the document, as well as stuff like video.

I like the archivable series, the document comes with what is needed to render it.