What is the Best Document Format for Archival Purposes?

The proof of a good document format is the answer to three very simple questions:

1. Is it universally compatible across operating systems?
2. Can I access the document using freely available software either locally or via internet app?
3. Does it look exactly the same whether printed or shown on a computer screen?

It’s the third point where most document formats fail.

Most of you will read this will instantly think, "Microsoft’s DOC format, right?"

No.

The only document format that truly meets the above three requirements is PDF. It is the only one that is universally compatible, easily opened on any OS and looks identical from screen to paper. Not even plain text looks the same from computer to printout.

"But I can’t edit a PDF."

Yes, you can. Google Docs can load in PDFs for you to edit if need be.

The point I’m stressing is for archiving purposes and not editing.

You will notice that most governments purposely use PDF. And the reasons for this is because of the three points mentioned above.

"I don’t want to pay to create PDF files."

You don’t have to. PDF Creator is completely free. It create a "virtual" printer in the Windows operating system. For any program you have that has the ability to print, you can virtually print to a PDF just by File/Print and selecting PDF Creator instead of your printer.

Alternative you can use OpenOffice which has a direct-to-PDF export option.

Things to know when comparing DOC to PDF

A brief history of the DOC file format:

In the beginning, DOC was just plain text. It was nothing more than a text file with DOC as the extension instead of TXT.

WordPerfect in the 1980s at one point used DOC. After that Microsoft adopted it in the 1990s for its Microsoft Word software. Then in 1997 Microsoft updated it and the format changed. This was the standard from MS Office 97 to MS Office 2003. Then it changed again to DOCX with MS Office 2007 to present. Will it change again in the future? Yes. You can count on that.

It is well known that older complicated documents from the old MS Word days do not load correctly in current versions of Word. Incompatibilities and such. "Plain" documents will load fine, but anything complicated usually poses a problem.

A brief history of the PDF file format:

PDFs never have problems loading even from the oldest you could find. The format was first launched in 1993 from the ground up as a document format that would display no matter what software, hardware or OS you were using. This remains true to this day.

Said another way, a PDF created now will look exactly the same the same years from now. DOCs typically will not.

PDF is an established standard in document archiving

For a while it was unclear whether or not PDF would be around to stay, but it’s been confirmed for some time that it will. The largest indicator of this is that the US Government themselves uses PDF for many, many forms. The IRS is such an example. When you go to download a tax form from the IRS web site, it is always a PDF.

Start archiving with PDF and save yourself from future hassle

Here are the biggest advantages of saving your stuff to PDF:

1. No need to install specific software for document retrieval – If you pull out a USB stick or CD/DVD with a bunch of PDFs and use it on it on a brand new computer several years from now, all it takes to load them up is Google Docs or any number of freely available PDF viewers. Even if you switched from Windows to Mac or Linux, you can still open them up easily. You will never have to go digging around for old software just to view what you saved.
2. The best in printer friendliness – What you see in a PDF is exactly what your printer will print out. No guessing or test prints necessary.
3. Easier to share and email – When sending documents to others, the best possible way is to do it with PDFs. The likelihood of a virus contained in a PDF is almost none compared to DOC, and in many instances the recipient will be able to preview the PDF directly – and safely – from within their email.
4. Keeps its formatting – If using the PDF Creator from a document editor or OpenOffice, the fonts used are embedded in the PDF as are the images, should you use any. So even if you send a PDF to somebody using Linux, they will see exactly what you see.

I’m not saying you have to convert everything you have from DOC to PDF, but for your more important documents, you should at least start doing it.

Years from now you’re going to need to pull up some old documents you saved to USB stick or CD/DVD. If they’re in a format where you don’t have the software to load it, you’ll seriously regret the fact you should have archived them in PDF to begin with.