This document describes PDF/Raster, a strict subset of the PDF file format, for storing, transporting and exchanging multi-page raster-image documents, especially scanned documents.

As a subset of PDF, PDF/Raster takes advantage of widespread support for viewing, printing and processing PDF files. As a narrowly restricted subset of PDF, PDF/Raster is much simpler to generate and interpret than conventional PDF files, allowing it to replace the TIFF and JPEG file formats for capture and delivery of scanner output.

PDF/Raster provides the portability of PDF while offering the core functionality of TIFF. Bitonal, grayscale and RGB images are supported. Compression options include JPEG, lossless CCITT Group 4 Fax and uncompressed.

PDF/Raster was created in a collaboration between the TWAIN Working Group, which originated the PDF/Raster concept, and the PDF Association, which provided PDF technology expertise and a means of communicating with the PDF software industry at large to ensure that a diverse range of relevant viewpoints was represented.