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PDF standard tags

PDF Tags with defined roles

There is a defined set of PDF standard tags in order to mark content in a PDF file. The naming and usage is described in the PDF specification. Typical standard tags are

  • <H1> for heading level 1,
  • <P> for paragraph,
  • <L> for list or
  • <Table> for table.

The name of a PDF standard tag is equivalent to its role. A role mapping is not necessary.

User-defined PDF Tags

The usage of user-defined tags is also possible. But you have to map the role of such tags to PDF standard tags.

Limited range of structure types

Unfortunately, the range of PDF standard tags is limited. You cannot mark every piece of content with an appropriate structure type, yet. For example, there is no tag for a title or for elements beside the main content flow like infoboxes or sidenotes.