AFP Consortium Announces Updated IPDS and MO:DCA References
New encrypted data object support reflects growing importance of document security


​BOULDER, Colo., August 12, 2026 – The Advanced Function Presentation Consortium (AFP Consortium), an international consortium of print industry leaders dedicated to advancing the Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) document architecture, today announced the availability of the fourteenth edition of the Intelligent Print Data Stream (IPDS) Reference (version AFPC-0001-13) and the twelfth edition of the Mixed Object Document Content Architecture (MO:DCA) Reference (version AFPC-0004-11).

IPDS and MO:DCA are foundational to the AFP Architecture. Publishing these references simultaneously helps ensure that enhancements to AFP are implemented consistently across the architecture while providing developers and users with a synchronized view of AFP’s latest capabilities.

"For decades, organizations have trusted AFP for applications where accuracy, integrity, and reliability are essential," said Dennis Carney, President of the AFP Consortium. “These additions reflect the Consortium's ongoing commitment to ensuring AFP remains relevant as enterprise document workflows continue to evolve.”

Among the most significant enhancements is comprehensive support for encrypted AFP data objects, reflecting the growing importance of document security in today's enterprise environments.

Highlights described in these References include support for:
  • Encrypted Data Objects, enabling encryption for all AFP data objects, including bar code, graphics, IO-images, metadata, object containers, and presentation text (IPDS and MO:DCA)
    • Only industry-standard, proven cryptographic technologies are used
    • Specification of failure indications, such as alternate text or shading, to be presented in the case of decryption failure; for example, on a device that does not have the requisite decryption key available
  • BCOCA Han Xin Code bar codes (IPDS)
  • Cleanup due to a small change to the known colorant names in CMOCA (IPDS)
  • Numerous clarifications and editorial improvements (IPDS and MO:DCA)
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For details, please refer to these new references on the AFP Consortium website:https://www.afpconsortium.org/publications.html

About the AFP Consortium
Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) is an open document architecture used to produce many of the world's most demanding customer communications, where document accuracy, integrity, security, and reliability are essential. AFP technology has historically been used to produce mission-critical documents such as bills, statements, and policies, and contains methods for job ticketing, effective server-based resource management, and the powerful Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS) for total output integrity. In addition to being a rich, self-contained native document language, AFP is also a powerful container architecture capable of bringing full resource and production management capabilities to bear on encapsulated formats such as PDF and TIFF.

The AFP Consortium is an international open standards body consisting of approximately 30 companies committed to the continued development of the AFP architecture. Since 2004, the AFP Consortium has developed open standards for accurate and consistent ICC-based color management, high-speed complex text, page group recovery within high-volume production, the IS/3 interchange set for compliance, and metadata support for AFP Archive and future applications such as accessibility features, as well as many other functionalities. The AFP Consortium will continue in its role to grow and maintain the complete set of AFP architecture.

For more information, visit the AFP Consortium website: https://www.afpconsortium.org.