What’s new in ODF 1.3 and 1.4

ODF ensures that documents remain accessible, portable, and free from restrictions. Now that version 1.3 has been widely adopted and version 1.4 is on the horizon, it’s time to have a look at the new features and upcoming releases.

ODF 1.3: What’s New

ODF 1.3 was finalised in January 2021 by OASIS. It introduced a number of long-awaited improvements, particularly in the areas of security, digital signatures, and document integrity.

1. Digital signatures and document security:

One of the most significant enhancements in ODF 1.3 was the formal specification for digital signatures:

• It now supports XAdES (XML Advanced Electronic Signatures).
• You can sign entire documents, individual parts (e.g. only spreadsheets), or even multiple sections.
• Improved metadata provides information about who signed, when and under what circumstances.

This is a significant development for public administrations and organisations that require reliable document verification.

2. OpenPGP support for encryption

• ODF 1.3 now offers optional OpenPGP-based encryption in addition to the traditional Blowfish method.
• Higher cryptographic standards and better integration with tools such as GnuPG are also included.
• It encourages key-based encryption for personal and business documents.

3. Change management:

• The format now offers greater granularity for change management.
• Supports change tracking in tables, which was previously a weak point.
• Improves compatibility with editing tools that handle collaborative workflows.

4. Metadata:

• Improved management of custom metadata fields using RDF.
• Greater richness of semantic descriptions of content (e.g. for archival or academic purposes).
• Encourages integration with deep graphs and linked data systems.

5. Other changes:

• New chart types and charting features.
• Improved text formatting options.
• Improved compliance with accessibility standards.

ODF 1.3 introduced two new compliance modes: Strict, for clean documents that comply with the specifications, and Extended, which allows specific enhancements by a company for broader feature support.

What’s new in ODF 1.4

ODF 1.4 is still under active development, with the first drafts already implemented in the latest versions of LibreOffice. Although the specifications are not final, the following is planned:

1. Change tracking:

• Support for tracking style changes (e.g. switching from bold to italic).
• Better differentiation between insertions, deletions and formatting changes.
• Change IDs and support for real-time conflict resolution for collaborative editing.

2. Charts:

• More flexibility in charts, including custom colours, gradient fills, multiple axes and formatted data labels.
• Better alignment with modern expectations and improved interoperability with Excel.

3. Accessibility:

• Clearer semantics for assistive technologies.
• Improved navigation for screen readers.
• Structural tags for headings, lists and tables make documents easier to analyse programmatically.

4. Form controls:

• More robust form field types, such as date pickers, drop-down menus and sliders.
• Better interaction support for forms within spreadsheets and presentations.
• Cross-platform consistency.

5. Improved spreadsheet features:

• Native support for named ranges in the sheet.
• Improved formula representation for functions in edge cases.
• More complex conditional formatting rules.

6. Compatibility:

• Mapping of Microsoft Office formats (DOCX, XLSX and PPTX) to reduce conversion issues.
• Improved handling of embedded media and OOXML-style layouts.

Final considerations

ODF 1.3 represented a significant advancement in terms of security and interoperability. ODF 1.4 adds usability improvements, more modern features, and better alignment with current office suite trends.

With an increasing number of governments and organisations adopting open standards, the evolution of ODF is crucial. The focus is not on competing with Microsoft; it’s about ensuring that your documents remain yours.