How PDF to PDF/A Conversion Works
The file is rebuilt with everything the standard requires: fonts embedded, colours given an explicit profile, encryption removed and the conformance level recorded in the metadata.
The result is then checked with veraPDF, the reference validator for the standard. A file that fails the check is not handed to you; the error says which rule it broke.
Which Part to Choose
- PDF/A-1b — the oldest and strictest level, from 2005. No transparency, no layers. Courts, patent offices and national archives often name this one specifically.
- PDF/A-2b — from 2011. Allows transparency, layers, JPEG 2000 images and embedded PDF/A files. Pick this unless you were told otherwise.
- PDF/A-3b — from 2012. Everything part 2 allows, plus arbitrary attachments. This is what electronic invoicing formats such as ZUGFeRD and Factur-X are built on.
What the Validator Checks
veraPDF runs thousands of rule checks: that every glyph comes from an embedded font, that colour spaces are defined rather than implied, that no JavaScript or external references are present, and that the XMP metadata matches the declared conformance level.
Because the check runs on the finished file, a successful download is a file that a conforming archive should accept. If you want to see the report yourself, run the result through our PDF/A validator.
Tips and Limits
Password-protected files have to be unlocked first: the standard forbids encryption, so there is nothing to convert until the protection is gone.
A scan stays a scan. PDF/A accepts a page of pixels, but the text inside it is not searchable unless you run OCR before converting, and many archives ask for searchable text.
Related Tools
- PDF/A Validator — check any PDF against the standard and read the full report
- Word to PDF — start from the source document when you still have it
- Compress PDF — bring the size down before archiving a large scan