PDF/A Validator - Check PDF/A-1, PDF/A-2 & PDF/A-3 Compliance

What PDF/A rules out, and why

The point of PDF/A is that a file opened in thirty or fifty years looks exactly the way it does today. So anything that depends on the outside world, or could behave differently later, is banned. That means fonts that are not embedded, since another computer would swap in its own. It means encryption, since the password may be long gone. It means JavaScript and launch actions, and links to content outside the file.

The same logic applies to colour. If the file uses plain RGB or CMYK, it has to carry an ICC colour profile (an "output intent") that says exactly what those numbers mean.

Which PDF/A part to choose

Use whatever part the court, archive or portal asks for. If it does not say:

• PDF/A-1b (2005, based on PDF 1.4) is the oldest and the most widely accepted. It does not allow transparency or layers, so modern designs often need flattening first.
• PDF/A-2b (2011, based on PDF 1.7) is the sensible default today. It allows transparency, layers and JPEG 2000. Attachments are allowed only if they are PDF/A files too.
• PDF/A-3b (2012) is the same as 2b but allows attachments of any kind. E-invoice formats such as ZUGFeRD and Factur-X use it to carry their XML data.
• The letter matters too. "b" means the appearance is preserved, "u" adds a rule that all text maps to Unicode, and "a" also requires the file to be tagged and accessible.

The four problems behind most rejections

Four things account for most rejected uploads. The file never declares itself PDF/A, because there is no pdfaid entry in its XMP. A font is not embedded, often Arial or Helvetica, which people assume every computer has. There is no output intent. Or the file has a password. Re-exporting from the original application with its PDF/A option switched on fixes all four, and is quicker than repairing the PDF.

One limit worth knowing: this validator checks the document structure, but it does not open every font program or colour space the way veraPDF, the reference validator, does. If a file passes here and you need a formal conformance report, confirm it with veraPDF.