PDF Standards

What Is PDF/A? A Beginner's Guide

January 13, 2025

11 min read

PixnPDF Team

PDF/A ensures documents remain accessible for decades

What Is PDF/A?
Why Use PDF/A?
PDF vs PDF/A: What's the Difference?
PDF/A Standards and Levels
How to Create a PDF/A File
How to Check If a File Is PDF/A Compliant
Advantages and Limitations of PDF/A
Common Use Cases
FAQ

Most PDFs are created for quick sharing or printing, but what if you need a document to remain exactly the same for decades? That's where PDF/A comes in. This specialized version of the PDF format is built for long-term archiving, ensuring your file looks and works the same far into the future.

While regular PDFs are perfect for everyday use, they can rely on external fonts, links, or embedded content that might not be available years from now. PDF/A solves this problem by creating completely self-contained documents that preserve their appearance and functionality regardless of technological changes.

In this beginner's guide, we'll explain what PDF/A is, why it matters for document preservation, and how to create and validate your own archival PDFs. Whether you're dealing with legal documents, historical records, or important business files, understanding PDF/A can ensure your documents survive the test of time.

What Is PDF/A?

PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) specifically designed for digital preservation and long-term archiving. The "A" stands for "Archive," indicating its primary purpose: ensuring documents remain accessible and visually consistent for decades or even centuries.

🔒 Key Characteristics of PDF/A

Self-contained: All fonts, images, and metadata are embedded within the file
Device-independent: Displays consistently across different systems and devices
No external dependencies: Doesn't rely on external links, fonts, or resources
Standardized color: Uses device-independent color spaces
Metadata preservation: Maintains document information and structure

📜 International Standard

PDF/A is defined by ISO 19005, an international standard that ensures consistency and compatibility across different systems and time periods. This standardization means that a PDF/A file created today should open and display identically on systems decades from now.

🎯 Archival Purpose

Unlike regular PDFs designed for immediate use, PDF/A prioritizes long-term accessibility over features like interactivity, multimedia, or dynamic content. This trade-off ensures maximum compatibility and preservation potential.

The format is widely adopted by libraries, museums, government agencies, and organizations that need to preserve documents for legal, historical, or regulatory compliance purposes. Major institutions worldwide use PDF/A to ensure their digital archives remain accessible to future generations.

Compliance with archival standards for important documents

Why Use PDF/A?

⏰ Long-term Digital Preservation

PDF/A ensures documents remain viewable and printable decades from now, regardless of software or hardware changes. This is crucial for legal compliance and historical preservation.

📋 Regulatory Compliance

Many government agencies, legal systems, and industries require PDF/A for official document submission and archiving to meet compliance standards.

🎨 Appearance Preservation

Maintains exact visual fidelity including fonts, colors, layout, and formatting, preventing degradation over time.

🏛️ Institutional Archives

Libraries, museums, and educational institutions use PDF/A to digitize and preserve historical documents, ensuring cultural heritage remains accessible.

💼 Business Continuity

Critical business documents, contracts, and records maintain their integrity and legal validity over extended periods.

🔍 Future-proof Technology

Protects against technological obsolescence by adhering to open standards that ensure continued accessibility.

PDF vs PDF/A: What's the Difference?

Feature	Regular PDF	PDF/A
Encryption allowed	✅ Yes	❌ No
Fonts embedded	⚠️ Optional	✅ Required
External links	✅ Allowed	❌ Not allowed
Audio/Video content	✅ Supported	❌ Prohibited
JavaScript	✅ Allowed	❌ Prohibited
Transparency	✅ Supported	⚠️ Limited (PDF/A-2+)
Intended use	General viewing	Long-term archiving

📄 Regular PDF Advantages

• Interactive features and multimedia
• Password protection and encryption
• External links and web connectivity
• Smaller file sizes (potentially)
• Dynamic content and JavaScript

📜 PDF/A Advantages

• Guaranteed long-term accessibility
• Complete self-containment
• Standards compliance
• Consistent appearance over time
• No external dependencies

PDF/A Standards and Levels

📅 PDF/A-1 (2005)

Based on: PDF 1.4 specification

Features: Basic archival requirements, embedded fonts, device-independent color

Best for: Simple documents with basic formatting and layout requirements

🔄 PDF/A-2 (2011)

Based on: PDF 1.7 specification (ISO 32000-1)

New Features: JPEG 2000 compression, transparency support, digital signatures, layers

Best for: Complex documents with advanced formatting, transparency, and compression needs

📎 PDF/A-3 (2012)

Based on: PDF 1.7 with additional capabilities

Key Addition: Allows embedding of arbitrary file types (XML, CSV, CAD files, etc.)

Best for: Documents requiring source data preservation alongside the visual representation

📊 Conformance Levels

Level A

Full accessibility including structure tags, alternative text, and logical reading order

Level B

Visual reproduction only - focuses on appearance preservation without accessibility features

Level U

Unicode mapping for text extraction while maintaining visual fidelity

Business document management and compliance

Professional document archiving with PDF/A standards

How to Create a PDF/A File

🏢 Using PixnPDF (Recommended)

Our professional PDF tools support PDF/A creation with full compliance checking and validation.

1. Upload your document to PixnPDF
2. Select PDF/A compliance option
3. Choose your preferred PDF/A standard (1, 2, or 3)
4. Download your validated PDF/A file

📝 Using Microsoft Word

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word
2. Go to File → Save As → PDF
3. Click "Options" in the save dialog
4. Check "PDF/A compliant" option
5. Save your PDF/A document

🆓 Using LibreOffice (Free Alternative)

1. Open your document in LibreOffice
2. Choose File → Export as PDF
3. Go to the "General" tab in PDF options
4. Select "Archive (PDF/A)" from the options
5. Click "Export" to create your PDF/A file

⚠️ Important Considerations

• Ensure all fonts used in your document are embeddable
• Remove or replace any external links before conversion
• Avoid using transparency effects (unless using PDF/A-2 or later)
• Check that all images are in supported formats
• Validate your PDF/A file after creation to ensure compliance

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PDF/A the same as a regular PDF?

No, PDF/A is a specialized subset of PDF designed for archiving. While it looks similar, PDF/A has stricter requirements including embedded fonts, no encryption, and no external dependencies to ensure long-term accessibility.

Can PDF/A files be edited?

PDF/A files can be edited, but any modifications must maintain PDF/A compliance. Many PDF editors will warn you if an edit would break compliance and offer to convert to regular PDF format.

Is PDF/A mandatory for legal documents?

Requirements vary by jurisdiction and document type. Many courts and government agencies require or strongly recommend PDF/A for official submissions due to its archival properties and guaranteed long-term accessibility.

Will a PDF/A file look the same in 20 years?

Yes, that's the primary purpose of PDF/A. By embedding all necessary resources and following strict standards, PDF/A ensures your document will display identically decades from now, regardless of technological changes.

What's the difference between PDF/A-1, PDF/A-2, and PDF/A-3?

Each version supports different features: PDF/A-1 covers basic archival needs, PDF/A-2 adds advanced features like transparency and better compression, while PDF/A-3 allows embedding additional file types alongside the PDF.

Conclusion

PDF/A ensures your documents stay accessible and unchanged for decades, making it essential for anyone dealing with important documents that need long-term preservation. Understanding when and how to use PDF/A can protect your digital assets and ensure compliance with archival standards.

Whether you're archiving business records, preserving historical documents, or meeting regulatory requirements, PDF/A provides the reliability and consistency needed for professional document management. The investment in creating PDF/A files today pays dividends in guaranteed future accessibility.

Start converting your important PDFs to PDF/A format and ensure compliance through proper validation. Your future self—and anyone who needs to access these documents years from now—will thank you for the foresight.

Create PDF/A Files

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