PDF to PDF/A Converter – Convert PDF to Archival Format and Validate It

Convert PDF to PDF/A for long-term archiving

PDF/A is a restricted version of PDF, defined by an ISO standard, built so that a document will look the same in twenty years as it does today. Everything the page needs is stored inside the file: every font, the colour information, the images. Nothing is fetched from elsewhere and nothing depends on what happens to be installed on the reader's computer. That is why records offices, courts, e-filing portals and libraries ask for it.

This page is a PDF/A converter with one unusual rule: it will not give you a file it has not checked. The document is converted, then tested by an independent validator, and you receive the result only if it passes. If you need to convert a PDF to an archival format and be able to say that it conforms, that rule is the reason to use it.

The one tool here that is not processed in your browser

Almost everything on Jobsixo runs inside your own browser tab, and your files never leave your device. This tool is the exception, and it is better that you know before you press anything. Real PDF/A needs software that cannot run in a web page: Ghostscript, which embeds missing fonts and attaches a colour profile, and veraPDF, the open-source validator that checks the result against the standard.

So your PDF is sent to the PDF/A service that is part of this site's setup. The page says so in a note under the button and in a label at the top. The service deletes the input, any working files and the output as soon as it has answered, and keeps no copy. If you are handling something sensitive, weigh that before you upload. If the service has not been set up on the site you are using, the tool says that no PDF/A server is configured instead of pretending to convert anything.

How to convert a PDF to PDF/A, step by step

1. 1
   Drop one PDF onto the box, or click it and choose the file. This tool takes a single file at a time.
2. 2
   Read the message that may appear under the box. It will block the run if the file is empty, over the size limit, not really a PDF, password protected or damaged.
3. 3
   Under Conformance level, choose PDF/A-2b (recommended), PDF/A-1b (oldest, strictest) or PDF/A-3b (allows attachments).
4. 4
   Press Convert to PDF/A. The percentage covers the upload first and then the conversion and checks.
5. 5
   When "Done" appears, read the note, which names the level that was validated, and press Download. The file is called archived.pdf.

Which conformance level should you choose?

The number is the version of the standard, and the letter b means basic conformance: the document will look the same everywhere, which is what most archives require. The tool does not produce the stricter accessible variant, which needs a tagged structure for screen readers.

If a recipient names a level, choose that one. If they only say PDF/A, choose 2b.

What the conversion does

On the service, Ghostscript rewrites the document with its pdfwrite engine in PDF/A mode. It embeds every font the pages use, including fonts the original never embedded, which is the single most common reason ordinary PDFs fail the standard. It converts colours to a device-independent form and attaches an sRGB colour profile as the output intent, so colours are defined rather than left to each screen. It sets the PDF version to 1.4 for PDF/A-1b and 1.7 for the other two.

Then veraPDF checks the finished file against the exact flavour you picked. Only a file that passes is sent back, with a header marking it as validated, and the page checks that header again before it accepts the download. A misconfigured connection cannot turn an unchecked file into a certified one.

A worked example: why the file gets bigger

Archival files are larger, and that surprises people. The service was tested with a small PDF that used the standard fonts Helvetica and Times without embedding them. The source was 2,502 bytes and contained no embedded font programs. After conversion it was 13,014 bytes and contained two. The file grew by 10,512 bytes, a little over five times (13,014 divided by 2,502 is about 5.2).

For a short typed document that is trivial. For a large one the effect is smaller in proportion, because fonts are a fixed cost and the pages dominate. For a scan, which already holds its pictures and few fonts, the change is modest. If you have a size cap as well as a PDF/A requirement, convert first, check the size, and only then compress, remembering that heavy compression turns pages into pictures. Start with the level-based compressor and test that the file still passes where it has to.

Reading the result, and what a refusal means

A successful run ends with a note saying the file was converted with Ghostscript and independently validated by veraPDF as the level you chose, plus a reminder that the server deletes files straight after answering.

A refusal is also a result. If validation fails, you get an explanation instead of a file, and often the first few failing clauses of the standard so you can see why. Typical causes are features the standard forbids that the conversion cannot rewrite, or a source that is damaged or unusual in some way. Try a different level, simplify the original, or export a fresh PDF from the program that made it.

Preparing the file before you convert

• Fix a damaged file first. The page will tell you to repair the file if the structure is broken.
• Remove passwords. PDF/A files cannot be encrypted, and the tool will not guess a password, so unlock the file when you know the password.
• Finish editing, page ordering and signing before converting. Conversion rewrites the file, and a digital signature applied earlier will not survive it.
• If your source is a document in Word, convert the document first, then bring that PDF here, or export from your office suite and use this page to check and certify it.
• Do not add a password afterwards. Protecting the file would take it out of the standard.

Where PDF/A is asked for

Court e-filing systems, tender and procurement portals, land and company registries, university thesis repositories, hospital records and digital libraries commonly ask for it, as do any organisation that must keep documents for decades. Requirements differ by body and by year, so read the exact wording in the instructions you were given: it may name a level, ask for validation, or set a size limit that interacts with the conversion.

A scan converted to PDF/A is a picture of a page, archived faithfully. It will not become searchable by conversion alone.

Time, connection and file size

Because the file travels to a server, your upload speed matters more here than on any other tool. The progress bar treats the upload as the first half of the wait and the conversion and validation as the second half. A 30 MB file is 240 megabits, so on a connection that uploads at 2 megabits a second the upload alone takes about 120 seconds, or two minutes.

The page gives up after three minutes in total, and the service stops any single job after two minutes of its own processing. If you are on a slow mobile connection, a large scan is the likeliest file to time out. Move to a steadier network, or reduce the source before you start, and try again rather than pressing the button repeatedly.

A short checklist before you submit the archived file

• Confirm the note under Done names the same level the recipient asked for.
• Open archived.pdf and flip through every page. Conformance does not guarantee the pages are the ones you meant to send.
• Check the page count and the file size against any limit in the instructions.
• Keep your original PDF. The archival copy is for submission and storage, and the original remains the one to edit.
• Rename the file the way the portal expects. The tool names its output archived.pdf, which is rarely what a records office wants to receive.

Common mistakes

• Assuming any PDF saved from Word is PDF/A. Unless the export option was set, it is not, and embedded-font and colour rules are usually the failures.
• Choosing PDF/A-1b by habit. It is the strictest and rejects more documents than 2b does.
• Converting, then editing the result. Any later edit can invalidate it, so convert last.
• Uploading a document containing someone else's private data without thinking, since this tool involves a server.
• Treating a green tick elsewhere as enough. This tool's own check is the one that named the level it validated.

Limits and honest limitations

The page accepts one PDF at a time. The service enforces its own ceilings, which by default are 50 MB, 500 pages and about two minutes of processing per job, and it limits how many conversions one address can request in a quarter of an hour. The site's check at the box allows files up to 100 MB, so a file between 50 MB and 100 MB may pass the check on the page and still be refused by the service with a size message. Keep the source under 50 MB to be safe.

Encrypted files are refused, and the quality of the result depends on the source. The tool does not edit your content to make it comply. It converts and verifies, and where the two cannot be reconciled, it returns nothing.

Related tools

If the problem is that several documents must go into a single archive, merge the files before you convert, so the result is one validated document. For paper originals, first put your photographs into one PDF and bring the result here.