PDF to PDF/A
Convert to PDF/A-2b, the ISO format for long-term archiving. Processed on the server; your file is not stored.
Processed on our server and deleted immediately — your file is never stored.
About PDF to PDF/A
PDF to PDF/A converts a document into the ISO-standardised archival format, embedding everything the file needs to render identically decades from now. It is the format courts, government departments and record-keeping regulations increasingly demand. Free, and your upload is deleted after conversion.
An ordinary PDF can quietly depend on things outside itself. If it references a font rather than embedding it, the reader substitutes whatever it has to hand, and the document you open in 2045 may not have the line breaks or even the characters you saw when you saved it. Add external links to content that has since vanished, transparency effects that future readers may interpret differently, and optional encryption, and a supposedly fixed document turns out to be surprisingly contingent.
PDF/A closes those doors. Every font must be embedded, external dependencies are disallowed, encryption is forbidden, and the colour information needed to reproduce the page is carried inside the file. The result is bigger — embedded fonts are not free — but genuinely self-contained. This is why court e-filing systems, university thesis submissions, medical record retention and long-term corporate archives specify PDF/A rather than PDF: they need certainty that the file will still be readable long after everyone who made it has moved on.
How to convert PDF to PDF/A
- Upload the PDF you need in archival format.
- Wait while fonts are embedded and non-conforming elements are resolved.
- Download the PDF/A file.
- Open it and confirm the pages look unchanged.
- Submit or archive it wherever the standard is required.
Tips & common problems
Expect a larger file
Embedding complete font sets is what makes the format durable, and it costs megabytes. A PDF/A that is noticeably bigger than the original has worked correctly rather than gone wrong.
Encrypted files cannot be PDF/A
The standard forbids encryption, since a password nobody remembers in thirty years defeats the purpose of archiving. Remove it with Unlock PDF first.
Check which conformance level you need
Different institutions ask for different levels — PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2b and PDF/A-3 are all in use. Confirm the requirement before submitting to a court or university system.
Scans should be OCR'd first
A scanned PDF/A is a valid archive of an image, but nobody can search it. Running OCR PDF first preserves the text as well as the picture, which is usually the point of archiving.
Frequently asked questions
What is PDF/A?
An ISO standard for long-term preservation. It requires fonts to be embedded and forbids external dependencies and encryption, so the file renders the same way in the future as it does today.
Is it free?
Yes, with no signup, and your file is deleted from the server after conversion.
Why is my PDF/A file larger than the original?
Because complete fonts are now embedded rather than referenced. That self-containment is exactly what makes the format archival, so the extra size is the feature working as intended.
Will it look different from my original?
It should look the same. Where a font was previously being substituted by your reader, the embedded original may actually render more faithfully than before.
Who needs PDF/A?
Anyone submitting to court e-filing systems, depositing a thesis, meeting records-retention rules in healthcare or finance, or building an archive intended to outlast current software.
Can I edit a PDF/A file afterwards?
You can, but editing may break conformance. Keep your working copy as a normal PDF and convert to PDF/A as the final step before archiving.