Question 1

Is the output a certified PDF/A file?

Accepted Answer

No — and the report says so on every run. This tool performs the honest -b level conversion: fonts, colors, forbidden content, XMP identification and the OutputIntent are genuinely brought into the PDF/A-1b/2b/3b shape, and the change report lists exactly what was done. But it is not an ISO 19005 certification lab, and its report is not a validation. For archive-grade acceptance, run the result through our Validate PDF/A tool and, where it matters, a certified validator such as veraPDF.

Question 2

What do 1b, 2b and 3b mean, and why no 1a/2a/3a?

Accepted Answer

The letter is the conformance level: -b (basic) guarantees the document renders identically forever; -a (accessible) additionally requires a tagged structure tree, alternative text and reading order — a different, much larger job that this tool honestly does not attempt: it produces -b and adds no tags. The number is the part: -1b (2005) is the strictest — no transparency, no embedded files; -2b (2011) allows transparency and JPEG2000; -3b (2012) additionally allows embedded files, which is how Factur-X/ZUGFeRD invoices are archived.

Question 3

Why was my file rejected?

Accepted Answer

Because pretending would have broken it. Soft masks or constant alpha make PDF/A-1b impossible — re-run at 2b or 3b, where transparency is allowed. A font that is neither embedded nor one of the standard-14 cannot be re-typeset honestly, so the file is refused with the exact pages that use it (at -2b/-3b the standard-14 themselves get substituted). Encrypted files are refused outright — PDF/A forbids encryption, and your documents deserve the truth rather than a silently broken output.

Question 4

What happens to my colors, and what is the OutputIntent profile?

Accepted Answer

Device gray and CMYK operators are converted with the naive, documented formulas every browser canvas uses — an honest approximation that can shift press-intent colors slightly; the change report says exactly this. ICC-based source profiles are not interpreted (that would need the originating color engine). The OutputIntent carries a genuine hand-rolled sRGB ICC v2.1 profile — real Bradford-adapted primaries and the true piecewise tone curve, built from the IEC 61966-2-1 constants, not faked bytes.

Question 5

Is my document safe? Where does this happen?

Accepted Answer

Entirely inside your browser. A Web Worker thread loads the file, rewrites it and hands the result back as a blob — the document never leaves the device, no account, no upload, no queue. The only things fetched are the self-hosted substitute font programs and nothing else: they are public font files from this site's own origin, not your data.

PDF to PDF/A

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