Whether it is for companies, public authorities, or private users, the requirement to store digital information for a long period of time, from a few years to decades or centuries, the PDF/A standard is the preferred file format to use today.
PDF/A, an archival format based on PDF, provides a mechanism for representing electronic documents in a way that preserves their visual appearance over time, independent of the tools and systems used for producing, storing, and reproducing the files. PDF/A was published as an ISO standard in 2005. Since then, it has been continuously evolving to meet business needs, new technologies, and norms.
Many institutions worldwide recommend PDF/A or specifically require the use of this standard, which plays an important role in document management.
Why is long-term archiving important?
With exponentially growing data, continuously accelerated by new information technology trends, digital archiving is becoming increasingly important. Archiving and storing data for long periods and providing access to it when needed is considered essential.
Today, for example, we cannot open all of the documents that we created or received 20 or more years ago. The software tools available to us today cannot interpret many of the documents created back then. Due to technological changes, format compatibility no longer exists.
The solution to this challenge is a set of measures that will ensure:
- the continuity of digital archive records on new media, as well as
- the continuity of credible presentation using appropriate digital formats (regardless of platforms and even after a long period of time).
It is more efficient to work with digital content than with hard copies. The same applies to archiving as the final stage in the creation of a document. Digital archiving offers lower costs, greater reliability and security, and significantly improved searchability of the information contained in documents.
Why PDF/A and not just PDF?
The PDFs that we use every day can embed all elements of a document within themselves: fonts and images, 3D objects, audio, and video. Active content is forbidden in PDF/A.
Document archives require considerably higher standards. The content must always appear exactly the same under all circumstances. However, because of its availability and wide acceptance, choosing PDF to create an archiving standard for digital documents was an obvious choice.
In simple terms, PDF/A is a PDF that forbids certain functions which could hinder long-term archiving. The file must meet requirements that guarantee reliable reproduction. It must be PDF/A compliant.
This means that, in order to make a PDF ready for long-term archiving, certain precautions must be taken:
- all required fonts must be embedded within the PDF
- embedded video and audio data are prohibited
- the file does not contain references to external content
- files must not be encrypted with a password, as all content must always be fully available
- the software must also use the XMP format for metadata, to name a few.
In practice, several digital formats are used for archiving documents. Nonetheless, the recommended digital format for long-term document storage is PDF/A.
PDF/A format must be device-, software-, and version-independent, self-contained, self-documented, and transparent (easy to analyze and structurally understand). It standardizes viewing, printing, and exchange, which is very important since it guarantees technically acceptable PDFs in your archive.
Reasons to use PDF/A
Besides allowing long-term archiving of your documents, here are a few other good reasons to consider using the PDF/A standard:
- Full-text searching: PDF/A helps you find and access specific information within a data set. For scanned documents, the standard permits searchable text created through OCR optical character recognition.
- Re-use content: PDF/A Conformance Level A makes it easier to re-use content. Such files are very easy to convert to other formats.
- Legally binding documents: PDF/A is an excellent option for digitally signed documents. PDF/A documents can always be digitally signed using the latest technology.
- PDF/A in combination with other standards: PDF/A is closely related to ISO's other PDF standards.
- The multi-part PDF/A standard offers great flexibility to users.
- Platform-independent: PDF/A is platform-independent.
- PDF/A is space-saving: PDF/A documents are usually smaller due to the use of efficient compression algorithms.
- PDF/A being widely accepted: PDF/A is already recommended or required and mandated for long-term archiving by several governments and organizations across Europe and Asia. In North America, similar recommendations exist in the legal sector and libraries. The demand for this standard is continuously growing.
What about PDF/A validation - is it needed?
Since it is not always easy to tell whether an existing PDF file actually meets the ISO PDF/A standard, it is recommended to run a validation check that examines all relevant parts of your document.
When should you validate?
- A PDF/A file should be validated immediately after creation to ensure that the process was successful.
- If PDF/A files are received or sent, validation is also recommended.
- Always validate data before adding it to a digital archive.
How to validate PDF/A files
PDF/A validators can be used to confirm that a file is actually a PDF/A file. These are online tools that verify if all elements of the standard have been met.
PDF/A files created with our free online tool are ISO-compliant and they also pass Vera PDF validation. Vera PDF is an open-source file-format validator covering all PDF/A parts and conformance levels.
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