Can a fillable form be saved as a pdf/a document?

Question

I can't find the answer to this simple question anywhere! I have created a fillable pdf form and need to be able to save it as a pdf/a document. I get errors that make me wonder if it is even possible. Here is my testing process:

When I save the unfilled form as pdf/a, it saves successfully.
When I filled in one text field, the error is that the font is not embeddable. (report is at end of this post). It was the font that was used for the fillable field (I tried Helvetica and Times New Roman).
When I filled in one field and the signature field, I got a host of issues (unfortunately it did not let me save a report). The font issue, along with Flatten transparency, Remove document structure compression, Compress all compressed objects using lossless ZIP compression, Recompress LZW as ZIP.

Am I attempting something that isn't possible? This form will be downloaded by users, filled out, then saved. Most users won't have access or knowledge about advanced settings, so it needs to be a really easy process.

Thanks,

Jill

This was the report:

Preflight Summary Report for: XXX_111824_attempt2timesfix.pdf
Profile: Convert to PDF/A-1b (Processed pages 1 to 7)
Processed by XXX, Date: 11/18/24 2:40 PM
Fixups
Convert to PDF/A-1b (1 object)
Make document XMP Metadata compliant with PDF/A-1 (2 objects)
Remove document structure compression (1 object)
Compress all uncompressed objects using lossless ZIP compression (1 object)
Recompress LZW as ZIP (1 object)
Embed fonts (even if text is invisible) (1 object)
Insert missing Type entry in StructElem objects (805 objects)
Repair invalid bookmark hierarchies (1 object)
Convert page content into image (8 objects)
Results (Summary)
Error
Font not embedded (and text rendering mode not 3) (1 match on 1 page) - 1
Document information
File name: "CPCNform_111824_attempt2timesfix.pdf"
Path: "/Users/jillwalker/Library/CloudStorage/OneDrive-TheCPUC/CPUC Design Files/Internal/Forms/Communications/CPCN/_proofs"
PDF version number: "1.4"
File size (MB): 2.1
Title: "CPUC CPCN Application Form"
Creator: "Adobe InDesign 18.5 (Macintosh)"
Producer: "Adobe PDF Library 17.0"
Created: "11/18/24 9:02 AM"
Modified: "11/18/24 2:40 PM"
Trapping: "False"
Number of plates: 4
Names of plates: "(Cyan) (Magenta) (Yellow) (Black) "
Environment
Preflight, 18.6.0 (270)
Acrobat version: 24.004
Operating system: macOS 14.6.1

S_S · Accepted Answer

Hi @Hareline,

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for writing in!

Here are a few points I'd like to share:

PDF/A does not support interactive fields such as form fields, signature fields, and other dynamic content. Since your form includes these, saving the form with interactive elements will cause errors because PDF/A is designed to be a static format. The signature field, for example, is a dynamic element that is not allowed in PDF/A. You will need to flatten the PDF form (convert the form fields to static text) before saving it as PDF/A. This means you must remove any interactive elements (like form fields) and save only the filled-out version of the form.

PDF/A also requires that all transparency in the document be flattened, and objects should be compressed. This can usually be handled by selecting the correct PDF/A settings when saving the document.

Once flattened, go to File > Save As Other > PDF/A and choose the appropriate PDF/A version (e.g., PDF/A-1b for long-term archiving). During the save process, check for any specific font embedding settings and ensure compression settings are PDF/A compliant.

Hope this gives you a better clarity on how to proceed.

-Souvik

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