PDF/A Compliance Validation in Adobe

[ashmatashok]

Hi,

When i open a PDF file in Adobe acrobat reader, it shows a notification saying 'This file claim compliance with the PDF/A standards....'.

Does this mean the file is in pdf/a compliance? because the notification only says 'claims PDF/A compliance' but not that it is compliant., which is little ambiguous.

Can someone help me in explaining what does the notification actually means here?

Note* I have also done a PDF/A validation on VERAPDF tool for the same file, and it failed the validation with below result

[AnandSri]

Hello Ashmatashok,

PDF/X, PDF/E, and PDF/A standards are defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

PDF/A standards apply to long-term archiving of electronic documents. During PDF conversion, the file that is being processed is checked against the specified standard. If the PDF does not meet the selected ISO standard, you are prompted to either cancel the conversion or create a non-compliant file. For detailed information, refer to Adobe article Adobe PDF conversion settings, Acrobat

You can validate PDF content against PDF/X, PDF/A, PDF/VT or PDF/E criteria. You can also save a copy of the PDF as PDF/X, PDF/A, or PDF/E, provided it complies with the specified requirements. For example, under certain circumstances, an ICC profile that describes the destination device is required for PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, and PDF/X-4 compliance.

If your document doesn’t have an embedded ICC output profile, you can embed one before saving.

If a PDF that conforms to one of these standards, you can view the standards information in the Navigation pane. (Choose View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes, and then click the Standards.)

The Standards menu and panel are available only if the PDF conforms to a standard. The Standards panel is present in all versions (Acrobat Professional, Standard, and even Reader).

However, Verify Conformation functionality is only present in Acrobat. With the freeware Adobe Reader, you won't be able to verify the compliance.

For detailed information about verifying the compliance, you can refer to Adobe article PDF/X-, PDF/A-, and PDF/E-compliant files (Adobe Acrobat Pro)

Feel free to update this discussion for any further assistance.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

[Test Screen Name]

Let's look at what that initial message 'This file claim compliance with the PDF/A standards....'. actually means. A PDF/A A file must follow many rules and one rule is that it contains a special marker saying it is a PDF/A file, and which single flavour of PDF/A it conforms to. The message means 'The PDF/A marker is present'. It does not mean a full preflight check has been run.

In an ideal world, the marker is enough. However, it is possible that a PDF producer made a file, and set the PDF/A marker, but did not do a correct or complete job. It's also possible that it was made correctly and later edited by software that made changes and left the (now broken) marker in place.

This is actually a file which is seriously in violation of the PDF/A-1b standard, because it uses transparency, which is absolutely and strictly forbidden.

[Test Screen Name]

Further: Acrobat Pro can preflight to both check for and convert to PDF/A compliance. The free Acrobat Reader cannot do this.