PDF naar PDF/A voor langdurige archivering, gratis

What PDF/A actually is

PDF/A is the ISO-standardized subset of PDF built for one job: making sure a document still opens and looks the same decades from now. To do that it forbids everything that could break over time — encryption, JavaScript, external references, fonts that are not embedded — and requires the file to be fully self-contained.

This tool normalizes your PDF toward that goal: it removes scripts and actions, flattens form fields, drops annotations that have no printable appearance, embeds an sRGB output intent, and writes the pdfaid identification metadata that archival systems check for. The conversion runs entirely in your browser.

Choosing a conformance level

All three are 'b' (basic visual reproduction) levels — the difference is what the file may contain.

An honest caveat about fonts

Full PDF/A conformance requires every font used in the document to be embedded. If the source PDF references a font without embedding it — common with files that assume Helvetica or Arial exist on the reader's system — the font data simply is not in the file, and no converter can invent it. This tool detects those fonts and tells you exactly which ones could not be embedded, rather than silently producing a file that fails validation.

For that reason the output is best-effort conformant, not veraPDF-certified. For most legal, government, and business archiving needs it produces a correctly structured, self-contained archival file — and it tells you plainly when a source document cannot fully conform.

Who uses PDF/A

Courts and law firms archive filings as PDF/A because the format is admissible and reproducible. Government records offices mandate it for the same reason. Businesses use it for contracts, invoices, and reports that must remain readable long after the software that created them is gone. If a document matters in ten years, PDF/A is the format that keeps it readable.