Essential Guide to PDF/A

Dean SappeyPresident

Presentation Today

• DocsCorp introduction• What is PDF and how is it

created ?• Types of PDF – text, image, etc• What is PDF/A ?• PDF/A implementation in the US

as background• PDF/A workflows for Netherlands

About us

• Global software provider• Offices in USA, UK, Australia

• Desktop, Server, Mobile supported

• 3,500 organizations in 23 countries

• 320,000+ users worldwide • Global & local support teams on 3

continents• Legal, Accounting, Government,

Corporate

Our products

What is PDF?

• Open document standard – created by Adobe and now an ISO standard

• Original aim - powerful document format that is transportable and device-independent

• Now an information sharing and archiving document format

• Single document, multiple documents, binders with non-PDF

• Primary purpose is not document security

Complex PDFs

• Portfolio documents• Attachments and embedded

documents• Embedded objects Video/Audio• Javascript automation• Forms

Technologies available

• Adobe Acrobat – less common now and no longer a key business for Adobe

• Third party software which ‘Prints’ to PDF (pdfDocs, Nuance)

• Freeware – don’t use them !• Third party software that converts

to PDF (Word, Aspose)• Scanners producing image with or

without text layer

How is PDF created ?

• Printing to a PDF printer• File conversion without printing• Embedding image in PDF• Image PDF with text layer (OCR)• Occurs even if you didn’t realize it

Create by printing

Click icon to add picture

Document Print PDFPostscript

Advantages of Printing

• Maintains all text and fonts• Almost same file size as original

(eg: Word) – smallest possible• Fully searchable• Also includes metadata (eg:

hyperlinks)• Most accurate rendering method

Direct image - > PDF

• Empty PDF created• Images inserted in PDF (eg: TIF)• PDFs have a page size – TIF

sometimes don’t which causes problems

• PDF is not searchable

Dealing with Image PDFs

• Can have optional OCR layer added afterwards

• What is OCR ?• Adds ‘invisible’ text layer• This is the method that scanners

use• Not the recommended way• Creates very large PDFs• Not editable in PDF application• Dangers in OCR after editing –

loss of annotations, comments, markups

PDF Security

• What are secured PDFs• Are they secure ? Yes and No

• Password to open• Password to edit, copy, etc

• If document can be printed it can be re-created

• Should you secure your PDFs ?• Digital certificates as an

alternative

PDF for Binders

• Can collate PDFs • Ideal for closing binders, deal

books, board minutes• Can be single or multiple ‘linked’

PDFs• Can create a ‘table of contents’• Adobe Portfolios – end of life• Embedding other document

formats in their native format• Should you clean PDFs ?

PDF/A

• Long term archiving format • Fully self-contained documents• Should be readable in 100+ years• Mandatory by some governments

and legal jurisdictions• Different types 1a, 1b, 2a, 2u

etc

What is PDF/A-1a,1b,& 2b

• PDF/A 2U is likely to be recommended by 1b might be sufficient

• Tagged – for visually impaired so software can ‘read’ the document

• Creating tagged documents very difficult and impractical

• 2b supports transparent images and embedded PDF/A attachments

Features PDF/A A PDF/A 2B/U

Tagged - Accessibility

Required Optional

Searchable Unicode Text

Required Optional

What is a PDF/A 2u

• Version 1.7 PDF (Acrobat 8 or higher) subset

• Same as PDF 2b but also with unicode

• No external links, hyperlinks, non PDF/A attachments, layers

• No Acrobat Pro Binder• No security• All Fonts Embedded• 2U is 2B with Unicode support

Working with PDF/A documents

• When is a PDF/A not a PDF/A ?• Yes – It can be edited• Must be validated after editing• Why is validation important ?

• pdfDocs – Validate/Save• Adobe Pro - Preflight

US Courts Experiences

• Attempted introduction in 2014/15

• Initially state by state• Validation became big issue• pdfA 1/b was their recommended

format• Lessons learnt….

• Lots of PDFs don’t comply• Forms a big issue

• Only save as PDF/A when needed

Preparing your PDFs

• Preparing for Silex, Armarium• Create PDFs• Validate when saving• File size limits – splitting 10Mb –

25Mb• How to do this• Lets see how you do this…

Questions ?

• Now for your questions….

Questions ?

www.docscorp.comsales@docscorp.com