Convert any PDF to PDF/A-1b — the ISO-standard format for digital archiving. Adds required metadata, embeds an sRGB colour profile, and strips disallowed content. Runs in your browser.
PDF to PDF/A
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One PDF · Max 80 MB · for higher limits
PDF/A is an ISO-standardised subset of PDF — ISO 19005, first published in 2005 and now in its third revision — built for one purpose: making sure a document opens correctly not just today but in twenty or fifty years, regardless of which software or operating system is reading it. A regular PDF is allowed to depend on things outside the file itself. It can reference a font installed on the system that created it rather than carrying the font data. It can be encrypted with a password tied to a piece of software's specific implementation. It can embed JavaScript that assumes a particular PDF reader and version. Every one of those dependencies is a way the file can quietly stop working once the surrounding software environment moves on. PDF/A closes each of those gaps by requiring the file to be fully self-contained.
The practical requirements are specific. Every font used anywhere in the document must be embedded in the file itself, not referenced by name. Any color used must be tied to an embedded ICC color profile so it renders the same way on any device, rather than relying on a generic RGB or CMYK assumption that varies between systems. The file cannot be encrypted or password-protected, because a password scheme is itself a piece of software logic that may not exist in future readers. JavaScript, embedded audio and video, and other forms of active content are prohibited outright since they depend on runtime features rather than static, inspectable data. And the file must carry an XMP metadata packet that explicitly declares which conformance level it meets — this is the label a validator or archive system checks first.
There are several conformance levels, and they are not interchangeable. PDF/A-1b (based on PDF 1.4) only guarantees that the document looks the same when reopened — visual fidelity, nothing more. PDF/A-1a adds a requirement for tagged structure, meaning the file must also carry accessibility information about reading order and semantic structure, which typically has to be built into the document from the source application rather than added afterward. PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3 build on newer PDF versions and add support for things like transparency and, in the case of PDF/A-3, embedding non-PDF files inside the archival file — useful for keeping an invoice's original XML data attached to its PDF representation. Most day-to-day archival requirements ask for PDF/A-1b or PDF/A-2b specifically because they are the most widely validated and supported levels.
Who actually requires this rather than just recommending it: federal and state court e-filing systems in the US and equivalent judicial portals elsewhere often reject non-PDF/A submissions outright. Government records agencies, national and university libraries doing long-term digital preservation, and regulated industries like healthcare and financial services that have statutory retention periods measured in decades all specify PDF/A in their document-intake standards. If you have ever had a court filing bounced back for the wrong PDF format, or been told by a records department that your discovery documents need to be in "archival format," this is the standard in question.
One honest limitation worth stating up front: converting a file to declare PDF/A conformance and having it *actually* meet every requirement of the standard are two different things, and the gap between them is almost always fonts. If your source PDF already has all its fonts embedded — which is the default in most modern PDF-creation software — conversion here gets you a genuinely compliant file. If the original PDF referenced a system font without embedding it, no browser-side tool can retroactively embed font data that was never included in the file to begin with; the font simply isn't there to embed. In that case the only real fix is regenerating the PDF from its source document with font embedding turned on, then running the archival conversion again.
The PDF is loaded with pdf-lib entirely in your browser tab — no upload, no server round-trip. Conversion works at the document-catalog and metadata level rather than touching page content: your text, images, and layout are copied through completely unchanged. First, an XMP metadata packet is constructed and attached to the document, containing the pdfaid namespace declaration (pdfaid:part=1, pdfaid:conformance=B) that identifies the file as PDF/A-1b to any validator or archive-intake system that inspects it. Second, an sRGB ICC color profile is embedded as a stream object and referenced from the document catalog's /OutputIntents array with a DestOutputProfile entry — this is what lets a PDF/A reader reproduce color consistently without guessing at a device-dependent color space. Third, the tool inspects the document for an /Encrypt dictionary and a /JavaScript name tree and removes both, since encryption and active scripting are explicitly disallowed by the standard. Finally, the file is re-saved with object streams disabled (useObjectStreams: false), because PDF/A-1 is defined against the PDF 1.4 specification, which predates compressed cross-reference and object streams — a PDF/A-1 file that used them would fail structural validation. The result is written back out as a normal PDF file with these archival markers in place, and the whole sequence — reading, rebuilding metadata, re-serializing — completes in your browser without your document ever leaving your device.
Upload your PDF
Drop your PDF file onto the upload area or click to browse. It is read locally in your browser — nothing is sent to a server at this or any later step.
Review what the conversion will apply
Before converting, the tool lists exactly what it is about to do — add PDF/A-1b XMP metadata, embed an sRGB ICC colour profile, strip encryption and JavaScript, and disable object streams. Read the font caveat here too.
Click "Convert to PDF/A-1b"
The tool rebuilds the document's metadata and catalog-level structure to meet the ISO 19005 requirements. Page content is untouched, so this typically completes in a second or two.
Check the applied-steps summary and any warnings
After conversion, a results panel confirms which requirements were satisfied and flags anything it could not fix in the browser — most commonly a font in the source file that was never embedded.
Download the converted file
The PDF/A file downloads automatically. Your original upload is never modified — this is a separate output file.
Validate with an external tool if strict compliance matters
For court filings, regulatory submissions, or formal archives, run the result through a free validator such as veraPDF to confirm it fully passes ISO 19005 conformance checks before you submit it.
Government & Court Filings
Convert documents to PDF/A before submitting to courts, government portals, or regulatory agencies that mandate the ISO standard.
Financial Record Archiving
Convert financial statements and audit reports to PDF/A for long-term retention that meets accounting and compliance requirements.
Medical Records Compliance
Produce PDF/A versions of patient records and clinical documents to satisfy healthcare archival standards and regulatory audits.
Digital Library Preservation
Archive journal articles, theses, and research documents in PDF/A to guarantee they remain readable decades into the future.
Construction & Engineering Drawings
Convert technical drawings and as-built documents to PDF/A for submission to municipal archives and building departments.
Legal Document Retention
Save contracts and legal opinions in PDF/A format to meet document retention policies that require long-term, format-stable archives.
eDiscovery & Litigation Holds
Convert produced documents to PDF/A before loading them into a review platform, so files placed under a multi-year litigation hold remain openable and unchanged for the duration of the case.
Full XMP Metadata Compliance
Adds the required pdfaid:part and pdfaid:conformance declarations that validating tools like veraPDF look for.
ICC Colour Profile Embedding
Embeds an sRGB ICC profile in the OutputIntents dictionary, satisfying the PDF/A colour reproduction requirement.
Removes Non-Compliant Elements
Strips JavaScript and encryption — both prohibited in PDF/A — to avoid validator rejections.
Layout Unchanged
Only metadata and document-level properties are modified; page content, text, and images are completely preserved.
Browser-Based Privacy
Conversion runs entirely in your browser using pdf-lib — your sensitive document is never uploaded to any server.
Free Compliance Check
Generate an archive-ready file at no cost, then verify the result with a free validator such as veraPDF.
Transparent About Font Limits
Rather than silently claiming full compliance, the tool tells you plainly when a source font was never embedded — so you know to re-export from the original document rather than submit a file that will fail validation.
Also Known As
Merge PDF
Combine multiple PDF files into one. Drag to set the page order you want.
Split PDF
Separate one PDF into multiple files — by page range or every page.
Compress PDF
Reduce PDF file size while keeping the best possible quality.
Remove Pages
Select and delete specific pages from your PDF document.
Extract Pages
Extract selected pages from a PDF and save them as a new PDF file.
Organize PDF
Reorder, rotate and delete pages inside a PDF — all in one place.
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