Guides

PDF/A, explained

Find out more about the PDF/A standard and its ecosystem.

These pages are about the standard. For the gopdfrab API, meaning opening a document, running a profile and reading issues, start at the documentation. For a specific validation failure and how to fix it, see the PDF/A error reference.

Understanding PDF/A

What is PDF/A?

PDF/A is the ISO 19005 archival subset of PDF. It is self-contained, unambiguous and reproducible.

Parts and levels

PDF/A-1 through PDF/A-4 and the a/b/u/e conformance levels, what each one adds, and how to pick the right one.

PDF/A-3 and e-invoicing

How hybrid e-invoices embed XML in a PDF/A-3 container and what the EU mandates require.

Using gopdfrab

PDF/A in Go

PDF/A in the Go PDF ecosystem, why validation is harder than writing PDFs, and how to verify and convert from Go.

Validation in CI

Add a PDF/A-1b gate to GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or any pipeline using the gopdfrab CLI.

Serverless and edge

Running a PDF/A validator in functions, containers, the browser and the edge.

Test suites and models

Isartor Test Suite

The PDF Association’s original PDF/A-1b corpus.

veraPDF corpus

The veraPDF project’s PDF/A corpus, how it differs from Isartor, and why both matter when you claim PDF/A-1b coverage.

Arlington PDF Model

A machine-readable grammar for PDF. What it can prove about a file, and how gopdfrab turns it into object-model checks.