Convert PDF to PDF/A online
Drop in a PDF and get a PDF/A-1b document back. Runs locally in your browser — the file is never uploaded, and you see exactly which defects were fixed.
Click to upload or drag & drop a PDF here
PDF files only · max 5 MB · processed locally
The validator runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly, so the file you choose is never uploaded anywhere. It needs JavaScript enabled to start. You can run the same 159 checks offline with the command-line tool.
What conversion does
Six things that stop a PDF being PDF/A
Conversion is iterative: gopdfrab fixes what it can, re-verifies, and repeats until the document converges or nothing further can be resolved.
Fonts are embedded
PDF/A requires every glyph a document draws to come from a font embedded in the file itself. Referenced-but-absent fonts are the single most common reason a PDF fails validation.
Colour is made device-independent
RGB and CMYK are only allowed when the file declares the target colour space. A conforming ICC profile is added if one is missing.
Transparency is removed
PDF/A-1 forbids transparency groups and soft masks entirely — they were introduced after PDF 1.4's archival subset was fixed.
Encryption is stripped
An archival document has to remain readable without a key, so PDF/A does not permit encryption of any kind. Encrypted input can still be read if you supply the password.
Active content is dropped
JavaScript, launch actions and embedded files are not permitted in PDF/A-1: an archived document must not be able to execute anything or depend on external payloads.
Metadata is rewritten
A conforming XMP packet and the PDF/A identifier are written, and the XMP is reconciled with the document information dictionary so the two cannot disagree.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Convert in your own pipeline
The browser tool wraps the same conversion engine as the Go library and the CLI. Convert whole directories from a shell, or call it from Go with configurable DPI, iteration caps and fidelity checking.