PDF/A error: the document is encrypted
PDF/A does not permit encryption in any form — including an owner password that only restricts printing or copying, with no user password at all. Remove the encryption and re-save the document; there is no conformant way to keep it.
The File structure check group covers 6.1.x — file header, trailer, xref, object framing, limits. The exact sub-clause is reported on the issue itself when the validator raises it.
What causes it
- Permissions were applied at export — "do not allow printing", "do not allow copying" — which encrypts the file even though it opens without a password.
- The document is genuinely password-protected for confidentiality.
- A document management system encrypted the file automatically on the way out.
How to fix it
- Re-export without any security settings. Encryption and archival are incompatible goals; protect the archived copy at the storage layer instead.
- Decrypt the file first if you hold the password. gopdfrab opens encrypted documents transparently — RC4 40/128, AES-128 and AES-256 — with the empty password or one you supply, so it can verify and convert them.
Frequently asked
Why is a permissions-only password a problem? The file opens fine.
It is still an encrypted file: it depends on a decryption implementation and on a key that has to keep working. An archival format cannot rely on either, and the permissions it enforces are advisory anyway.
Can gopdfrab convert an encrypted file to PDF/A?
It can open and process one when it can decrypt it, and the output it writes is unencrypted. What it cannot do is produce a conformant file that is still encrypted, because no such file exists.
What if I do not have the password?
Then the document cannot be verified or converted. gopdfrab reports ErrPasswordRequired as a typed error so your code can distinguish "needs a password" from "is broken".