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PDF/A Conversion

Forum Index > General Acrobat Topics > PDF/A Conversion
2009-09-22 04:56:44
fsduser
Registered: Sep 22 2009
Posts: 5
Answered

Hi!

I am trying to convert a PDF document (version 1.4) to a PDF/A document with Adobe 8 Pro. The conversion doesn't work. The program gives an error message "MarkInfo missing" and "PDF/A entry missing". How can I make the conversion work?

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 8.1, Windows
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2009-09-22 16:15:20
#1
leonardr
Expert
Registered: Feb 14 2006
Posts: 333
Try converting to PDF/A-1b instead of PDF/A-1a.

1a conformance is MUCH HARDER to achieve for files - that's why it's the "ALL" level (a == all, b == basic) and unless your original PDF was prepared for it, you will get lots of errors.

Leonard Rosenthol
PDF Standards Architect
Adobe Systems

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2009-09-22 23:10:33
#2
fsduser
Registered: Sep 22 2009
Posts: 5
Hi!

Thanks for your response.

The conversion to PDF/A-1b format works without any problems. However, PDF/A-1a format is more suitable for long-term preservation of documents. We managed to produce a document that fulfilled the PDF/A-1a criteria with OpenOffice (version 3.0). However, we would like to be able to convert a PDF file to a document that fulfils the PDF/A 1a criteria. Is there some other application that is better suited for this job than Acrobat 8.1 Pro?
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2009-09-23 02:21:40
#3
leonardr
Expert
Registered: Feb 14 2006
Posts: 333
fsduser wrote:
However, PDF/A-1a format is more suitable for long-term preservation of documents.
I don't know where you heard/read that - but it simply isn't true. PDF/A-1b is EQUALLY suitable for long term preservation as PDF/A-1a. As the Project Leader for PDF/A (ISO 19005) I can say that with sufficient authority on the topic...

The only benefit you receive from PDF/A-1a is that there is a GUARANTEE that the textual content is semantically represented via "tagging and structure" in the PDF. But that can also exist in a PDF/A-1b file and even if it does not, the content is still viable into the future for extraction, etc.

fsduser wrote:
However, we would like to be able to convert a PDF file to a document that fulfils the PDF/A 1a criteria. Is there some other application that is better suited for this job than Acrobat 8.1 Pro?
If you read Annex B of the ISO 19005 as well as the application notes for the standard, you will see why the committee does not recommend the automated conversion of non-tagged/structured PDF to PDF/A-1a and why PDF/A-1b is quite sufficient in this matter.

Leonard Rosenthol
Project Leader, ISO 19005
PDF Standards Architect
Adobe Systems

Leonard Rosenthol
PDF Standards Architect
Adobe Systems

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2009-09-29 00:14:59
#4
fsduser
Registered: Sep 22 2009
Posts: 5
Hi!

Thanks for your detailed answer! Like we said before, we can produce PDF/A-1b format from the majority of our data. However, there have been some problems in the conversion from PDF to PDF/A-1b (Acrobat 8.1). Here are some of them:

-Title mismatch between Document Info and XMP metadata,

-Font not embedded (and text rendering mode not 3),

-Encoding entry prohibited for symbolic True Type font,

-More than one encoding symbolic True Type font’s cmap,

-Glyphs missing in embedded font

Would you be able to tell us how to fix these?
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2009-09-29 03:22:06
#5
leonardr
Expert
Registered: Feb 14 2006
Posts: 333
fsduser wrote:
However, there have been some problems in the conversion from PDF to PDF/A-1b (Acrobat 8.1). Here are some of them:Would you be able to tell us how to fix these?
All of these issues are corrected in Acrobat 9. go ahead and upgrade!

Leonard Rosenthol
PDF Standards Architect
Adobe Systems

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