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Create PDF/A-1A from application

Forum Index > PDF Creation > Create PDF/A-1A from application
2010-07-27 03:08:52
Lars Nowak
Registered: Jul 27 2010
Posts: 4
Answered

Hello,
we need to create a PDF/A-1A file from our application. Our application is written in .Net and we can print to any printer.
I tried the Adobe PDF Printer by Acrobat 9 Pro but the printer creates only PDF/A-1B files. The conversation with Preflight or any other conversation tools fails.

Can someone help me what I have to do to create valid PDF/A-1A files from self written applications?

Thanks,
Lars

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.3.1, Windows
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2010-07-27 05:23:29
#1
UVSAR
Expert
Registered: Oct 29 2008
Posts: 1357
PDF/A-1a requires a tagged document structure, so it cannot be created via a "print" route as this sends untagged Postscript data to Distiller. The only way to do it (short of manually rebuilding all the tags in Acrobat) is when the PDF is directly [u]exported[/u] from the authoring application.

Conversion in Acrobat, even for a document with tags, is extremely difficult due to the way metadata is handled. We'll have more info on AcrobatUsers shortly, but the broad answer is that an /A-1b file can be made pretty much anywhere in your workflow, but /A-1a has to be done at the very start.
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2010-07-27 05:49:55
#2
Lars Nowak
Registered: Jul 27 2010
Posts: 4
Thanks for your answer!
In other words, there is no "easy" way to produce PDF/A-1a for self written applications?
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2010-07-27 06:11:03
#3
UVSAR
Expert
Registered: Oct 29 2008
Posts: 1357
Not really, no. If you can export a PDF with a full tag structure and the correct XMP metadata, Acrobat 9 can check it and apply the header - but quite frankly if your own code is doing that much work, you can probably add the /A label yourself. PDF/A-2 doesn't help, as it's equally picky about the structure and content.
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