Convert to PDF/A, PDF Archiving Format, API Tool

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Request

POST

Headers

Api-Key

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Response-Type

Poll for the status of a request by ID. Request IDs can be found in the JSON response of POST requests sent to any pdfRest endpoint.

Required Parameters

file

File to be uploaded and processed

Alphanumeric ID (UUID) of existing file on server to be processed

output_type

Desired PDF/A version for the output PDF

Optional Parameters

output

Name of the generated output file, without extension

rasterize_if_errors_encountered

When set to ON, if the API finds errors when converting a PDF document, it will rasterize the page with the problem into a graphic image and continue to save the document as a PDF/A document. If set to OFF it will instead return an error in such cases.

Code

curl -X POST "https://api.pdfrest.com/pdfa" \ 
  -H "Accept: application/json" \ 
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -H "Api-Key: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" \

Response

The response for your API Call will display here.

Once you've sent your POST request and received a valid response, you can download your output file using the output URL.

Build Your Solution

You have document processing problems, we have Solutions. Explore the many ways pdfRest can align your documents with your business objectives.

Browse all solutions

Microsoft Work, Powerpoint, and XLS icons corkscrew towards a PDF/A labelled document icon.

Optimize Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Files for Long-Term Preservation

Convert Documents into Encrypted PDFs for Archiving

Integrate pdfRest with Microsoft Power Automate

Detect and Repair Non-Conformant PDF/A Documents

Create an e-Invoicing PDF Workflow for Regulatory Compliance

Integrate PDF API Tools with Salesforce Apex Code

Why is pdfRest the best API to convert PDF to PDF/A?

pdfRest offers the best solution for converting PDF documents to PDF/A specifications, because it supports top PDF/A conformance, robust versions, and problemetic input files.

Top PDF/A Conformance

Extensive research and comparative testing have demonstrated that pdfRest’s technology generates PDF/A documents with the highest success rate among leading PDF technology solutions.

pdfRest’s conversion technology produced perfect conformance to the ISO 19005-2 specifications over 95% of the time, compared to an average of 84% for leading competitors.

Robust Version and Level Support

pdfRest’s Convert to PDF/A supports a wide range of PDF/A conformance versions and levels, including:

PDF/A-1b
PDF/A-2b
PDF/A-2u
PDF/A-3b
PDF/A-3u

Convert Problem Files

Occasionally a PDF will contain a mix of conditions that make it incompatible with conversion to PDF/A. Most tools will return an error in this situation, but pdfRest offers a fallback plan you can turn on that will rasterize any problematic pages in the document to ensure the file converts successfully and conforms to PDF/A standards.

Check out other videos

Start from Code Examples

See more code examples in our GitHub repository

Need more help?

Start with a Tutorial for step-by-step guidance

How to Convert PDF to PDF/A in .NET with C#

How to Convert PDF to PDF/A with cURL

How to Convert PDF to PDF/A with JavaScript in NodeJS

How to Convert PDF to PDF/A with PHP

How to Convert PDF to PDF/A with Python

5 items

Customize Your Solution

Learn about the parameters for this tool to create your custom solution.

File

The file parameter allows you to select a local PDF file to be uploaded to pdfRest’s processing server for conversion.

See Documentation

The id parameter allows you to submit a resource ID for a file already on the processing server. Each of our API Tools assigns a unique resource ID to all uploaded input files and generated output files and returns these IDs in the response to each API Call. This allows you to store the IDs from one call and submit them to the next, chaining requests together without having to download intermediate files between requests.

For example, you can upload a Word doc to Convert to PDF then pass the output ID you receive to Convert to PDF/A (Word > PDF > PDF/A).

See Documentation

Output

The output parameter lets you set a filename (without extension) for your archived PDF.

See Documentation

Output Type

The output_type parameter lets you choose from several conformance levels and versions of PDF/A:

PDF/A-1b
PDF/A-2b
PDF/A-2u
PDF/A-3b
PDF/A-3u

See Documentation

Rasterize If Errors Encountered

The rasterize_if_errors_encountered parameter lets you opt to rasterize any problematic pages as images instead of receiving an error response.

See Documentation