Check PDF/A
Drop in a PDF and it tells you whether it is PDF/A, and what is missing if it is not. It runs in your browser: the file never leaves your computer.
How to check a PDF for PDF/A
- Choose the PDF.
- Read the list: a tick is something PDF/A asks for and this file has.
- If something fails, convert the file and check it again.
What is being checked
PDF/A is a PDF that has to be readable in twenty years without help from outside: the fonts travel inside it, the colours say what they mean through an embedded profile, nothing runs when it opens, nothing is encrypted, and it says in its own metadata which level it claims. Those are the things checked here, one line each, because they are what an archive's validator rejects files for in practice.
Why a tick is not a certificate
The standard is hundreds of rules long, and the validator that counts is the one run by whoever asked you for the file. The reference implementation is veraPDF, free and open source, maintained by the PDF Association with the Open Preservation Foundation; it is also the one used to test the converter on this site. What this page does is catch, in a second and without uploading anything, the handful of problems that cause nearly every rejection.
A file that says PDF/A and is not
It happens often: a converter writes the metadata that declares PDF/A and changes nothing else, so the file still names fonts it does not carry, or has no colour profile inside. The declaration is a claim, not a proof, and that is why the check reads the file rather than the claim.
Is it private?
Yes. Everything runs inside your web browser, using your own device. Nothing is uploaded to any server, so your documents stay completely private. How does this work without uploading?
Frequently asked questions
Is my file uploaded?
No. It is read in your browser, like every tool here. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it still works.
Which levels does it understand?
It reads whatever the file declares — PDF/A-1, 2 or 3, level A, B or U — and reports it. The checks themselves are the ones common to every level.
It fails. What now?
Convert it: the converter on this site writes PDF/A-2B and tells you beforehand whether your pages can be kept as they are or have to be redrawn as images.
Can it check a file with a password?
Yes, if the password only restricts what can be done with the file. A PDF/A may not be encrypted at all, so that alone is already a reason it is not one.