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Create PDF/A - Archival Compliance API

PDF4me Create PDF/A is a comprehensive enterprise-grade solution that transforms existing PDF documents into PDF/A compliant format through robust API integration. Our advanced cloud-based processing engine ensures full compliance with international PDF/A standards for long-term document preservation and archival requirements. The API efficiently processes PDF conversion by receiving source PDF files and compliance parameters through REST API calls, utilizing advanced rendering technology for precise PDF/A standard compliance and document integrity maintenance. With comprehensive support for multiple PDF/A compliance levels, accessibility features, and archival requirements, this solution is ideal for document management systems, archival workflows, compliance applications, and enterprise document preservation platforms that require reliable, scalable PDF/A conversion with guaranteed long-term accessibility and document preservation.

Authenticating Your API Request​

To access the PDF4me REST API, every request must include proper authentication credentials. Authentication ensures secure communication and validates your identity as an authorized user of the REST API.

Get your api Key

Key Features​

  • Multiple PDFA Compliance Levels: Support for PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-1a, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-2u, PDF/A-2a, PDF/A-3b, PDF/A-3u, and PDF/A-3a standards
  • Long-term Document Preservation: Ensure documents remain accessible and readable for decades with PDFA compliance
  • Accessibility Enhancement: Create accessible PDF/A documents with proper document structure and tagging
  • Advanced PDFA Options: Flexible upgrade and downgrade options for future compliance management
  • Enterprise-Grade PDFA Conversion: Reliable, scalable document processing with professional support and guaranteed PDF/A compliance
  • Seamless API Integration: RESTful API designed for automated PDFA workflows and enterprise system integration

REST API Endpoint​

The PDF4me REST API uses standard HTTP methods to interact with resources. All PDF/A creation operations are performed through a single endpoint:

  • Method: POST
  • Endpoint: /api/v2/PdfA

PDFA Compliance Standards​

The API supports comprehensive PDF/A compliance levels for different archival and accessibility requirements:

Basic Compliance Levels​

  • PDF/A-1b: Level B (basic) conformance for reliable reproduction of document's visual appearance
  • PDF/A-2b: Basic compliance supporting PDF versions 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7 with advanced features
  • PDF/A-3b: Basic compliance allowing embedding of additional files (XML, CSV, CAD, Word files)

Accessible Compliance Levels​

  • PDF/A-1a: Level A (accessible) conformance with document structure and tagging for screen readers
  • PDF/A-2a: Accessible compliance maintaining PDF/A-2b features with accessibility enhancements
  • PDF/A-3a: Accessible compliance with PDF/A-3b features and full accessibility support

Unicode Mapping Levels​

  • PDF/A-2u: Basic compliance with Unicode mapping for international character support
  • PDF/A-3u: Basic compliance with Unicode mapping and file embedding capabilities

REST API Parameters​

Complete list of parameters for the Create PDF/A REST API. Parameters are organized by category for better understanding and implementation.

Important: Parameters marked with an asterisk (*) are required and must be provided for the API to function correctly.

Required Parameters​

ParameterTypeDescriptionExample
Compliance*StringPDF/A Compliance to be applied. Four allowed options are PDF/A-1b - Level B (basic) conformance This is the basic conformance of PDF that follows the standard for reliable reproduction of document's visual appearance. PDF/A-1a - Level A (accessible) conformance This includes PDF/A-1b conformance and aims to improving its accessibility by having a document structure, tagging text spans and images, unicode mapping, language specification etc. This standard aims at improving it viewing in screen readers. PDF/A-2b Basic Compliance PDF/A-2 standard is the Part 2 standard of new compliance addressing new features supported PDF versions 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7. Part 2 standard supports image compression, support for transparency, embedding of fonts, provisions for digital signatures and embedding of PDF/A files to facilitate archiving of sets of documents within a single file. Level B is just same conformance level defined in PDF/A -1b PDF/A-2u Basic Compliance with Unicode Mapping This compliance follows the PDF/A-2b level with having all text as unicode mapped PDF/A-2a Accessible Compliance This compliance follows the PDF/A-2b level keeping it in accessible level same as in PDF/A-1a. PDF/A-3b Basic Compliance The Part 3 of the standard allows embeding of files such as xml, csv, cad, word files etc along with Part 2 of the standard PDF/A-3u Basic Compliance with Unicode Mapping This compliance follows the PDF/A-3b level with having all text as unicode mapped PDF/A-3a Accessible Compliance This compliance follows the PDF/A-3b level keeping it in accessible level same as in PDF/A-1a.PdfA1b
File Content*Base64The content of the input fileJVBERi...
File Name*StringName of the filedocument.pdf
Allow Downgrade*BooleanAllow downgrade of compliance in future true falsetrue
Allow Upgrade*BooleanAllow upgrade of compliance in future true falsetrue

Output​

The PDF4me Create PDF/A REST API returns a response that can be viewed in multiple formats. Choose the view that best fits your needs:

JSON Response Format

The raw JSON response from the API:

{
  "File Content": "Output PDF file with selected compliance type",
  "File Name": "Output PDF file name with extension"
}

Request Example​

Content-Type: application/json
Authorization:  YOUR_API_KEY

Note: Get your API key from the PDF4me Dashboard

Payload​

{
  "docContent": "Please put PDF base64 content",
  "docName": "output",
  "compliance": "PdfA1b",
  "allowUpgrade": true,
  "allowDowngrade": true
}

Code Samples​

The PDF4me Create PDF/A REST API provides code samples in multiple programming languages. Choose the language that best fits your development environment:

C# (CSharp) Sample

Complete C# implementation for creating PDF/A compliant documents:

PDFA Compliance Features​

Document Preservation​

  • Long-term Accessibility: Ensure documents remain readable for decades with PDFA compliance
  • Visual Appearance: Maintain exact visual reproduction across different systems
  • Content Integrity: Preserve all document content and structure for PDF/A standards
  • Metadata Preservation: Keep document metadata and properties intact

Accessibility Features​

  • Document Structure: Proper document hierarchy and organization for PDFA compliance
  • Text Tagging: Semantic markup for screen readers and assistive technologies
  • Unicode Mapping: Full international character support in PDF/A format
  • Language Specification: Proper language identification for accessibility tools

Advanced PDFA Capabilities​

  • File Embedding: Support for embedding additional files (XML, CSV, CAD, Word) in PDF/A format
  • Digital Signatures: Maintain digital signature integrity for PDFA compliance
  • Font Embedding: Ensure font availability for proper PDF/A rendering
  • Image Compression: Optimized image handling and compression for PDFA standards

Industry Use Cases & Applications​

Government & Public Sector Use Cases

  • Government & Public Sector: Convert official documents to PDFA format for long-term archival and compliance
  • Public Records: Convert public records to PDF/A for long-term preservation
  • Regulatory Documentation: Transform regulatory documents to PDF/A for compliance
  • Official Archives: Convert official documents to PDF/A for archival purposes

Get Help​

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