Drawings filed for the long term should open exactly the same way decades from now. PDF/A is the standard for that. This checks a PDF against its most common problems before you file it (twelve rules for 2b and 3b, fourteen for 1b), says how to fix anything it finds, and fixes the simple ones for you.
Which one?
2b is the modern standard and the right choice unless someone asks for another. 1b is an older, stricter version some legacy archives still require; it also forbids see-through (transparency) effects. 3b is like 2b, but lets the original source file travel inside the PDF.
- 1Fonts are embeddedEvery font travels inside the file, so the text looks the same on any computer.
- 2No password or encryptionAn archive has to be able to open the file without a key that may be lost.
- 3It describes itselfA file ID, built-in details (XMP metadata) that say it's PDF/A, and the colour profile its colours are meant in (output intent), covering every colour it uses. For 1b, its details must also agree in both places it keeps them.
- 4Nothing PDF/A forbidsNo scripts, no interactive actions beyond plain links, no old LZW compression, and only the attached files its level allows. For 1b, no transparency either.
A quick check of these rules, not a full PDF/A conformance test.
Best fix: export it again as PDF/A
The most reliable fix is to make the PDF again from the program that created it, with a PDF/A option turned on. That fixes everything at once, including problems this check doesn't look for. Menu names change between versions, so treat these as where to look, not exact steps.
- Pick the level. Use the one your archive or client asks for. If nobody has said, choose PDF/A-2b.
- Find the PDF/A option.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro: File › Save As Other › Archivable PDF (PDF/A). Acrobat's Preflight tool also has PDF/A conversions if you need a specific level.
- Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint (Windows): File › Save As › PDF › Options, then tick “PDF/A compliant”.
- AutoCAD, Revit, MicroStation and other CAD: their PDF export often has no PDF/A option. Export a normal PDF with fonts embedded, then convert that PDF to PDF/A in Acrobat Pro or another PDF editor.
- Bluebeam Revu and other PDF editors: look for PDF/A in Save As, Export, or the print-to-PDF settings.
- Scans: set the scanner or its software to save as PDF/A, if it offers it.
How your files are handled. Free to use while it is in early access, as-is. Terms of use.
- Your file is checked in your browser and is not uploaded here.
- Each run, and each fixed copy made, sends a short usage report (the level, finding counts by rule or the rules repaired, timings; never the file or its name); the privacy policy lists every field and has the switch to turn it off.