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Explanation of PDF document types (e.g. PDF / A-1)

I am working on software for storing legal documents, and I thought that a PDF file might be the ideal format for the job. However, I am a little confused by what best suits my needs in this regard in a real PDF file format.

I have the following document requirements:

  • will be stored for at least 7 years, if not longer
  • not editable
  • contain both images and text (images will be in .jpg format ideally)

I initially looked at using PDF / A-1, however I found that this format is not like using JPEG images, or at least that is not using JODConverter.

Any suggestions / explanations as to which format would best suit these needs would be greatly appreciated!

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2 answers

For the described requirements, PDF / A-1b (yes, b at the end!) Is the ideal format. For basic - b, it has less stringent requirements than PDF / A-1a ( a at the end), which is available for (or advanced , as it is mnemonic for me).

If you have no difficulty implementing PDF / A-1a, you can go for it. However, depending on your source documents, PDF / A-1a can be extremely complex and almost impossible to create (as this requires additional marking of the file contents for accessibility features).

Regarding JPEG: of course, PDF / A-1b supports JPEG. It does not allow the use of JPEG2000 compression, since this algorithm was encumbered with a patent during the definition of the PDF / A-1b standard. The PDF / A-1b creation software for this should recompress objects using this type of compression using one of the other methods (but this does not pose a big practical problem).

You can also see the PDF / A Competency Center (PDFA) . (Disclosure: I am a member of the PDFA.)

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PDF / A-1 is a good format for long-term storage (as its intention), and therefore it tries to remove external dependencies. This includes some things, such as embedding fonts and external DISABLING hyperlinks (which also makes sense, but can be obtained). Some useful information is on the Adobe website (see Key Specifications Tab). PDF sounds like the right answer to your requirements.

Embedded images should not be a problem. JODReports may be doing something wrong (or the version of OpenOffice / LibreOffice that you use below). You can try switching parts of this basic infrastructure (OO / LO), try experimenting directly with the OpenOffice / LibreOffice GUI - export PDF / A-1 and see what results or try other tools in the chain (for example, Docmosis, although this is based on a similar technology).

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