Convert to PDF/A

PDF/A is the ISO profile for long-term archiving: fonts are embedded, colors are device-independent, and features that depend on external resources are removed. OfficeIMO.Pdf supports the PdfA2B (default), PdfA2U, PdfA3B, PdfA3U, PdfA4, and PdfA4F profiles.

Convert an existing PDF

C#

using OfficeIMO.Pdf;

PdfAConversionResult result = PdfDocument.Load("contract.pdf")
    .ConvertToPdfA(new PdfAConversionOptions { Profile = PdfComplianceProfile.PdfA3U });

if (result.Succeeded) {
    result.Save("contract-archive.pdf");
} else {
    foreach (var violation in result.Report.Violations) Console.WriteLine(violation);
}

CLI

officeimo pdf convert-to-pdfa contract.pdf --output contract-archive.pdf --profile 3u

Assess a file before converting

C#

using OfficeIMO.Pdf;

PdfComplianceReadinessReport readiness = PdfDocument.Load("contract.pdf")
    .AssessCompliance(PdfComplianceProfile.PdfA3U);
Console.WriteLine(readiness);

PowerShell

Get-OfficePdfCompliance -Path .\contract.pdf -Profile PdfA3U

Create a new PDF as PDF/A

C#

using OfficeIMO.Pdf;

PdfDocument.Create(pdf => pdf.Content(content => content
        .H1("Archive record")
        .AddParagraph("Retained for ten years.")),
        new PdfCreateOptions().UsePdfA(PdfComplianceProfile.PdfA2B))
    .Save("archive-record.pdf");

PowerShell

New-OfficePdf -Path .\archive-record.pdf {
    Set-OfficePdfCompliance -Profile PdfA3B -Groundwork -Language 'en-US'
    PdfHeading 'Archive record'
}

Limits and reference

Limits: OfficeIMO reports what it changed and what blocks conversion; it does not certify conformance on its own. Confirm the saved file with an independent PDF/A validator when compliance is a requirement. PDF/A-4e is not a conversion target. See the PDF package row.

Reference: OfficeIMO.Pdf API · Get-OfficePdfCompliance