How to create PDF / A
You recently got the task of creating a last business month report to keep in your company records. This wouldn’t be a problem at all, if only you hadn’t been asked to save everything in PDF / A format: you’ve never heard of this type of file before, so you don’t have a clue how to create PDF / A and you need immediate and concrete help, as the dreaded deadline day is getting closer and closer!
Well, I am happy to inform you that you are in the right guide to consult: in the following lines, in fact, I intend to explain to you in detail how to create documents in PDF / A format using a series of programs and online services. Before continuing, however, let me give you some more information on the subject: the PDF / A format is a “variant” of the classic PDF format, designed primarily for archiving files in the long term. In other words, saving a document in PDF / A means preserving its format over time, thus ensuring that the file in question is always displayed in the same way regardless of the device and program used to do so.
Now that you have a clear idea of the precise purpose of the PDF / A format, the time has come to get to the heart of the matter: make yourself comfortable, take some free time to dedicate to myself and read very carefully what I have to explain on this topic. . I am sure that by the end of this reading, you will be perfectly able to create documents in PDF / A format, so as to please your boss just in time for what is the corporate reporting period. Having said that, I just have to wish you good reading and good work!
Index
- How to create PDF / A on computer
- How to convert PDF / A online
How to create PDF / A on computer
As far as computer programs are concerned, the creation of PDF / A documents is by no means a difficult task: most office software, in fact, provides for the export of files in full compliance with this format. Below I intend to explain how to create PDF / A on your computer using two of the most popular office suites for desktop platforms, LibreOffice and Microsoft Word . Then I will talk to you about a sort of “virtual printer” for Windows , which allows you to do the same operation through any program that provides printing functionality.
LibreOffice (Windows / macOS / Linux)
If you had never heard of it, LibreOffice is a completely free and open source office suite, often used as an alternative to Microsoft Office. All the programs included in the suite ( Writer , Calc , Impress and so on) include among their features the export of documents in PDF / A format in a couple of clicks.
So, to start, connected to the LibreOffice website , click on the Download LibreOffice xyz button to immediately start the download of the setup file, launch the program you just downloaded and carefully follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the installation procedure: on Windows , this leads back to clicking on the Next button several times until the installation process is complete.
If you’re using a Mac , however, you must drag the icon of LibreOffice in the folder Applications of MacOS Benefit from support of the window that appears on the screen. Furthermore, to translate the program into Italian, you must also download the additional language pack (which is not necessary, however, in the Windows version): therefore click on the Translated user interface button available on the download page of the program.
At this point, start LibreOffice (by right-clicking on its icon in the Applications folder and selecting the Open item from the context menu, in order to bypass the macOS restrictions on applications from non-certified developers at the first start) and close it by pressing cmd + q on the keyboard. Once this is done, start the language pack file (eg LibreOffice_xy_langpack_it.dmg ), double-click on its icon attached to the window displayed on the screen and press the buttons Apr i and Install to install the user interface in Italian.
After having completed its setup, start LibreOffice recalling it from the folder LibreOffice menu Start of Windows (accessible through the flag-shaped icon located in the lower left of the screen), from the folder Applications of the Mac or from the Visual Activities of Linux , and then select, from the program’s welcome screen, the type of document that best suits your needs (eg New Document Writer ).
At this point, all you have to do is fill in the document with the desired information; if, on the other hand, you want to create a PDF / A file starting from an already existing document, all you have to do is click on the File> Open menu of the chosen application and select, using the file manager shown on the screen, the document on which you want to Act.
In any case, once you have finished making the necessary changes, you can create the file in PDF / A format by accessing the document export function: to do this, click on the File menu located at the top left of the program, select the Export as item and click then on the Export to PDF… option .
Immediately after, a dialog box is shown on the screen that allows you to choose between numerous options for saving the resulting PDF; to be able to save in PDF / A format, put the check mark next to the item PDF / A-1a Archive (ISO 19005-1) located immediately below the General box , click on the Export button located at the bottom and choose the path to save the newly created PDF / A file. It wasn’t difficult at all, was it?
Microsoft Office (Windows)
Regarding the creation and management of office documents, Microsoft Office is undoubtedly one of the most complete solutions: as such, an option to export documents in PDF / A format could not be missing in its programs. ! Before proceeding, I have an important premise to make you: although Microsoft Office is also available for Mac, this version lacks the functionality for creating files in the PDF / A format. So, if you have a computer with macOS, I suggest you refer to one of the other solutions reported in this guide.
As you surely know, to use Microsoft Office for Windows you need to shell out some money: the suite is available upon subscription to Office 365 (with prices starting at € 7 / month ) or through the purchase of an Office Home & Student 2016 license. for PC , at a one-time price of € 149 .
If you urgently need the suite programs, however, you can take advantage of a free month’s subscription to Office 365 Home: to do so, connected to this web page , click on the Try free for 1 month button , enter your Microsoft account details in the next window and specify, when requested, a valid payment method (for the first 30 days of use of the service, absolutely nothing will be charged). If you don’t already have a Microsoft account, you can create it by following the instructions I gave you in my themed tutorial .
At the end of the registration procedure, you will be emailed the link to download the Office installation file: after completing the download, start the downloaded program and follow the on-screen instructions to install it on your computer.
Remember that, in order to avoid unwanted charges after the first 30 days of using Office, you must cancel the automatic renewal of the subscription: to do this, connected to this website , enter the credentials of the Microsoft account with which you downloaded Office, click on the Cancel item corresponding to the description of the subscription and follow the instructions shown on the screen to cancel the automatic renewal. If you have any problems, or for more detailed instructions on downloading Office, I urge you to take a look at my specific guide on how to download Office .
Completed the Office during installation, start the more relevant to the document the program you wish to create (eg. Microsoft Word ) calling up from the Start menu of Windows , presses the appropriate button to create a new document (eg. Blank Document ) and fill it with the information you need. If you need to create PDF / A from an existing document, click on the File section located at the top left, then on the Open button , select the source on which the document is located (eg. This PC ) and use the next panel to go to its path and import it into the program.
In any case, once the changes are completed, click again on the File menu located at the top left, select the Export button and then click on the Create PDF / XPS button to start the export procedure. In the next window, type a name to assign to the file and make sure that in the drop-down menu Save As the PDF format is specified , then press the Options button … located a little further down, put the check mark next to Compliant to ISO 19005-1 (PDF / A) and click the OK and Publish buttons to finalize saving the document.
PDFCreator (Windows)
Wait, are you telling me that you need to save a ready-made file in PDF / A format, but not compatible with the aforementioned programs? Then I think I have the right solution for you! PDFCreator is a software for Windows that adds a “virtual printer” to the system, capable of generating PDFs from any program that includes printing functionality.
Did I hit the spot and has this program caught your attention yet? Perfect, then let’s move on to the practice immediately: first of all, connected to the PDFCreator download page , press the Download button and repeat the operation with the Download button corresponding to the PDFCreator Free section to start the download of the free version of the program, more than enough for the goal you have set for yourself.
Once this is done, start the file you just downloaded (eg PDFCreator-3_2_2-Setup ), press the Yes and OK buttons , put the check mark next to the Advanced settings box , press the Next button 3 times , select the item Minimum installation from the drop-down menu proposed, click again on the Next button 3 times and finalize the setup procedure by pressing the Install buttons , No thanks , Skip and Finish .
The game is practically done: open as usual the file you want to convert into PDF / A format, access the print options of the program you are using (for example, by going to the File> Print menu or by pressing the key combination Ctrl + P ), choose the PDFCreator virtual printer from the list of available printers and press the button OK / Print to access the program configuration window.
At this point, select the item PDF / A (long-term storage) from the Profile drop-down menu attached to the new window that opens on the screen, type, if desired, the information on the Title, Author, Subject and Keyword of the document , if necessary, set the path to save it by pressing the […] button and finalize the export by clicking on the Save button .
Note : For greater compatibility, you can use the “old” PDF / A-1b format, rather than the one suggested by the program (the PDF / A-2b). To do this, in the PDFCreator window, click on the PDF / A-2b icon icon located in the upper left corner and select the item PDF / A-1b from the list of proposed options, and then proceed to save the file as usual.
How to convert PDF / A online
If you cannot use PDFCreator to convert an existing document to PDF / A, or you need to do this from a smartphone or tablet, you can rely on an online service such as DocuPub : in fact, it is a Web application that can be used via the browser installed in the system that allows you to perform this type of conversion from a large number of formats.
To proceed, first connect to the service’s website , press the Choose file / Upload file button located on the page that opens on the screen and use the next panel to select the document to convert. Once this is done, set the PDF / A item in the Output format drop-down menu , leave the Output Intent field unchanged and set, in the Delivery Method drop-down menu , the Wait for conversion in browser item if you want to download the file via the browser, or the voice Email me a link to the document if you want to receive the link to download the converted file via e-mail (in this case, you will need to release your email address).
Once this phase is complete, press the Upload & Convert button to upload the file and start the process of converting it. Once the conversion is finished, the file will be downloaded automatically or a download link will be sent to your email address, depending on the choice you made earlier.
If DocuPub was not able to provide you with the result you wanted, know that there are several alternatives to this portal: just to give you some examples, even services like ZamZar or iLovePDF offer the possibility to create PDF / A starting from existing documents. I suggest you take a look at my guide on how to convert PDF / A to get some more information on the subject: I’m sure you won’t regret it!
