Which level should I choose?

PDF/A-2b unless the portal specifies otherwise. 1b cannot contain transparency or JPEG 2000 and may alter appearance; 3b is only needed if the PDF must carry embedded files (for example e-invoices with XML).

Will the document look different?

Normally not. Transparency in a 1b conversion is flattened; everything else is preserved.

How do I check that the result is valid?

A validation summary is shown after conversion. You can also verify with the free veraPDF tool.

PDF Tools

PDF to PDF/A

Courts, universities and government portals often refuse ordinary PDFs. Convert to PDF/A-2b, the archival profile they ask for, and get a validation report with the file.

Processed on our EU server over HTTPS and deleted automatically within 1 hour.

Drop PDF, Word (DOCX), ODT file here

or click to browse · paste from clipboard · up to 300 MB

Select file

Options

Conformance level

Why convert PDF to PDF/A

PDF/A guarantees the file can be rendered in decades: all fonts embedded, colours defined, no JavaScript, no encryption, no external references. Many institutions require it precisely because it removes the “it looked different on my machine” problem.

The converter embeds any missing fonts, converts colour spaces, strips forbidden features and then validates the output against the standard. If a file cannot be made compliant (for example it contains unembeddable fonts), the report says why.

How it works

Drop PDF, Word (DOCX), ODT files onto the box above, click it to browse, or paste from the clipboard.
Adjust the options if you need to — the defaults suit most cases.
Press Convert. The file is uploaded securely, converted, and the result is offered for download.
Download the PDF/A.

About the formats

PDF · Portable Document Format · .pdf

The fixed-layout document standard: looks the same on every device and printer, which is why forms, invoices, contracts and reports are shared as PDF.

A PDF can contain vector text, embedded fonts, images, form fields, annotations and digital signatures.
Scanned PDFs are just pictures of pages; they need OCR before the text can be searched or copied.
PDF is an open ISO standard (ISO 32000) since 2008.

Word (DOCX) · Microsoft Word document · .docx

The current Word format (since 2007): a ZIP of XML files that Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages can all open and edit.

DOCX layout depends on the fonts installed on the viewing computer, which is why the same file can paginate differently on another machine.
Converting to PDF freezes the layout so it looks the same everywhere.
DOCX is part of the Office Open XML standard (ISO 29500).

ODT · OpenDocument text · .odt

The open document format used by LibreOffice and OpenOffice Writer, and required by several governments for public documents.

ODT is an ISO standard (ISO 26300) and fully documented, unlike DOC.
Word can open and save ODT, but complex formatting may shift.
Like DOCX, an ODT file is a ZIP archive containing XML.

PDF/A · PDF for archiving (ISO 19005) · .pdf

A restricted PDF profile for long-term archiving: all fonts embedded, no encryption, no JavaScript, colours defined device-independently.

Many government portals, courts and universities require PDF/A for submissions.
PDF/A-1b, 2b and 3b are the common conformance levels; 2b is the usual choice today.
Converting to PDF/A embeds fonts and removes features that could stop the file opening in 20 years.