How to Convert PDF to PDF/A - Practical Guide for Lawyers, Accountants, Students

TL;DR: Convert PDF to PDF/A by uploading to the Convert to PDF/A tool, picking a level (PDF/A-2b default), and clicking "Convert". The tool embeds fonts, adds sRGB color profile, removes JavaScript, and validates with veraPDF. You get a converted file plus a separate compliance certificate.

Who this guide is for

• Solo lawyers submitting to courts
• Accountants producing annual reports for archives
• Students submitting theses or dissertations
• Freelancers working with government clients
• Anyone needing to ensure a document survives 50 years

PDF/A levels - which to pick?

The ISO 19005 standard defines multiple levels. Here's what our tool supports:

PDF/A-1b (2005)

The oldest and most restrictive version. No transparency, no layers, no JPEG2000.

Fits when:

• The recipient explicitly requires PDF/A-1
• Content is simple - text + standard images
• Compatibility with legacy software required

PDF/A-2b (2011) - Recommended

Our default. Supports JPEG2000, transparency, layers, and embedded PDF files.

Fits:

• University thesis submissions
• Court filings
• Office archiving

PDF/A-2u (2011)

Same as 2b + requires Unicode for all text. Enables precise search of document content.

Fits:

• Archives needing content search
• Text-heavy documents
• Hebrew content (Unicode required for correct Hebrew)

PDF/A-3b (2012)

Supports file attachments - Excel, XML, any format.

Fits:

• E-invoicing (signed PDF + source XML)
• Financial reports (PDF + worksheet)
• Research documents (PDF + datasets)

Comparison table - all levels at a glance

Key point: a higher level is not "better" - it just supports more features. If a document doesn't use transparency, it will look identical in 1b and 2b. Differences only matter when the document actually uses features that a lower level forbids.

Specific examples in Israel - which level for whom

Universities

• Tel Aviv University - thesis submission requires PDF/A-2b per graduate studies guidelines. PDF/A-1b is accepted but not preferred
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem - PDF/A-2b or PDF/A-2u, with preference for 2u when the thesis contains heavy Hebrew text and exact search matters
• Technion - PDF/A-1b or PDF/A-2b, depending on the faculty. Engineering and computer science also accept 3b with embedded source code
• Bar-Ilan - PDF/A-2b default. For documents with custom religious Hebrew fonts, 2u is recommended for proper search

Courts

• Supreme, District, and Magistrate courts - the "Net HaMishpat" e-filing system requires standard PDF, not PDF/A specifically. But when filing documents that must be archived for 20+ years (rulings, important decisions), PDF/A-2b is recommended
• Rabbinical court - standard PDF is sufficient, but financial agreements / divorce settlements that go into long-term archive should be PDF/A-2u

Authorities

• Tax Authority - annual returns filed digitally - PDF/A-2b is enough. Electronic invoices (the "Invoice Israel" track) require PDF/A-3 with attached UBL XML
• National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) - certificates and approvals they issue are produced in PDF/A-1b automatically
• Registrar of Companies - corporate documents filed there - PDF/A-2b recommended for long-term archive
• Patent Office - patent applications in Israel and international (PCT) require PDF/A-1 or PDF/A-2 depending on the receiving authority

Israel State Archives

The State Archives have adopted ISO 19005-2 (PDF/A-2) as the ingest standard for digital documents. Public-sector bodies depositing material into the archive must comply.

What the tool actually does

1. Pre-analysis (pikepdf)
   → Scans fonts, encryption, JavaScript, multimedia

2. Preprocessing
   → Removes JavaScript, encryption, video/audio

3. Conversion (Ghostscript)
   → Font embedding, sRGB profile, CMYK → RGB

4. XMP metadata
   → pdfaid:part, pdfaid:conformance, title, author

5. Validation (veraPDF)
   → Checks 150+ ISO 19005 rules

6. Auto-fix (if validation fails)
   → Up to 3 correction iterations

7. Compliance certificate (reportlab)
   → Separate PDF with SHA-256 + validation report

What the tool will auto-fix

What the tool won't fix

• Password-protected file - remove password here then convert
• Font un-embeddable due to licensing - outlined to curves
• Severely corrupted file - you get an error message

Compliance declaration - why keep the certificate

The certificate the tool produces is a separate PDF containing:

• SHA-256 hash of the converted file (unique identifier)
• Compliance level (PDF/A-2b, etc.)
• veraPDF results (rules passed, rules failed)
• UTC timestamp
• veraPDF version (1.26.2)

If the recipient (court, university) questions compliance - you simply send the certificate with the file. They can run the hash and verify it's the same file that passed validation.

FAQ

Does opening the file in Word preserve compliance? No. Opening a PDF/A in Word, editing, and re-saving breaks compliance. Don't edit the file after conversion - if edits are needed, edit the original and re-convert.

Does the file open in every PDF viewer? Yes. PDF/A is fully PDF. Opens in any PDF reader, browser, or operating system viewer - everywhere PDF works, PDF/A works too.

Do I need a license for commercial use? No. veraPDF is open-source (MPL/GPL). Ghostscript is open-source (AGPL/commercial depending on use). Our tool is free to use.

Common pitfalls when converting

A few things people miss when converting to PDF/A for the first time:

1. The output looks slightly different from the input - this is usually correct behavior. PDF/A converts CMYK colors to sRGB and outlines fonts that can't be embedded. The visible result is close but not pixel-identical
2. The file grows substantially - embedding fonts and color profiles can double file size for short documents. This is required, not optional
3. Signed PDFs lose signatures - if your input has a digital signature, the signature breaks during conversion. Convert first, then sign the PDF/A output
4. Hyperlinks may behave differently - PDF/A-1 forbids embedded external links; PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3 allow them. If a recipient is strict about PDF/A-1, links to external URLs must be plain text

PDF/A and Hebrew - what to verify

Hebrew creates particular challenges in PDF/A conversion. Before submitting, verify the following:

Hebrew text rendered as image - if the source document was created by scanning or screenshotting, the text is an image rather than characters. PDF/A will accept it, but search will not work and the document will not be accessible to screen readers. The fix: run OCR on the file before converting to PDF/A.

Non-standard Hebrew fonts - religious typesetting fonts (Frank Ruehl, Narkisim variants, etc.), decorative fonts, or one-off fonts designed for a specific document - sometimes have embedding issues. Our tool will attempt to embed them, and if it cannot it will outline them to curves. The result looks identical but the text is no longer searchable. Confirm in advance that the fonts you use allow embedding.

Nikud and cantillation marks - PDF/A-2u preserves nikud in Unicode correctly. PDF/A-1b and 2b can occasionally lose the link between a letter and its vowel marks in complex documents. For vowelized texts, use 2u or add nikud after conversion on the original.

RTL direction in mixed content - when the document contains both Hebrew and English/numbers, the bidi (bi-directional) ordering must be preserved. All levels support this, but verify after conversion that phone numbers, dates, and email addresses still display in the correct direction.

When PDF/A is overkill

PDF/A isn't always the right answer:

• Internal sharing - if you're just emailing a colleague, regular PDF is lighter and faster
• Documents you intend to keep editing - PDF/A is meant to be a "final" format; updating it requires re-converting the source each time
• Marketing collateral - regular PDFs render faster in browsers and keep file sizes lean for web download

Default to regular PDF for day-to-day work. Switch to PDF/A only when archiving, submitting to a regulator, or when the recipient specifically requires it.

Common mistakes when submitting PDF/A

Before sending the file to its final destination - court, university, or government authority - check for these mistakes. They are responsible for most documents that get returned for correction:

Mistake 1: calling the file "PDF/A" without validating

A file can self-declare in its metadata that it is PDF/A, but without genuine validation against the standard. Professional bodies (such as the State Archives) validate files in a tool like veraPDF before ingest. If the file fails, it will be returned. Always keep the compliance certificate the tool produces.

Mistake 2: editing after conversion

A PDF/A file opened in Word, edited and re-saved - breaks compliance. If editing is needed, go back to the source, fix it, and re-convert. The correct workflow is: edit > final review > convert to PDF/A > submit.

Mistake 3: picking a level "to be safe"

PDF/A-3b is not "better" than PDF/A-2b. If the document contains no attachments, level 3 only enlarges the file and hurts compatibility with older PDF readers. The correct choice is the lowest level that still supports every feature the document actually uses.

Mistake 4: skipping a final read-through on a long file

In a 200+ page file, validation tells you the file is technically conformant - but it does not guarantee that every page looks as expected. Before submitting a thesis or a lengthy legal opinion, open the final file and scroll through it once end to end.

Related links

• Convert to PDF/A tool
• PDF/A vs regular PDF - differences
• Remove PDF password (before conversion)
• Compress PDF (to shrink after conversion)
• PDF or Word - When to Use Each?
• Israeli Government PDF Forms: Filling Guide
• Which PDF Compression Hurts Quality and Which Doesn't
• What Your PDF Reveals to Recipients - and How to Clean It Before Sending