PDF/A (ISO 19005, Archival)
Open BetaPDF/A (ISO 19005) is an archival format for long-term storage. The export is PDF/A-2b: fonts are embedded by the PDF engine, JavaScript, forms, attachments, and encryption are stripped, and the colour space is declared by an sRGB output intent (the profile is named, as level 2b permits). The standard for government archives, libraries, legal documents, and regulatory filings.
Key Features
About PDF/A Format
PDF/A (ISO 19005) is the PDF profile for long-term storage. Its rules come down to a single requirement: the file must open and look the same decades later, without internet and without external resources. That is why fonts have to be inside the document, colour is described through an output profile, and scripts, forms, encryption, external links and multimedia are forbidden.
Such a profile is required where a document lives long and does not belong to one person: state and municipal archives, libraries and repositories, legal materials, regulatory submissions. A map of a territory on a specific date is a typical archival document: what matters is that many years later it can be opened in the same form.
The export works like this: the map is rendered into PDF by the QGIS print layout, after which PDF/A-2b markers are added to the file — XMP metadata stating the conformance level, a description of the sRGB output profile, no scripts and no encryption. Level "b" is responsible for visual reproducibility: the document is guaranteed to display identically, but it is not tagged for reading by screen readers. The final conformance is worth confirming with a validator — that is a one-minute job with the free veraPDF.
What Program Opens PDF/A Files
The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with PDF/A (ISO 19005, Archival) (.pdf) files exported from OSM2CDR:
Format specifications
- Open standard
- 2D only
- Lossless (no quality loss)
- No attributes
- Output: 1 file
- PDF/A-2b (ISO 19005-2). Long-term archival PDF: no JavaScript, forms or embedded files, fonts embedded by the PDF engine; the sRGB OutputIntent names the profile instead of embedding it.
Who Uses PDF/A Maps
How to Export PDF/A
How to Open After Export
- veraPDF (free, open source) — drag the file into the window and get a PDF/A conformance report: it is the official validator, and it is the one archival regulations refer to.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro — the "Standards" tab shows the declared profile, and the Preflight tool runs the check and, if needed, brings the file up to the required level.
- An electronic document management or archival storage system — upload the file as it is: it is self-contained and needs no external resources.
- If the map has to be filed together with other sheets — merge the documents with a tool that can preserve the PDF/A profile, and be sure to re-check the result in veraPDF: an ordinary merge can lose the profile.
Popular maps in PDF/A
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