Hi chaps

 

A particular question about these, following some off line discussion.

 

What is the recommended way to verify a file is PDF/A?

 

I had thought some of ours we had converted were PDF/a (done using Acrobat Pro…) until offline discussions caused me to query this, and using an online Validator, they failed.

 

Now I am not sure how much to trust that validator ( this one http://www.pdf-tools.com/pdf/validate-pdfa-online.aspx )so anyone got any thoughts on how you should validate?

 

Also, for the real tech heads, the reasons they failed are posted below.

 

These docs were made by scanning as PDFs, converting to Postscript, and then converting to PDF/A using Adobe Pro (on a work colleagues borrowed DCC laptop).

 

<OUTPUT Start>

Validating file "S50127 - Frosterley Primitive Methodist.pdf" for conformance level pdfa-1b

xmp:CreateDate :: Wrong value type. Expected type 'Date'.

xmp:ModifyDate :: Wrong value type. Expected type 'Date'.

The XMP property 'xmp:CreateDate' is not synchronized with the document information entry 'CreationDate'.

The XMP property 'xmp:ModifyDate' is not synchronized with the document information entry 'ModDate'.

The document does not conform to the requested standard.

The document's meta data is either missing or inconsistent or corrupt.

<END>

 

To me that doesn’t look like a big Issue – creation and modification dates might matter a lot for Legal Docs, but for Grey lit reports its gonna be less crucial, so I am tempted not to worry about this (so very tempted…). But will this affect the ability for them to be read later?

 

This is bugging me, as I am trying to sort out what PDF software to buy, but need to know it produces valid PDF/a’s before I spend money.

 

I think some guidance on this would be a very useful addition to IFP – if only to stop sad people like me clogging up email in boxes

 

best wishes

 

Nick Boldrini

Historic Environment Record Officer

Archaeology Section

Design and Historic Environment Team

Planning Service

Regeneration and Economic Development

Durham County Council

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UQ

Tel: 03000 267008

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www.durham.gov.uk

 




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