What documents should be archived as PDF/A?

Anything with a long obligation or value horizon — legal records, contracts, certificates, filings, research data, institutional records.

Will the archived file look different?

No — the appearance is preserved; the internals become self-contained.

Should I OCR before archiving scans?

Yes — a searchable archive is dramatically more useful, and the OCR here is free for everyone.

Do archives and e-filing systems accept the output?

PDF/A is exactly what such systems require — that is usually why people convert.

Archive PDF (PDF/A)

Documents that must survive — records, contracts, filings, research — belong in PDF/A: the archival format built so that what you see today is what anyone sees in 2050. Convert free, with fair daily limits.

Free Encrypted Deleted in 1 hour

1Upload
2Configure
3Download

Drag & drop your file here

or click to browse · Up to 15 MB

Select file

Accepted: PDF

256-bit SSL encrypted No sign-up to start Auto-deleted in 1 hour

Your files are processed temporarily and deleted automatically — there is no general cloud storage. File deletion.

How to pdf to pdf/a

Simple steps — no software to install.

1
Upload the document
OCR scans first if you want searchability.
2
Convert to PDF/A
Fonts embedded, dependencies resolved.
3
Store the archival copy
Readable identically, indefinitely.

Why use our PDF to PDF/A

Secure & private

Files are encrypted in transit and deleted automatically after processing.

Fast results

Optimized processing returns your file in seconds.

Free to start

Core tools are free with daily limits — no install required.

Works anywhere

Runs in your browser on any device, anywhere in the world.

Why ordinary PDFs age badly

A normal PDF may depend on fonts installed on the creating machine and features future software may drop. Decades later it can render wrong or not at all. PDF/A forbids external dependencies — the file carries everything it needs, forever.

Building a proper archive

For scanned records, run free OCR first (searchable archives beat image archives), then convert to PDF/A. The text layer rides along, and the archive becomes both permanent and findable. Files are processed temporarily and deleted automatically — there is no general cloud storage.

ISO archival standard
Self-contained forever-file
Searchable when OCR'd first
Free with fair daily limits
Visuals unchanged