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You can use the DocConverter service to convert a PDF document
to a PDF/A document. Because PDF/A is an archival format for long-term
preservation of the document’s content, all fonts are embedded and
the file is uncompressed. As a result, a PDF/A document is typically
larger than a standard PDF document. Also, a PDF/A document does
not contain audio and video content. Before you convert a PDF document
to a PDF/A document, ensure that the PDF document is not a PDF/A
document.
The PDF/A-1 specification consists of two levels of conformance,
namely A and B. The major difference between the two is regarding
the logical structure (accessibility) support, which is not required
for conformance level B. Regardless of the conformance level, PDF/A-1
dictates that all fonts are embedded within the generated PDF/A
document. At this time, only PDF/A-1b is supported in validation
(and conversion).
While PDF/A is the standard for archiving PDF documents, it is
not mandatory that PDF/A be used for archiving if a standard PDF
document meets your company’s requirements. The purpose of the PDF/A
standard is to establish a PDF file meant for long-term archiving
and document-preservation needs.
Summary of steps
To convert a PDF document to a PDF/A document, perform
the following steps:
-
Include project files.
-
Create a DocConvert client
-
Reference a PDF document to convert to a PDF/A document.
-
Set tracking information.
-
Convert the document.
-
Save the PDF/A document.
Include project files
Include the necessary files in your development
project. If you are creating a client application by using Java,
include the necessary JAR files. If you are using web services,
make sure that you include the proxy files.
The following
JAR files must be added to your project’s class path:
-
adobe-livecycle-client.jar
-
adobe-usermanager-client.jar
-
adobe-docconverter-client.jar
-
adobe-utilities.jar (required if LiveCycle is deployed
on JBoss Application Server)
-
jbossall-client.jar (required if LiveCycle is deployed
on JBoss Application Server)
For information about
the location of these JAR files, see
Including LiveCycle Java library files
.
Create a DocConvert client
Before you can programmatically perform
an DocConverter operation, you must create a DocConverter client.
If you are using the Java API, create a
DocConverterServiceClient
object.
If you are using the DocConverter web service API, create a
DocConverterServiceService
object.
Reference a PDF document to convert to a PDF/A document
Retrieve
a PDF document to convert to a PDF/A document. If you attempt to convert
a PDF document, such as an Acrobat form, to a PDF/A document, you
will cause an exception.
Set tracking information
You can set a run-time option that
determines how much information is tracked during the conversion
process. That is, you can set nine different levels that specify
how much information the DocConverter service tracks when it converts a
PDF document to a PDF/A document.
Convert the document
After you create the DocConverter service
client, reference the PDF document to convert and set the run-time
option that specifies how much information is tracked, you can convert
the PDF document to a PDF/A document.
Save the PDF/A document
You can save the PDF/A document as
a PDF file.
Convert documents to PDF/A documents using the Java API
Convert a PDF document to a PDF/A document by using the
Java API:
-
Include project files
Include client JAR files,
such as adobe-docconverter-client.jar, in your Java project’s class
path.
-
Create a DocConvert client
-
Reference a PDF document to convert to a PDF/A document
-
Create a
java.io.FileInputStream
object
that represents the PDF document to convert by using its constructor
and passing a string value that specifies the location of the PDF
file.
-
Create a
com.adobe.idp.Document
object by
using its constructor and passing the
java.io.FileInputStream
object.
-
Set tracking information
-
Create a
PDFAConversionOptionSpec
object
by using its constructor.
-
Set the information tracking level by invoking the
PDFAConversionOptionSpec
object’s
setLogLevel
method
and passing a string value that specifies the tracking level. For
example, pass the value
FINE
. For information about
the different values, see the
setLogLevel
method
in the
LiveCycle API Reference
.
-
Convert the document
Convert the PDF document to a
PDF/A document by invoking the
DocConverterServiceClient
object’s
toPDFA
method
and passing the following values:
The
toPDFA
method
returns a
PDFAConversionResult
object that contains
the PDF/A document.
-
Save the PDF/A document
-
Retrieve the PDF/A
document by invoking the
PDFAConversionResult
object’s
getPDFA
method.
This method returns a
com.adobe.idp.Document
object
that represents the PDF/A document.
-
Create a
java.io.File
object that represents
the PDF/A file. Ensure that the file name extension is .pdf.
-
Populate the file with PDF/A data by invoking the
com.adobe.idp.Document
object’s
copyToFile
method
and passing the
java.io.File
object.
Convert documents to PDF/A documents using the web service API
Convert a PDF document to a PDF/A document by
using the DocConverter API (web service):
-
Include project files
-
Create a DocConvert client
-
Using the Microsoft
.NET client assembly, create a
DocConverterServiceService
object
by invoking its default constructor.
-
Set the
DocConverterServiceService
object’s
Credentials
data member
with a
System.Net.NetworkCredential
value that specifies
the user name and password value.
-
Reference a PDF document to convert to a PDF/A document
-
Create a
BLOB
object by using its constructor.
The
BLOB
object is used to store the PDF document
that is converted to a PDF/A document.
-
Create a
System.IO.FileStream
object by
invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents
the file location of the PDF document and the mode to open the file
in.
-
Create a byte array that stores the content of the
System.IO.FileStream
object.
You can determine the size of the byte array by getting the
System.IO.FileStream
object’s
Length
property.
-
Populate the byte array with stream data by invoking the
System.IO.FileStream
object’s
Read
method
and passing the byte array, the starting position, and the stream
length to read.
-
Populate the
BLOB
object by assigning its
binaryData
property
with the contents of the byte array.
-
Set tracking information
-
Create a
PDFAConversionOptionSpec
object
by using its constructor.
-
Set the information tracking level by assigning a value that
specifies the tracking level to the
PDFAConversionOptionSpec
object’s
logLevel
data
member. For example, assign the value
FINE
to this
data member.
-
Convert the document
Convert the PDF document to a
PDF/A document by invoking the
DocConverterServiceService
object’s
toPDFA
method
and passing the following values:
The
toPDFA
method
returns a
PDFAConversionResult
object that contains
the PDF/A document.
-
Save the PDF/A document
-
Create a
BLOB
object
that stores the PDF/A document by getting the value of the
PDFAConversionResult
object’s
PDFADocument
data member.
-
Create a byte array that stores the content of the
BLOB
object
that was returned by using the
PDFAConversionResult
object.
Populate the byte array by getting the value of the
BLOB
object’s
binaryData
data member.
-
Create a
System.IO.FileStream
object by
invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents
the file location of the PDF/A document.
-
Create a
System.IO.BinaryWriter
object by
invoking its constructor and passing the
System.IO.FileStream
object.
-
Write the contents of the byte array to a PDF file by invoking
the
System.IO.BinaryWriter
object’s
Write
method
and passing the byte array.
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