Question:
What is PDF/A?
Answer:
PDF/A format is an Adobe ISO-standardized (190005) PDF version specialized for the archiving of electronic documents.
For more information on Adobe PDF/A please reach out to Adobe Help Center.
Impact:
If Generate PDF/A-1b Compliant Rendition is enabled, documents that do not meet Adobe's PDF/A requirements will not render in Vault and no viewable rendition will be available.
Common issue #1:
A Vault's Rendition Settings is set to Generate PDF/A-1b Compliant Rendition and a document that does not meet Adobe's PDF/A requirements is uploaded to Vault. The document does not render and no viewable rendition is available.
Common issue #2:
A document type uses a Rendition Profile that is set to Generate PDF/A-1b Compliant Rendition and a document that does not meet Adobe's PDF/A requirements is uploaded to Vault. The document does not render and no viewable rendition is available.
Common issue #3:
An existing document that does not meet Adobe's PDF/A requirements has been re-rendered by a user with the "I want a rendition in PDF/A format." option selected. The document fails to render and no viewable rendition is available.
Vault Troubleshooting Options for all 3 scenarios:
Option 1. Re-render the document as a regular PDF.
Option 2. Review Adobe's PDF/A requirements and ensure the document meets these requirements and re-upload the document to Vault.
If documents do not need to be PDF/A, Admins may want to reconsider Rendition Settings for the Vault or Rendition Profile/Document Type.
Tips:
If users have Adobe Pro, users can use Adobe's Preflight to confirm if the document meets Adobe's PDF/A requirements. If the document does not meet Adobe's PDF/A requirements, it also lists errors of what needs to change. For more information on the Adobe Preflight PDF/A Errors and troubleshooting please see Adobe Help: Convert PDFs to PDF/X, PDF/A, or PDF/E.
Vault Related Documentation:
Vault Help Documentation: Vault Help
Adobe Related Documentation:
Adobe Documentation: Adobe Help Center
Adobe Documentation: Convert PDFs to PDF/X, PDF/A, or PDF/E