📝 Archive-Ready PDFs That Last Decades

🚀 Coming Soon!

The Problem

Standard PDFs can become unreadable over time:

• ❌ Missing fonts break text rendering
• ❌ External links die
• ❌ Color profiles drift
• ❌ Embedded content dependencies fail

ISO compliance requires PDF/A for:

• Legal archives (10+ year retention)
• Medical records (HIPAA compliance)
• Financial documents (SOX compliance)
• Government records (NARA requirements)

The Solution

The VNS PDF/A Module creates ISO-compliant archival PDFs that remain readable for decades, regardless of software changes.

✨ Three Compliance Standards

PDF/A - Archival Documents

Long-term preservation for legal, medical, and governmental records.

Use Cases:

• Court filings
• Medical records
• Tax documents
• Corporate records
• Government archives

PDF/X - Print Production

Color-managed, print-ready documents for commercial printing.

Use Cases:

• Magazine layouts
• Marketing brochures
• Product catalogs
• Professional photography
• Prepress workflows

PDF/E - Engineering Documents

Technical drawings and CAD exports with precise measurements.

Use Cases:

• Architectural blueprints
• Engineering schematics
• Construction drawings
• Manufacturing specs
• Technical documentation

🎯 Output Intent Support

What is an Output Intent? An embedded ICC color profile that defines the intended output device (monitor, printer, press).

Why Does It Matter?

• ✅ Colors look the same everywhere
• ✅ Print matches screen preview
• ✅ No surprises when submitting to printers
• ✅ ISO compliance requirement

Included Profiles:

• sRGB (screen display)
• Adobe RGB 1998 (photography)
• CMYK (print production)
• Custom profile support

💼 Perfect For

Legal Industry Create court-compliant filings, contracts, and legal briefs that meet archival requirements.

Healthcare HIPAA-compliant medical records, patient charts, and diagnostic reports with long-term readability.

Financial Services SOX-compliant financial statements, audit reports, and transaction records with guaranteed preservation.

Government Agencies NARA-compliant records management, FOIA responses, and official documents.

Print Industry PDF/X-compliant prepress files for commercial printing with accurate color reproduction.

Engineering Firms PDF/E-compliant technical drawings and CAD exports with precise dimensional accuracy.

🔧 Simple Integration

// Add Output Intent for PDF/A-1b compliance
pdf.AddOutputIntent("sRGB IEC61966-2.1", _
                    "sRGB", _
                    "http://www.color.org", _
                    "IEC 61966-2-1 Default RGB Colour Space - sRGB", _
                    profileData)

// That's it! Your PDF is now PDF/A compliant.

📊 What Gets Embedded

The PDF/A Module automatically handles:

ICC Color Profiles

• ✅ Embedded in the PDF
• ✅ Referenced by all content
• ✅ Ensures color consistency
• ✅ Required for ISO compliance

Output Intent Metadata

• ✅ Color space identification
• ✅ Rendering intent
• ✅ Profile description
• ✅ Registry information

Validation Metadata

• ✅ PDF/A conformance level
• ✅ ISO standard version
• ✅ Creation date/time
• ✅ Producer identification

🏆 ISO Standards Compliance

PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1:2005)

Based on PDF 1.4. Most widely supported archival standard.

Levels:

• PDF/A-1a - Accessible (requires tagged structure)
• PDF/A-1b - Basic (visual preservation only) ⭐ Most common

PDF/A-2 (ISO 19005-2:2011)

Based on PDF 1.7. Adds JPEG 2000, transparency, and embedded files.

PDF/A-3 (ISO 19005-3:2012)

Like PDF/A-2, but allows embedding ANY file type (e.g., XML invoices).

PDF/X (ISO 15930)

Print production standard for commercial printing.

Levels:

• PDF/X-1a - CMYK only, no transparency
• PDF/X-3 - CMYK + ICC-based color
• PDF/X-4 - Transparency support

PDF/E (ISO 24517)

Engineering document standard for technical drawings.

✅ What You Get

• ✅ Full source code - VNSPDFAPremium.xojo_code
• ✅ Output Intent creation - AddOutputIntent() method
• ✅ ICC profile embedding - Automatic integration
• ✅ Sample ICC profiles - sRGB, Adobe RGB, CMYK
• ✅ All platforms - Desktop, Web, iOS, Console
• ✅ Documentation - Compliance guide and examples
• ✅ 12 months free updates - Compatible with future versions

🆚 Free vs Premium

Why upgrade? If you need ISO-compliant archival PDFs for legal, medical, or government use, or print-ready PDF/X files, this module is required. Regular PDFs may be rejected by compliance systems.

💰 Pricing (When Available)

Expected Price: €50

Bundle Offer: Buy 2, Get 1 Free! Combine PDF/A Module with any other modules (Encryption, Tables, Zlib, Forms, E-Invoice).

What Will Be Included:

• VNSPDFAPremium.xojo_code (complete source)
• Sample ICC color profiles (sRGB, Adobe RGB, CMYK)
• ISO compliance documentation and guide
• Output intent implementation
• Installation guide
• 12 months free updates from release
• Lifetime license

🔍 Technical Details

Output Intent Structure

/OutputIntents [
  <<
    /Type /OutputIntent
    /S /GTS_PDFA1  % Or GTS_PDFX, GTS_PDFE
    /OutputConditionIdentifier (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
    /RegistryName (http://www.color.org)
    /Info (IEC 61966-2-1 Default RGB Colour Space - sRGB)
    /DestOutputProfile 123 0 R  % Reference to ICC profile stream
  >>
]

ICC Profile Embedding

Profiles are compressed with FlateDecode and embedded as binary streams in the PDF.

📋 Validation

How to Verify Compliance:

1. Adobe Preflight (Acrobat Pro)

   • Open PDF in Acrobat
   • Tools → Print Production → Preflight
   • Select PDF/A or PDF/X profile
   • Click “Verify compliance”

2. veraPDF (Open Source)

   • Free ISO-compliant validator
   • Download from verapdf.org
   • Validates PDF/A-1/2/3
   • Detailed compliance reports

3. Online Validators

   • pdf-online.com
   • pdfa.org
   • pdfpilot.com

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What’s the difference between PDF/A levels (1a, 1b, 2, 3)? A: 1b = basic visual preservation. 1a = accessible with tagged structure. 2 = allows JPEG 2000 and transparency. 3 = allows embedded files.

Q: Do I need PDF/A for all documents? A: No. Only for archival purposes (legal, medical, government). Regular PDFs are fine for most use cases.

Q: Can I convert existing PDFs to PDF/A? A: Not directly with this module. You’d need to regenerate the PDF from scratch with Output Intent included.

Q: What ICC profiles are included? A: Sample sRGB profile is included. You can embed any ICC profile (Adobe RGB, CMYK, custom profiles).

Q: Does PDF/A support encryption? A: PDF/A-1 does NOT support encryption. PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3 support encryption with restrictions.

Q: Can I use custom fonts? A: Yes, but you must embed the fonts (which the base library does automatically with TrueType fonts).

🎯 Compliance Checklist

To create valid PDF/A documents:

• ✅ Embed all fonts (automatic with VNS PDF + TrueType)
• ✅ Include Output Intent (this module)
• ✅ Embed ICC color profile (this module)
• ✅ No external content references (handle manually)
• ✅ No JavaScript (avoid pdf.SetJS)
• ✅ No encryption for PDF/A-1 (use PDF/A-2+)
• ✅ Metadata in XMP format (automatic)

💡 Real-World Example

// Create PDF/A-1b compliant invoice
Dim pdf As New VNSPDFDocument()

// Load ICC profile
Dim profileFile As FolderItem = SpecialFolder.Resources.Child("sRGB2014.icc")
Dim stream As BinaryStream = BinaryStream.Open(profileFile)
Dim profileData As String = stream.Read(stream.Length)
stream.Close()

// Add Output Intent for PDF/A compliance
pdf.AddOutputIntent("sRGB IEC61966-2.1", _
                    "sRGB", _
                    "http://www.color.org", _
                    "IEC 61966-2-1 Default RGB Colour Space - sRGB", _
                    profileData)

// Add content (using embedded fonts)
pdf.AddUTF8Font("Arial", "path/to/arial.ttf")
pdf.SetFont("Arial", "", 12)
pdf.Cell(0, 10, "This is a PDF/A compliant invoice")

// Save - now archival-ready!
pdf.Save(invoiceFile)

Result: A PDF that will be readable in 50 years, regardless of software changes.

💡 Available Now

While you wait for PDF/A Module, check out our currently available modules:

• 🔐 Encryption Module - Secure PDFs with AES-256 (€50)
• 📊 Table Module - Professional table generation (€50)
• 🗜️ Zlib Module - iOS compression support (€50)

Recommended combo: Encryption + Table + Zlib = €100 (buy 2 get 1 free)

Bundle & Save: Buy 2, get 1 free! View All Modules →

Estimated release: Q2 2026. No pre-orders accepted at this time.