Validate PDF/A Guide

How to integrate the PDF/A Validator into your application using iLovePDF’s REST API.

Remember that in order to use our Tool Guides, you need to have previous knowledge about the basics to processing a PDF with our REST API. We strongly recommend that you read the Processing a PDF guide before starting this one.

What is PDF/A

PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of the PDF specialized for use in the archiving and long-term preservation of electronic documents.


PDF/A differs from PDF by prohibiting features ill-suited to long-term archiving, such as font linking (as opposed to font embedding) and encryption. The ISO requirements for PDF/A file viewers include color management guidelines, support for embedded fonts, and a user interface for reading embedded annotations.

Basic PDF/A validation

iLoveAPI allows you to validate a PDF by checking if it is PDF/A compliant. Instead of the file being returned as a different downloadable file, it receives a PDF/A validation result. See the following example:

Basic PDF/A validation