Convert PDF files to PDF/A and validate PDF/A conformance

This .NET console application converts one or more PDF files to PDF/A and validates the resulting documents for PDF/A conformance.

This project uses:

• Docotic.Pdf library for PDF-to-PDF/A conversion
• veraPDF for PDF/A validation

How to use

Prerequisites

1. Install .NET 10 to run this application.
2. Install the JDK required to run veraPDF.
3. Install veraPDF if you are using Linux or macOS. For Windows, a version of veraPDF is already included in the veraPDF directory of this repository.
4. Get a Docotic.Pdf license key at https://bitmiracle.com/pdf-library/download

UI mode

When you run the application without command-line arguments, it starts in UI mode. You will be prompted to enter the following options:

• The target PDF/A conformance level. Supported conformance levels are PDF/A-1a, PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2a, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-2u, PDF/A-3a, PDF/A-3b, PDF/A-3u, PDF/A-4, PDF/A-4e, and PDF/A-4f.
• An input PDF file or a directory containing PDF files. This repository includes test files from Isartor Test Suite and veraPDF Corpus in TestFiles.
• Docotic.Pdf license key.
• The path to the veraPDF CLI, if the application cannot locate it automatically.

You can also specify any of these options in advance using command-line arguments. The application stores the last used Docotic.Pdf license key, so you don't need to enter it every time.

The application creates a temporary output directory and stores the converted PDF/A files there. It then validates the converted files with veraPDF and prints the results. After validation, you can review the veraPDF report and choose whether to delete the output directory.

Sample output:

Target conformance level: PDF/A-1b

Input PDF(s): C:\Work\PdfToPdfa\TestFiles\veraPDF Corpus\PDF_A-1b

veraPDF located at: C:\Work\PdfToPdfa\veraPDF\verapdf.bat

Converted 306 PDF files to PDF/A-1b
  Succeeded: 306 files
  Failed: 0 files
  Output directory: C:\Users\shibaev\AppData\Local\Temp\omghu2uo.dxi
  Elapsed: 3.9624913 sec.

Validated 306 PDF/A-1b files
  Compliant: 306 files
  Non-compliant: 0 files
  Report: C:\Users\shibaev\AppData\Local\Temp\omghu2uo.dxi\verapdf-report.xml
  Elapsed: 3.224273 sec.

Script mode

The application can also run in script mode without user interaction. In script mode, you must provide all command-line arguments:

-i, --input            Path to the input PDF file or directory
-c, --conformance      The target PDF/A conformance level. Possible values: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2u, 3a, 3b, 3u, 4, 4e, 4f
-k, --key              Docotic.Pdf license key
-v, --verapdf          The path to the veraPDF CLI
-d, --delete-output    Delete the output directory after processing

You can also use -h or --help to display the same information in the console.