OVERVIEW
Target audience: primarily for graduate students submitting a thesis
PDF/A is a standard for archiving documents, and is the format required for final myThesis and other official document mangement platforms at McGill.
If your thesis document was created in Microsoft Word, you can use the Save As function to save it in PDF/A format. If your document was created using LaTex or Word for Mac, you will need to first save it in .PS file (postscript) or .PDF format and then use Adobe Acrobat Pro to convert to PDF/A format.
In this article:
Do not use the "Print to PDF" or "Save As" options in Word
Never to use the "Print to PDF" printer option to generate PDF/A files. This method strips away all PDF/A metadata and results in a file that fails eScholarship’s platform requirements.
The "Save As" option in Word does not enforce PDF/A format, you must check supplemental options for the file to be PDF/A.
Steps to save your Word document as a PDF/A-compliant file
IMPORTANT: Saving a Word document as PDF/A compliant file
The message "This file claims to be PDF/A compliant" displayed in Adobe Acrobat is simply a label, and doesn't necessarily mean that it is.
Follow the following instructions to ensure the file is PDF/A compliant.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS, YOUR DOCUMENT WILL BE REJECTED!
- Open your document in Microsoft Word (for Windows)
- Click File > Save As / Save a copy and choose PDF (*.pdf) from the list of file types.
- By default the File name is the same as that of the original Word document, but with the .pdf extension. You may enter a different file name if you wish.
- Click Options...
- In the Options dialog, under PDF options, check the boxes labeled PDF/A compliant, Optimize for image quality and Bitmap text when fonts may not be embedded.
- Click OK on the Options dialog box.
- Click Save to create the PDF/A-compliant file.
If you open the newly created .PDF file in Adobe Acrobat or the free Adobe Reader you should see a message indicating that the file complies with the PDF/A standard.
Steps to convert a document from .PS or .PDF to PDF/A using Adobe Acrobat Pro
NOTE: Before you start
To follow this procedure you will need to have access to a computer that has Adobe Acrobat Pro (or Acrobat Pro DC) installed. Some public computers available at McGill have this application; check with the Libraries or your department to find out their location.
Within the word processing application you used to create your initial document, save the document as a .PS (postscript), or as a .PDF. Acrobat Pro can convert .PS or .PDF files to PDF/A.
- Open your .PDF or .PS file in Adobe Acrobat Pro
- Click File > Save As... and select the location for your file. (If PDF/A is not an option, please read the next section)
- From the Save as PDF window, click the Save as type: menu and select PDF/A (*.pdf).
- During the conversion process you may see error messages if there are problems converting it to PDF/A format.
If you now open the newly created PDF file in Acrobat or Adobe Reader, you will see a message at the top of the screen that says the file is PDF/A-compliant.
By default the file opens in read-only mode. Do no Enable Editing, this will cause the file to become non-PDF/A compliant again.
Install the "save as PDF/A" file type option in Adobe Acrobat PRO. (McGill computers at the Libraries or your department already have the function installed.)
- Open your .PDF or .PS file in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
- Click File > Save As Other... and select the location for your file.
- You will receive a message that additional software must be installed. Click OK and wait about 5 minutes for the software to install.
- The Option to Save as PDF/A (*.pdf) will now be available from the Save As submenu. You can also save directly from the Save as Other menu.
Validate whether your file is PDF/A compliant
*The message Adobe shows ("This file claims to be PDF/A compliant") is simply a label, and doesn't necessarily mean that it is. The Preflight tool is the proper tool to ensure it is.
If there are non-embedded fonts, transparent images, or external hyperlinks, the file will fail the Preflight inspection even if the "claim" banner is visible.
How to force true compliance:
Method 1: Save As options in Word: Follow the instructions above
Method 2: The "Analyze and Fix" (Acrobat Pro)
This is for files that originally came to you in PDF format.
If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro, you should not just check the file; let Acrobat repair it:
- Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro
- Open the Preflight tool (More information on the Adobe website)
- Go to the Tools center and select Use Print Production.
- Click Preflight in the right-hand pane.
- Select the Convert to PDF/A profile (usually PDF/A-2b is the safest standard).
- Click Analyze and Fix.
- Acrobat will then force-embed fonts and flatten any transparency that is causing the failure.
