PDF/A Conversion - Showcase Demo

Requirements

These packages are required to use these features in production. Trial keys have unlimited access to all features

Web SDKPackage: ArchiveLive demo

Easily generate PDF/A compliant documents from PDFs in your browser or application.

This code sample follows the Apryse Showcase: PDF/A Conversion Demo, and allows you to:

• Add annotations

• Edit the layout and content

• Convert PDF to various PDF/A formats (such as 1,2,3, or 4)

• Download the converted PDF/A

Implementation steps

To convert to PDF/A with WebViewer:

Step 1: Follow get started in your preferred web stack for WebViewer Step 2: Add the ES6 JavaScript sample code provided in this guide

Once you generate your license key, it will automatically be included in your sample code below.

// ES6 Compliant Syntax
// GitHub Copilot v1.0 - Model: Claude-3.5 Sonnet - July 9, 2025
// File: examples/pdfa-conversion/index.js
import WebViewer from '@pdftron/webviewer';

const licenseKey = 'YOUR_WEBVIEWER_LICENSE_KEY';

const element = document.getElementById('viewer');
let instCore = null;
const onLoad = async (instance) => {
  instCore = instance.Core;
};

WebViewer(
  {
    path: '/lib',
    licenseKey: licenseKey, 
    initialDoc: 'https://apryse.s3.amazonaws.com/public/files/samples/WebviewerDemoDoc.pdf',
    fullAPI: true,
  },
  element
).then((instance) => {
  onLoad(instance);
});

let pdfaBlob = null;

const buttonConvert = document.createElement('button');
buttonConvert.textContent = 'PDF/A convert';
buttonConvert.onclick = async () => {
  const doc = instCore.documentViewer.getDocument();
  const xfdfString = await instCore.annotationManager.exportAnnotations();
  const data = await doc.getFileData({
    xfdfString,
  });

  const conformanceLevel = instCore.PDFNet.PDFACompliance.Conformance[`${levelSelect.value}`];
  const PDFNetFile = await instCore.PDFNet.PDFACompliance.createFromBuffer(
    true,
    data,
    '',
    conformanceLevel
  );
  const buf = await PDFNetFile.saveAsFromBuffer(false);
  pdfaBlob = new Blob([buf], { type: 'application/pdf' });

  console.log("PDF/A conversion successful.");
};

// UI section
//
// Helper code to add controls to the viewer holding the buttons and dropdown
// This code creates a container for the buttons and dropdown, styles them, and adds them to the viewer
// 


const buttonDownload = document.createElement('button');
buttonDownload.textContent = 'Download PDF/A';
buttonDownload.onclick = () => {
  if (pdfaBlob) {
    const url = URL.createObjectURL(pdfaBlob);
    const link = document.createElement('a');
    link.href = url;
    link.download = 'converted.pdf';
    link.click();
  } else {
    alert('PDF/A not available to download.\nPlease convert the document to PDF/A first.');
  }
};

// Create a dropdown for PDF/A levels
// This dropdown allows users to select the PDF/A compliance level they want to convert to.
// The options correspond to the different PDF/A levels supported by PDFNet.

const levelSelect = document.createElement('select');
const levels = [
  { value: 'e_Level1A', label: 'PDF/A-1a' },
  { value: 'e_Level1B', label: 'PDF/A-1b' },
  { value: 'e_Level2A', label: 'PDF/A-2a' },
  { value: 'e_Level2B', label: 'PDF/A-2b' },
  { value: 'e_Level2U', label: 'PDF/A-2u' },
  { value: 'e_Level3A', label: 'PDF/A-3a' },
  { value: 'e_Level3B', label: 'PDF/A-3b' },
  { value: 'e_Level3U', label: 'PDF/A-3u' },
  { value: 'e_Level4', label: 'PDF/A-4' },
  { value: 'e_Level4E', label: 'PDF/A-4e' },
  { value: 'e_Level4F', label: 'PDF/A-4f' },
];

// Populate the dropdown with options
levels.forEach(level => {
  const option = document.createElement('option');
  option.value = level.value;
  option.textContent = level.label;
  levelSelect.appendChild(option);
});

// set default value for the dropdown
levelSelect.value = levels[3].value; // Default to PDF/A-2b
levelSelect.oninput = () => {
  console.log(`Selected PDF/A level: ${levelSelect.value}`);
  pdfaBlob = null; // Reset the blob when the level changes
};

const levelLabel = document.createElement('label');
levelLabel.textContent = 'Select PDF/A level: ';

// Create a container for all controls (label, dropdown, and buttons)
const controlsContainer = document.createElement('div');

levelLabel.className = 'level-label';
buttonDownload.className = 'btn-download';
buttonConvert.className = 'btn-convert';
levelSelect.className = 'level-select';
controlsContainer.className = 'button-container';

controlsContainer.appendChild(levelLabel);
controlsContainer.appendChild(levelSelect);
controlsContainer.appendChild(buttonConvert);
controlsContainer.appendChild(buttonDownload);
element.insertBefore(controlsContainer, element.firstChild);