Datalogics Announces New PDF Checker with User Requested Checks and PDF/A Validation

Excerpt: Datalogics, Inc. just released version 2.1 of our free PDF Checker tool with support for additional checks and the inclusion of the industry-standard VeraPDF tool for PDF/A validation.


About the author: Kevin is a Technology Executive with a track record of growth and innovation in software and consulting services. He has served as CEO of Datalogics for many years and is … Read more
Member News

April 14, 2021
by Kevin McNeill


Datalogics, Inc. just released version 2.1 of our free PDF Checker tool with support for additional checks and the inclusion of the industry-standard VeraPDF tool for PDF/A validation.

Why PDF/A?

PDF/A has become an important digital document format as governments and regulatory agencies strive to ensure that the documents they create, accept, and retain will remain usable. The addition of the VeraPDF capabilities to PDF Checker version 2.1 will allow users to check for PDF/A compliance and conformance levels while processing documents in their digital workflows.

PDF files are widely viewed and printed on a variety of devices, operating systems, and viewers. When we need to retain documents for years or even decades, we can’t assume that unembedded fonts will forever be available in future PDF viewers. These fonts need to be embedded into the document if we want it to correctly render in the future. We also can’t assume that documents will be rendered to an sRGB device. If that’s the intent, that’s fine, but then we need to embed a color profile for the output intent so that a non-sRGB device can also faithfully render it. Creating PDF/A documents ensures that these issues don’t arise in the future. While governmental adoption of PDF/A in Europe has been faster than it has in the US, Rule 29.7 of The Supreme Court of United States now requires that all documents submitted through its electronic filing system be PDF/A compliant. I think we can expect additional government agencies and industries to require PDF/A compliance in the future.

What Else is New?

PDF Checker will now detect and report on document metadata such as PDF “Version” and PDF “Producer”. This will allow PDF consumers to automate their workflows based on additional information from and about the files they receive. For example, we may know that files we receive from a particular supplier, or that are created with a specific PDF “Producer” are problematic. A custom workflow could be easily defined with PDF Checker to detect all inbound PDF files that have metadata for that specific PDF “Producer”, and flag those files for rejection, further processing, or optimization. PDF Checker now also reports on the presence of Tagging and Acroform content in PDF files, and can verify whether all text in a PDF file is mappable to Unicode. Text that cannot be mapped to Unicode may appear as expected when viewed or printed, but cannot be extracted properly.

What Else Should We Check For?

PDF Checker is a free tool that is designed to identify and report on common problematic conditions within PDF files, and can be used to automate digital workflows based on file content and compliance requirements. If there is a check that would help automate your digital document workflow, let us know so that we can add it to a future release!