PDF/A Conformance Validation Using Linux

PSPDFKit Processor has been deprecated and replaced by Document Engine. To start using Document Engine, refer to the migration guide. With Document Engine, you’ll have access to robust new capabilities (read the blog for more information).

The PDF/A validation API allows you to validate the conformance of a PDF file. It returns a report with the level of conformance of the PDF/A file and the errors encountered during validation.

It’s available on the POST /validate_pdfa endpoint.

Request Format

The /validate_pdfa endpoint is a multipart/form-data request in which you can supply the PDF in two ways:

Upload a file as a part of the multipart request.
Provide the URL of a PDF file.

To access password-protected documents, include the pspdfkit-pdf-password header with the value equal to the password of the document. The two ways to supply a PDF are described in detail below.

Uploading a File

Send a multipart/form-data POST request and the PDF file that you want to validate to the /validate_pdfa endpoint. The name of the attached file should be file. The request looks like this:

Request

$ curl http://localhost:5000/validate_pdfa \
  -X 'POST' \
  -H "Authorization: Token token=secret" \
  -F [email protected]

Providing a URL of a File

Send a multipart/form-data POST request with the URL of the file that you want to validate to the /validate_pdfa endpoint. The value of the url file part should be the remote URL of the PDF file. The request looks like this:

Request

$ curl http://localhost:5000/validate_pdfa \
  -X 'POST' \
  -H "Authorization: Token token=secret" \
  -F url='https://www.remote-file-url.com/example.pdf'

Response Format

The response of the validate_pdfa request is a JSON object with details of conformance and a validation report. Here are two examples:

Successful validation

{
	"IsValid": true,
	"Conformance": "PDF/A-2b",
	"ValidationLog": {
		"ValidationReport": {
			"ValidationProfile": {
				"@Conformance": "PDF/A",
				"@Part": "2",
				"@Level": "B"
			},
			"ValidationResult": {
				"@IsCompliant": "True",
				"@Statement": "PDF file is compliant with validation profile requirements."
			},
			"Details": { "FailedChecks": { "@Count": "0" } }
		}
	}
}

Failed validation

{
	"Conformance": "None",
	"IsValid": false,
	"ValidationLog": {
		"ValidationReport": {
			"Details": {
				"FailedChecks": {
					"@Count": "1",
					"Check": [
						{
							"@ID": "MissingXMPMetadata",
							"@OccurenceCount": "1",
							"Occurence": {
								"@Context": "Document",
								"@ObjReference": "None",
								"@Statement": "Document XMP metadata is missing."
							}
						},
						{
							"@ID": "MissingMarkInfoDictionary",
							"@OccurenceCount": "1",
							"Occurence": {
								"@Context": "Document",
								"@ObjReference": "None",
								"@Statement": "MarkInfo dictionary is missing."
							}
						},
						{
							"@ID": "MissingStructTreeRootDictionary",
							"@OccurenceCount": "1",
							"Occurence": {
								"@Context": "Document",
								"@ObjReference": "None",
								"@Statement": "StructTreeRoot dictionary not found."
							}
						}
					]
				}
			},
			"ValidationProfile": {
				"@Conformance": "PDF/A",
				"@Level": "A",
				"@Part": "1"
			},
			"ValidationResult": {
				"@IsCompliant": "False",
				"@Statement": "PDF file is not compliant with validation profile requirements."
			}
		}
	}
}