PDF Compliance

Foxit PDF SDK provides verification and conversion so PDFs can meet a specified version or archival / print / engineering-exchange standard. Full sample projects are in the product package under examples/simple_demo/compliance and in the Compliance sample configuration and run guide. For class and method details, see API Reference.

What you can do

Goal	Supported scope	Entry point
PDF version standardization	PDF 1.3–1.7. When converting to 1.3, if the source document contains transparency, the result is PDF 1.4	`PDFCompliance`
Long-term archival PDF/A	PDF/A-1a/1b, 2a/2b/2u, 3a/3b/3u; from 12.0, also PDF/A-4e and 4f	`PDFACompliance`
Engineering exchange PDF/E	PDF/E-1	`PDFECompliance`
Print exchange PDF/X	PDF/X-1a, 3, 4, 4p	`PDFXCompliance`
Analyze / fix by profile and produce a report	Preflight profile keys (for example, convert to PDF/A-2b)	`Preflight`

PDF/A disables features that are unsuitable for long-term archiving (such as font linking only, encryption, JavaScript, and audio/video). Both verification and conversion return ResultInformation, which you can query for matched items and fix-up data. Each hit (HitData) includes dict_key (the dictionary key of the hit rule).

Initialization

Before use, prepare the path to the Compliance resource package. Trial license keys generally do not need an extra unlock code; production licenses require an unlock code from sales, which you pass to ComplianceEngine::Initialize.

cpp

using namespace foxit::addon::compliance;

Library::Initialize(sn, key);
ErrorCode err = ComplianceEngine::Initialize(compliance_resource_folder_path, compliance_engine_unlockcode);
// For trial, you may pass an empty string as the unlocking code.

// … call verification / conversion / Preflight …

ComplianceEngine::Release();
Library::Release();

Multithreading: from v10.0, call ComplianceEngine::InitializeThreadContext before using compliance APIs. Mac Java does not currently support multithreading. For more information, see the multithreading safety guide.

Verify whether a document meets a standard

The following example uses PDF/A-1a; for PDF/X or PDF/E, swap in the corresponding class and version enum.

c++

#include "include/addon/compliance/fs_pdfa.h"
using namespace foxit::addon::compliance;
…
PDFACompliance pdfa_compliance;
ResultInformation verify_result = pdfa_compliance.Verify(
    PDFACompliance::e_VersionPDFA1a, src_pdf_path, 0, -1, NULL);

#include "include/fs_pdfa_c.h"
…
FS_PDFACOMPLIANCE_HANDLE pdfa = NULL;
FSDK_PDFACompliance_Create(&pdfa);
FS_RESULTINFORMATION_HANDLE verify_result = NULL;
FSDK_PDFACompliance_Verify(pdfa, e_FSVersionPDFA1a, src_pdf_path, 0, -1, NULL, &verify_result);

java

import com.foxit.sdk.addon.compliance.PDFACompliance;
…
PDFACompliance pdfa = new PDFACompliance();
ResultInformation verifyResult = pdfa.verify(
    PDFACompliance.e_VersionPDFA1a, srcPdfPath, 0, -1, null);

from FoxitPDFSDKPython3 import *
…
pdfa = PDFACompliance()
verify_result = pdfa.Verify(PDFACompliance.e_VersionPDFA1a, src_pdf_path, 0, -1, None)

const FSDK = require("@foxitsoftware/foxit-pdf-sdk-node");
…
let pdfa = new FSDK.PDFACompliance();
let verify_result = pdfa.Verify(FSDK.PDFACompliance.e_VersionPDFA1a, src_pdf_path, 0, -1, null);

csharp

using foxit.addon.compliance;
…
using (PDFACompliance pdfa = new PDFACompliance())
{
    ResultInformation verify_result = pdfa.Verify(
        PDFACompliance.Version.e_VersionPDFA1a, src_pdf_path, 0, -1, null);
}

import . "foxit.com/fsdk"
…
pdfa := NewPDFACompliance()
verifyResult := pdfa.Verify(PDFAComplianceE_VersionPDFA1a, srcPdfPath, 0, -1, nil)

Convert to a standards-compliant PDF

Again using PDF/A-1a as the example.

c++

ResultInformation convert_result = pdfa_compliance.ConvertPDFFile(
    src_pdf_path, saved_pdf_path, PDFACompliance::e_VersionPDFA1a, NULL);

FS_RESULTINFORMATION_HANDLE convert_result = NULL;
FSDK_PDFACompliance_ConvertPDFFile(pdfa, src_pdf_path, saved_pdf_path,
    e_FSVersionPDFA1a, NULL, &convert_result);

java

ResultInformation convertResult = pdfa.convertPDFFile(
    srcPdfPath, savedPdfPath, PDFACompliance.e_VersionPDFA1a, null);

convert_result = pdfa.ConvertPDFFile(src_pdf_path, saved_pdf_path, PDFACompliance.e_VersionPDFA1a, None)

let convert_result = pdfa.ConvertPDFFile(src_pdf_path, saved_pdf_path, FSDK.PDFACompliance.e_VersionPDFA1a, null);

csharp

ResultInformation convert_result = pdfa.ConvertPDFFile(
    src_pdf_path, saved_pdf_path, PDFACompliance.Version.e_VersionPDFA1a, null);

convertResult := pdfa.ConvertPDFFile(srcPdfPath, savedPdfPath, PDFAComplianceE_VersionPDFA1a, nil)

PDF/A-4e / PDF/A-4f

From version 12.0, PDF/A-4e and PDF/A-4f are also supported. Upgrade the matching Compliance resource package for this release as well.

Verification: PDFACompliance::e_VersionPDFA4e, e_VersionPDFA4f
Conversion: e_VersionPDFA4eWithoutFBC, e_VersionPDFA4fWithoutFBC (use the WithoutFBC variants on the conversion side)

cpp

ResultInformation convert_result = pdfa_compliance.ConvertPDFFile(
    src_pdf_path, saved_pdf_path, PDFACompliance::e_VersionPDFA4eWithoutFBC, NULL);
ResultInformation verify_result = pdfa_compliance.Verify(
    PDFACompliance::e_VersionPDFA4e, saved_pdf_path, 0, -1, NULL);

Preflight: analyze, fix, and report

Preflight analyzes by configuration key (preflight_key; enumerate with GetItemKeysArray), optionally auto-fixes, and generates a report.

From version 12.0, Analyze / AnalyzeAndFixup return ResultInformation. For the return-type change when upgrading from an earlier version, see Release notes · Preflight.

Group-item localization callback

Implement PreflightGroupLocalCallback only when group item names or comments need localized text, and pass it to Preflight::SetPreflightGroupLocalCallback. No change is required if you do not use this. Implement:

cpp

virtual void Release() = 0;
virtual WString GetGroupItemLocalName(const WString& key) = 0;
virtual WString GetGroupItemLocalComment(const WString& key) = 0;

The following example converts to PDF/A-2b (pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b).

c++

#include "include/addon/compliance/fs_pdfcompliance.h"
using namespace foxit::addon::compliance;
…
Preflight preflight;
PreflightSettingData setting_data;
setting_data.operate_type = PreflightSettingData::e_OperateTypeProfiles;
setting_data.preflight_key = L"pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b";
setting_data.src_pdf_path = L"input.pdf";
setting_data.saved_pdf_path = L"output_compliant.pdf";

ResultInformation result;
if (preflight.CanFixup("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b"))
  result = preflight.AnalyzeAndFixup(setting_data, NULL);
else
  result = preflight.Analyze(setting_data, NULL);

PreflightReportSettingData report_data;
report_data.report_file_format_type = PreflightReportSettingData::e_ReportFileFormatTypePdf;
report_data.report_file_path = L"compliance_report.pdf";
report_data.to_generate_overview = true;
report_data.to_highlight_problems = true;
preflight.GenerateReport(report_data, NULL);

#include "include/fs_pdfcompliance_c.h"
…
FS_PREFLIGHT_HANDLE preflight = NULL;
FSDK_Preflight_Create(&preflight);
FSPreflightSettingData setting_data = {0};
setting_data.operate_type = e_FSPreflightOperateTypeProfiles;
setting_data.preflight_key = L"pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b";
setting_data.src_pdf_path = L"input.pdf";
setting_data.saved_pdf_path = L"output_compliant.pdf";
FS_BOOL can_fixup = FALSE;
FSDK_Preflight_CanFixup(preflight, L"pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b", &can_fixup);
FS_RESULTINFORMATION_HANDLE result = NULL;
if (can_fixup)
  FSDK_Preflight_AnalyzeAndFixup(preflight, &setting_data, NULL, &result);
else
  FSDK_Preflight_Analyze(preflight, &setting_data, NULL, &result);

java

import com.foxit.sdk.addon.compliance.Preflight;
import com.foxit.sdk.addon.compliance.PreflightSettingData;
…
Preflight preflight = new Preflight();
PreflightSettingData settingData = new PreflightSettingData();
settingData.setOperate_type(PreflightSettingData.e_OperateTypeProfiles);
settingData.setPreflight_key("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b");
settingData.setSrc_pdf_path("input.pdf");
settingData.setSaved_pdf_path("output_compliant.pdf");
ResultInformation result;
if (preflight.canFixup("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b"))
  result = preflight.analyzeAndFixup(settingData, null);
else
  result = preflight.analyze(settingData, null);

preflight = Preflight()
setting_data = PreflightSettingData()
setting_data.operate_type = PreflightSettingData.e_OperateTypeProfiles
setting_data.preflight_key = "pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b"
setting_data.src_pdf_path = "input.pdf"
setting_data.saved_pdf_path = "output_compliant.pdf"
if preflight.CanFixup("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b"):
    result = preflight.AnalyzeAndFixup(setting_data, None)
else:
    result = preflight.Analyze(setting_data, None)

let preflight = new FSDK.Preflight();
let settingData = new FSDK.PreflightSettingData();
settingData.operate_type = FSDK.PreflightSettingData.e_OperateTypeProfiles;
settingData.preflight_key = "pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b";
settingData.src_pdf_path = "input.pdf";
settingData.saved_pdf_path = "output_compliant.pdf";
let result;
if (preflight.CanFixup("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b"))
  result = preflight.AnalyzeAndFixup(settingData, null);
else
  result = preflight.Analyze(settingData, null);

csharp

using (Preflight preflight = new Preflight())
{
    PreflightSettingData settingData = new PreflightSettingData();
    settingData.operate_type = PreflightSettingData.OperateType.e_OperateTypeProfiles;
    settingData.preflight_key = "pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b";
    settingData.src_pdf_path = "input.pdf";
    settingData.saved_pdf_path = "output_compliant.pdf";
    ResultInformation result = preflight.CanFixup("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b")
        ? preflight.AnalyzeAndFixup(settingData, null)
        : preflight.Analyze(settingData, null);
}

preflight := NewPreflight()
settingData := NewPreflightSettingData()
settingData.SetOperate_type(PreflightSettingDataE_OperateTypeProfiles)
settingData.SetPreflight_key("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b")
settingData.SetSrc_pdf_path("input.pdf")
settingData.SetSaved_pdf_path("output_compliant.pdf")
var result ResultInformation
if preflight.CanFixup("pppp_ConverttoPDFA2b") {
    result = preflight.AnalyzeAndFixup(settingData, nil)
} else {
    result = preflight.Analyze(settingData, nil)
}

Document Basics

Page Management

Content and Search

Annotations

Bookmarks

Forms

Signatures

Security and Protection

Layers

Attachments

Document Processing

Scripting and Actions

Format Conversion

Recognition

Standards and Compliance

Specialized Features

Low-Level Operations

PDF Compliance

What you can do

Initialization

Verify whether a document meets a standard

Convert to a standards-compliant PDF

PDF/A-4e / PDF/A-4f

Preflight: analyze, fix, and report

Group-item localization callback

PDF Compliance ​

What you can do ​

Initialization ​

Verify whether a document meets a standard ​

Convert to a standards-compliant PDF ​

PDF/A-4e / PDF/A-4f ​

Preflight: analyze, fix, and report ​

Group-item localization callback ​

PDF Compliance

What you can do

Initialization

Verify whether a document meets a standard

Convert to a standards-compliant PDF

PDF/A-4e / PDF/A-4f

Preflight: analyze, fix, and report

Group-item localization callback