Complex projects become compact files

PDF/A-3 is a powerful tool for mapping projects and document structures and also for converting work documents into archive documents. Compared to PDF/A-1 and PDF/A-2, which are nonetheless valid, this standard part is characterized by the fact that any file formats can be embedded. Even those that are not PDF/A-compliant, i.e. long-term archivable. On the one hand, this involves risks, since the archivability of embedded files can only be partially checked. On the other hand, companies can adapt to this and use PDF/A-3 to convert digital project files into archive documents, for example, through integration in specialist applications or prescribed processes, and take advantage of this. It is the task of the implementing companies to create and enforce an internal policy that enables them to control which files and above all which formats within the PDF/A-3 document structures are stored in the archive.