Filozy

Two-step archiving workflow

Prepare a document for long-term archiving

An archive copy has to look the same in software not yet written, with no stray author name. Set its properties, then convert to PDF/A, which refuses when a font is missing.

By the Filozy team, with AI assistance Reviewed How we write and review

One file · 2 connected steps

Start the workflow here

Choose the PDF once. Each completed step passes it directly to the next tool on this device.

The whole job, visible up front

What will happen

  1. 01

    Set the properties

    Write the title and author the archive should carry, and clear what it should not.

    Open Metadata by itself
  2. 02

    Convert to PDF/A

    Check that the fonts it finds are embedded and add the archival structure. The tool refuses rather than pretending when it finds one that is not.

    Open PDF/A by itself

Common questions

What does PDF/A actually guarantee?
That the file carries what it needs to display the same way later. Filozy makes PDF/A-2b: it refuses a file when it finds a font that is not embedded, and adds a standard sRGB colour profile, a file identifier and the PDF/A metadata without rewriting the pages. The b, for basic, is about appearance. It does not promise that the text can be searched or copied correctly, or that a screen reader can follow it, which the stricter u and a levels cover, and it is not a signature, so it does not show whether the file was changed later. A browser cannot fully validate PDF/A, so if an archive will check it, run it through a validator such as veraPDF first.
Why does the PDF/A step refuse my document?
Because the document uses a font it does not carry. PDF/A requires every font to be embedded, including standard ones such as Helvetica, and labelling the file PDF/A without them would produce a copy that fails validation. Export it again from the program that made it, with fonts embedded, and start over.
Can the archive copy be searchable?
If the text is already in the file, yes: a document exported from a word processor with its fonts embedded keeps its text and converts as it is. A scan can be made searchable with OCR PDF, but that copy draws its hidden text in a font it does not embed, so the PDF/A step refuses it for now. A scan that is only pictures of pages converts as it is, but stays unsearchable.
What should the title and author say?
What someone searching the archive later would need: a title that says what the document is, and the person or organisation you want on record, or nothing. The Title, Author and Subject boxes start with what the file already says, so check them before saving. Remove all metadata clears every property, the title included, so tick it only if the archive copy should carry none.
Can I password-protect the archive copy?
Not if it has to stay PDF/A. The format does not allow encryption, and the PDF/A step cannot open a password-protected file. Protecting the copy afterwards would mean it no longer meets the standard, so control who can reach it where it is stored instead.