CAD tip # 6224:

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Saving a drawing to the archivation format PDF/A-1b.

If you need to save your AutoCAD, Inventor, or Revit drawing to the ISO format for long-term archiving - PDF/A-1b, you can use the following steps.

The Adobe Acrobat software installation (e.g. version 8) installs also the Acrobat Distiller application and the "Acrobat Distiller" (or "Adobe PDF") virtual printer. You can use this printer driver to print from any Windows application.

First run Distiller and switch to the preset mode "PDF/A-1b 2005 (RGB)" (or similar, or set the "PDF/A" compatibility for your own mode).

Adobe Distiller (Czech version shown)

Inside AutoCAD you can setup this mode through "Custom properties" by the "Adobe PDF" printer.

Then in your application (e.g. AutoCAD) perform a standard print to the "printer" Acrobat Distiller (or Adobe PDF). After the print finishes, Distiller automatically converts the print file to the resulting archive file in the PDF/A format.

Alternatively, you can also use the PDFCreator and select (Printer > Settings) the format "PDF/A-1b".

The option "PDF/A-1a" (i.e. incl. the document structure) is not available in these workflows.

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21.7.2008 12591×

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applies to: AutoCAD · Inventor · Revit · DWF/Design Review ·

See also:
Tip 14075:	Overview of CAD formats supported in Inventor 2025 (import/export/AnyCAD).
Tip 13773:	What is the maximum paper size when plotting from AutoCAD?
Tip 12184:	Overview of CAD formats supported in Inventor 2020 (import/export/AnyCAD).
Tip 12162:	How to display previews of non-CAD files in Vault (doc,xls,jpg,bmp,pdf)?
Tip 11953:	How to save PDF/A-1a archive from CAD software AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit?

Selected tip: How to export a XML file from AutoCAD?

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