Q:
Does PDFNet support PDF/A (PDF/X, PDF/E, etc)?
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A:
Standards such as PDF/A (PDF/E, PDF/X, etc) define a subset of the PDF
specification designed for a specific industry (e.g. publishing,
engineering, etc). These specifications essentially list a number of
feature restrictions that are not supposed to be used in a given
subset (the specifications are also relatively short; <30 pages).
PDFNet SDK allows viewing, processing, and generation of any PDF
document (PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/X, or generic PDF), and it does not
prevent the user from creating a valid PDF document that includes
features that are not listed in one of the PDF subsets.
We made sure that our Cos/SDF (i.e. low-level) serialization of PDF
document is always PDF/A compliant. Still, to generate fully PDF/A
compliant documents, you also need to make sure that generated PDF
documents are using only high-level features that are allowed in a
given PDF subset. Some PDF preflight tools (such as PDF/A verification
tool which is available in Acrobat 8) can be helpful to determine
whether the PDF output meets PDF/A (or PDFX, PDF/E, etc) restrictions.
Keep in mind that there is much hoopla on the Net related to PDF/A and
other PDF subsets. Some of this is legitimate, but for the large part
it is driven by some PDF companies trying to differentiate and promote
their products.
Is preflight built into PDFNet?
Preflight is not built into PDFNet, however you could use PDFNet SDK
to implement a preflight tool. As mentioned above, Acrobat 8 already
comes with a built-in PDF/A verification tool.