# PDF/A Viewable Renditions

In addition to [standard PDF viewable document renditions](/en/lr/3815/), Vault supports PDF/A viewable renditions to comply with widely-adopted ISO standards. The PDF/A format is an ISO-standardized (190005) PDF version specialized for the archiving of electronic documents. This document format provides a reviewable standard and is common in regulatory submissions.

## Generating PDF/A Viewable Renditions

An Admin must enable PDF/A viewable renditions before you can create one. To generate a PDF/A-compliant viewable rendition:

  1. Upload a document.
  2. Classify the document by assigning it a document type, subtype, or classification with PDF/A renditions enabled.
  3. Vault automatically generates a PDF/A-compliant viewable rendition. Vault identifies PDF/A-compliant renditions in the **Renditions** panel of the Doc Info page.

If the PDF/A-compliant rendition fails, Vault sends you a notification. Vault also captures the failed renditions in the [document audit history, audit trail, and Rendition Status page][4].

### Manual Renditions

Vault does not create PDF/A-compliant viewable renditions when you manually upload PDF source files. To upload a standard PDF viewable rendition on a document type with PDF/A renditions enabled, click the blue plus (**+**) button in the **Renditions** panel of the Doc Info page. Vault differentiates manually uploaded renditions from Vault-generated PDF/A renditions in the **Renditions** panel.

### Rules & Limitations

The following rules apply to PDF/A viewable renditions generated by Vault:

  * PDF/A renditions follow Vault, Admin configured, and document-specific rendition settings, for example, blue links, bookmarks, and markup.
  * Where a font fails to subset embed, full font embedding will be used instead.
  * Fonts that are not embedded in PDF source files may cause a failure to generate a PDF/A compliant rendition.
  * PDF/A renditions comply to the PDF/A-1b standard (PDF Version 1.4).
  * XFA PDF Forms uploaded to Vault result in a flattened PDF/A-compliant viewable rendition.

## PDF/A Rendition Errors {#errors}

If the PDF/A-compliant viewable rendition generation fails, Vault sends you a notification and an email. Vault also captures the rendition failure in the document audit trail and on the **Rendition Status** page.

### Admin Audit Logs

Vault also logs failed PDF/A renditions in the **Document Audit History**. From this page, Admins can filter on PDF/A renditions and export the logs to CSV or PDF format to track non-compliant documents.

### Rendition Status

Vault also logs failed PDF/A renditions on the **Rendition Status** page. From this page, Admins can filter on specific documents and export the logs to CSV or PDF format to track non-compliant documents.

 [4]: #errors