Convert Excel file to PDF format compatible with PDFA-1a with C++

Possible Usage Scenarios

PDF/A is a unique flavor of PDF designed for the long-term preservation of documents. PDF/A is an ISO‑standardized version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) which is an archival format of PDF that embeds all fonts used in the document within the PDF file. PDF/A differs from PDF by prohibiting features, such as font linking (as opposed to font embedding) and encryption. Aspose.Cells enables you to save the Excel files to PDF/A compliant PDF files (PDF/A-1a, PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2a, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-2u, PDF/A-3a, PDF/A-2ab, and PDF/A-3u are supported). This topic describes how to save the Excel workbook to a PDF/A compliant (PDF/A-1a) PDF file.

Convert Excel file to PDF Format Compatible with PDF/A-1a

Developers may use the PdfSaveOptions class to set different attributes for the conversion. Setting different properties of the PdfSaveOptions class gives you control over the print, font, security, and compression settings for the output PDF. The most important property is PdfSaveOptions.GetCompliance() that enables you to save Excel files as PDF/A‑compliant PDFs.

The following sample code explains how to convert an Excel file to PDF format compatible with PDF/A-1a. Please see its output PDF as well as the screenshot for reference.

Screenshot

Sample Code

#include <iostream>
#include "Aspose.Cells.h"

using namespace Aspose::Cells;

int main()
{
    Aspose::Cells::Startup();

    // Create workbook object
    Workbook wb;

    // Access first worksheet
    Worksheet ws = wb.GetWorksheets().Get(0);

    // Access cell B5 and add some message inside it
    Cell cell = ws.GetCells().Get(u"B5");
    cell.PutValue(u"This PDF format is compatible with PDF/A-1a.");

    // Create PDF save options and set its compliance to PDF/A-1a
    PdfSaveOptions opts;
    opts.SetCompliance(PdfCompliance::PdfA1a);

    // Save the output PDF
    wb.Save(u"..\\Data\\02_OutputDirectory\\outputCompliancePdfA1a.pdf", opts);

    std::cout << "PDF created successfully with PDF/A-1a compliance!" << std::endl;

    Aspose::Cells::Cleanup();
}