Convert a PDF to PDF/A in Swift

Cloudmersive
2 min readMay 5, 2021

Have you ever had PDF compatibility issues when passing a PDF between different operating systems? Ifso, you know how frustrating they can be. To avoid these potential situations and ensure the original formatting of your document is preserved, you can convert a PDF to a PDF/A file using an API in Swift. The PDF/A format is a universal, standardized version of the PDF format, and was designed for ease-of-use across purposes and platforms.

All we need for the process is the target PDF file and API key; you have the option to set the conformance level to PDF/A-1b or PDF/A-2b as well, but this is not required as it will automatically default to PDF/A-1b. Now we, will add our inputs to the following code:

#if canImport(FoundationNetworking)
import FoundationNetworking
#endif
var semaphore = DispatchSemaphore (value: 0)let parameters = [
[
"key": "inputFile",
"src": "/path/to/file",
"type": "file"
]] as [[String : Any]]
let boundary = "Boundary-\(UUID().uuidString)"
var body = ""
var error: Error? = nil
for param in parameters {
if param["disabled"] == nil {
let paramName = param["key"]!
body += "--\(boundary)\r\n"
body += "Content-Disposition:form-data; name=\"\(paramName)\""
if param["contentType"] != nil {
body += "\r\nContent-Type: \(param["contentType"] as! String)"
}
let paramType = param["type"] as! String
if paramType == "text" {
let paramValue = param["value"] as! String
body += "\r\n\r\n\(paramValue)\r\n"
} else {
let paramSrc = param["src"] as! String
let fileData = try NSData(contentsOfFile:paramSrc, options:[]) as Data
let fileContent = String(data: fileData, encoding: .utf8)!
body += "; filename=\"\(paramSrc)\"\r\n"
+ "Content-Type: \"content-type header\"\r\n\r\n\(fileContent)\r\n"
}
}
}
body += "--\(boundary)--\r\n";
let postData = body.data(using: .utf8)
var request = URLRequest(url: URL(string: "https://api.cloudmersive.com/convert/edit/pdf/optimize/pdf-a")!,timeoutInterval: Double.infinity)
request.addValue("<string>", forHTTPHeaderField: "conformanceLevel")
request.addValue("multipart/form-data", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")
request.addValue("YOUR-API-KEY-HERE", forHTTPHeaderField: "Apikey")
request.addValue("multipart/form-data; boundary=\(boundary)", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")
request.httpMethod = "POST"
request.httpBody = postData
let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request) { data, response, error in
guard let data = data else {
print(String(describing: error))
semaphore.signal()
return
}
print(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)!)
semaphore.signal()
}
task.resume()
semaphore.wait()

Your fully optimized PDF/A file will be waiting for you at the end of the process.

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