For PDF/A-3b as well as for ZUGFeRD documents it is possible to embed additional file attachments directly into the PDF and therefore using the PDF file like a file container for exchange or archiving of the attachments.
PDF2PDFA can , starting with version 1.0.3, also process ZIP files. This opens up additional possibilities.
Processing of ZIP files:
- In a ZIP file multiple PDF files can be passed on for conversion to PDF/A-1,2,3b as well as ZUGFeRD.
- The folder structure, contained in the ZIP, can also be used for the output. Thereby the same folder structure, present in the ZIP, is created in the output folder.
- The ZIP file can contain attachments, which will be embedded in PDF/A-3b or ZUGFeRD. To make this possible, there has to be a subfolder on the same folder level, where the PDF file is located, with the same name as the PDF, including a ‘$’ in front and behind the name.
For example: For a file ‘Test.pdf’, a subfolder with the name ‘$Test$’ needs to exist. If such a folder exists all contained files will be added as attachments to the output file.
- If a ZUGFeRD XML file, with the name ‘ZUGFeRD-invoice.xml’, is located in a $…$ folder, a ZUGFeRD compliant PDF can be created with this file. In case only a single PDF is located in the folder, it is not necessary to create a $…$ subfolder – in this case it is sufficient to put the ‘ZUGFeRD-invoice.xml’ at the same folder level. The creation of a $…$ subfolder is only necessary if there were multiple PDFs on the same level or if there were additional attachments besides the XML to be transferred.
Another innovation is the option to set the max. number of parallel conversion processes. This makes it possible to limit the use of ressources. Value = 0 means all available ressources are fully used. If the value corresponds to the number of available CPU Hyperthreads, the best performance is reached. If the parameter is set too high, ressources will be lost due to the required rotation of the threads.
