Batch Convert PDF to PDF/A – 2018 Edition

24 thoughts on “Batch Convert PDF to PDF/A – 2018 Edition”

1. 

   Dilip November 28, 2018

   I am getting below error, Do you knoe why?

   ‘pdfa’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
   operable program or batch file.

2. 

   Mark Berry Post authorNovember 28, 2018

   Dilip, it sounds like the pdfa.cmd file is not in your path. See step 3 about adding the folder where you created pdfa.cmd to your computer’s path. You can also test pdfa.cmd directly by opening a command prompt and navigating to the folder where pdfa.cmd is located.

3. 

   Gusi May 28, 2019

   Dear sir,

   I’m using with success the method you describe in:

   https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/batch-convert-pdf-to-pdfa/

   But when I try to use your updated version at:

   https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/batch-convert-pdf-to-pdf-a-2018-edition/

   I can’t find the file: C:\GS_PDFA\PDFWrite.pdfa.rsp nor see the part of the script where you generate.

   Any suggestion to solve this problem?

   Many thanks in advance.

4. 

   Mark Berry Post authorMay 28, 2019

   Gusi – thanks for pointing that out. PDFWrite.pdfa.rsp is only needed by the CutePDF converter. I think I was trying to incorporate that into pdfa.cmd but it didn’t work. I’ve removed PDFWrite.pdfa.rsp from pdfa.cmd and uploaded a new version, PDFAbatch_1.4, now linked above.

5. 

   Marco June 5, 2019

   Hi
   Thanks for the instruction. It works flawlessly. Just wanted to ask if it’s possible to change the output directory?

   Thanks

6. 

   Mark Berry Post authorJune 5, 2019

   @Marco, changing the output directory is not a native feature of the script. From a quick glance, it looks like you could customize the “-o” (output) parameter where it runs gswin32c near the end of the script. You could try something like this:

   -o "C:\MyPDFs\%file1%.pdf" ^

7. 

   Oliver September 4, 2019

   Hi Mark

   Great script, thank you very much! On my Windows 10 machine this works up to Version 9.26 of Ghostscript, with 9.27 the conversion fails returning the following error message

   Unrecoverable error: rangecheck in .putdeviceprops

   — Full output: —

   B:\fix_pdfs>pdfa P1_1_3_007_055
   ren “P1_1_3_007_055.pdf” “P1_1_3_007_055.old.pdf”
   GPL Ghostscript 9.27 (2019-04-04)
   Copyright (C) 2018 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
   This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
   see the file COPYING for details.
   Unrecoverable error: rangecheck in .putdeviceprops
   Die Datei “P1_1_3_007_055.pdf” kann nicht gefunden werden.

   B:\fix_pdfs>

   —

   Regards,
   Oliver

8. 

   Mark Berry Post authorSeptember 4, 2019

   Oliver – Thanks for the report. Not sure what it means! Let us know if you figure it out.

9. 

   Marco September 4, 2019

   try to use the whole path not just the filename

10. 

    Oliver October 16, 2019

    Thank you for your replies. I just tried and had no luck using it with GPL Ghostscript 9.50 (2019-10-15), whole file path as argument or no.

11. 

    Mark Berry Post authorOctober 16, 2019

    Hi Oliver – googling “rangecheck in .putdeviceprops”, I see it that has caused errors in the past, related to the -sOutputFile parameter. (I use the -o option which includes the output file specification https://www.ghostscript.com/doc/current/Use.htm#o_option.)

    I noticed you are using a less-common B: drive . Do you have a drive C: or higher to try it on? Sometimes these kinds of things come down to unforeseen scenarios that were not tested by developers.

    The next step would be to pull out the actual command from pdfa.cmd script (around line 235) and try it. If you can duplicate the error using gswin32c, you could raise a bug directly with GhostScript: https://bugs.ghostscript.com/.

12. 

    Robert K. Meyer February 15, 2020

    I am now able to print a pdf/a-1b file with CutePDF using gs 9.25 with your scripts. Thank you very much. Can pdfa.cmd and the CutePDF scripts be modified for custom metadata such as: title, author, subject, keywords?

    I tried manually editing the metadata and fixing with pdfa.cmd to pass validation, but the file becomes unsearchable for text because xref is messed up.

13. 

    Mark Berry Post authorFebruary 16, 2020

    @Robert – mucking with the metadata is beyond anything I’ve ever attempted, so I’m afraid I can’t advise you on that. Good luck!

14. 

    Anderson June 13, 2021

    When using an option to save with orc the pdf / A becomes invalid. Any solution?

15. 

    Mark Berry Post authorJune 13, 2021

    @Anderson, I’ve never heard of “orc” so I have no suggetsions.

16. 

    B August 11, 2022

    Thank you for posting this and keeping it updated/responding so diligently! I have it working fine for single files but am having trouble with selecting multiple files. I set up the shortcut that you recommended and when I multi-select it renames everything to .old but only populates one of the files selected (the most recently selected). Any idea what might be happening here?

    Thanks, B

17. 

    Mark Berry Post authorAugust 12, 2022

    @B – in case it’s not clear, the expected behavior on multi-select is that it _concatenates_ all the selected files into _one_ PDF. For example, when I balance my bank account, I print a reconciliation report to PDF. Then I concatenate the bank statement and the reconciliation report to keep them together. Is that the behavior you are seeing?

18. 

    B August 12, 2022

    @Mark Ah, I see now. Clearly I didn’t read thoroughly or look at my output document closely! It’s working perfectly then. I was looking to batch convert into individual files (uploading research articles into a public repository) but your code is pretty clear (even to a non-programmer) and I love the “send to” integration. It will be fun to see if I can figure out how to modify it for my purposes. Thanks again for your diligence.

19. 

    Mark Berry Post authorAugust 12, 2022

    You could write a batch file call pdfa multiple time, e.g.

    call pdfa.cmd document1
    call pdfa.cmd document2
    call pdfa.cmd document3

    (Pretty sure you want the “call”–try it.)

    If you have a lot of documents, a couple of options:

    1. Run “dir /b > convertfiles.cmd” at a command prompt to get a “bare” list of files. Then edit convertfiles.cmd, using copy and paste (or search and replace) to insert “call pdfa.cmd ” before each one.

    2. Write a batch or PowerShell files to loop through all the PDF documents in a folder, calling pdfa on each one.

20. 

    Michal January 4, 2023

    Hi,
    Batch Convert PDF is absolutely great!
    I am trying to change the 5 pdf output to pdf/A, but we are a bad programmer…
    …for my use, I would need to convert max 10 pdf to 10 pdf/A…

21. 

    Mark Berry Post authorJanuary 4, 2023

    @Michal, sorry I don’t have a batch file for doing 10 at once. What I have done in the past is to do multiple passes, e.g. convert documents 1-5 (save as 1.pdf), then do 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9, which concatenates the last four to the new 1.pdf.

22. 

    MONOLEMA February 3, 2023

    Hello Mark,
    I modified the CMD a bit (the code is not pretty) and the conversion works for max. 9 files. Creates one output PDF/A for one input file.
    I tried 10+ files and CMD doesn’t work (1 x 10 problem? X vs. XX value?).
    Converting to PDF/A will destroy some fonts (oh my love Helvetica… :-) )
    Abbreviated CMD (without notes) below:
    [Editor’s note: this is the untested code that MONOLEMA updated. Copy and paste to pdfa.cmd to try it.]

    @echo off
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM pdfa.cmd
    REM Copyright 2018 by MCB Systems. 
    REM Free for personal and commercial use.  No warranties.  May not be sold.
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM 2023 modify MONOLEMA
    REM pro každý soubor vytvoří nový soubor PDF/A
    REM Mrší to některé fonty, takže na pěknou konverzi Helvetiky zapomeňte...
    REM verze pro 9 souborů (k***a, nejde mi přidělat 10 a víc, někde v ´10´je problém...)
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    
    REM Summary:
    REM    Combine up to five PDF input documents into one PDF/A output document.
    REM    Renames input files to .OLD.pdf, and puts output file in the same folder
    REM    as the input file(s).  Optionally displays Bookmarks panel by default.
    REM 
    REM Parameters:
    REM    %1:  Mandatory.  PDF file to convert.  Will be used for output file name.
    REM    %2:  Optional.  PDF file to convert.  Will be combined into one output.
    REM    %4:  Optional.  PDF file to convert.  Will be combined into one output.
    REM    %4:  Optional.  PDF file to convert.  Will be combined into one output.
    REM    %5:  Optional.  PDF file to convert.  Will be combined into one output.
    REM
    REM    Alternately, set the last parameter to "-sb" (show bookmarks) to load a file that 
    REM    sets the Initial View of the PDF to show the Bookmarks (outline) panel.  This is only 
    REM    useful if the input file already has bookmarks, and does not really make sense when 
    REM    concatenating multiple files, as bookmarks from later files would point to incorrect 
    REM    page numbers.
    REM
    REM Dependencies:
    REM    gswin64c.exe           - Ghostscript command-line program. Update the first 
    REM                             line below "set gs_path=", with the path where gswin64c.exe
    REM                             is found.
    REM    C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps - PDF/A conversion info.  Includes additional dependency on
    REM                             ICC color profile (e.g. C:\GS_PDFA\AdobeRGB1998.icc).
    REM    C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps - Command to cause bookmarks panel to be displayed.
    REM
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Change Log:
    REM
    REM 04/15/2013  Initial batch file.
    REM
    REM 05/03/2013  Fix to support spaces in file names.
    REM
    REM 07/02/2014  Enhance to work from Explorer Send To context menu:
    REM             - Strip file extension from parameters if provided.  Script assumes .pdf.
    REM             - Change to the directory of the first file before processing.
    REM             - Pause if file rename fails on file 1 so user can see error in command window.
    REM
    REM 01/02/2015  Handle ampersands in file names (e.g. "AT&T") by quoting set statements.
    REM
    REM 11/22/2016  After re-installing Windows 10, I installed Ghostscritp 9.20 instead of 9.07.
    REM             Update gs_path just below accordingly.
    REM
    REM 01/19/2018  Upgrade Ghostscript to 9.22 and putting it in the \latest path. 
    REM             Update gs_path just below accordingly.
    REM
    REM 10/02/2018  Upgrade Ghostscript to 9.25.  
    REM             Update conversion parameters per current instructions (see
    REM             https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699582#c2).
    REM             Change to output PDF/A-2b, which supports transparency. 
    REM
    REM 05/28/2019  Remove unnecessary reference to PDFWrite.pdfa.rsp.  That file is only used
    REM             for writing PDF/A from CutePDF.  The same instructions are hard-coded in this 
    REM             file.  See https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/use-cutepdf-to-print-to-pdfa-for-free/.
    REM  
    REM 04/22/2021  Upgrade to work with Ghostscript 9.54.
    REM             - Correct the sColorConversionStrategy parameter, removing "/" from "RGB" string value.
    REM             - Update for compatibility with the default -dSAFER option as of Ghostscript 9.50 by
    REM               adding --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc".
    REM             - Note:  also requires updated C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps file.
    REM  
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Check for the Ghostscript executable
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    REM Change the next line to the folder that contains gswin64c.exe. End the line with a backslash (\):
    set gs_path=C:\Program Files\gs\gs\bin\
    
    if not exist "%gs_path%gswin64c.exe" (
       echo "%gs_path%gswin64c.exe" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Check for parameters
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    if ###%1###==###### goto NoParam
    goto ParamsFound
    
    :NoParam
    echo.
    echo Missing parameter(s)
    echo.
    echo Usage:  pdfa file1 [file2^|-sb] [file3^|-sb] [file4^|-sb] [file5^|-sb] [file6^|-sb] [file7^|-sb] [file8^|-sb] [file9^|-sb]
    echo.
    echo You do NOT need to specify the .pdf extension on the input parameters.
    echo.
    echo To set the Initial View of the PDF to show the Bookmarks (outline) panel,
    echo set the last parameter to "-sb" (show bookmarks).  The input file must 
    echo already contain bookmarks.  Not recommended when concatenating files.
    echo.
    echo Usage examples:
    echo.
    echo    1. If you have a credit card statement with two reconciliation 
    echo       reports to attach, use the following command:
    echo.
    echo       pdfa CCstatement recon1 recon2
    echo.
    echo       Output:
    echo           CCstatement.pdf
    echo           CCstatement.OLD.pdf
    echo           recon1.OLD.pdf
    echo           recon2.OLD.pdf
    echo.
    echo    2. Convert a tax return that includes bookmarks:
    echo.
    echo       pdfa "Tax Return" -sb
    echo.
    echo       Output:
    echo          Tax Return.pdf
    echo          Tax Return.OLD.pdf
    echo.
    echo Delete the .OLD files if you are satisfied with the new PDF/A document.
    echo.
    goto End
    
    :ParamsFound
    REM Expand params and strip surrounding quotation marks, if any.
    REM Also, strip extension, if any, and leave file name only.  (.pdf will be assumed below.)
    REM 01/02/2015  Handle ampersands in file names (e.g. "AT&T") by quoting set statements.
    REM             See http://stackoverflow.com/a/14108765/550712.  Did not have to use
    REM             "setlocal enableDelayedExpansion" or change references to use exclamation points.
    set "file1=%~n1"
    set "file2=%~n2"
    set "file3=%~n3"
    set "file4=%~n4"
    set "file5=%~n5"
    set "file6=%~n6"
    set "file7=%~n7"
    set "file8=%~n8"
    set "file9=%~n9"
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Before renaming any files, check that all specified input files exist
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    set ShowBookmarksPanel=N
    
    REM Go to the path of the first file.  Needed when called from Explorer Send To context menu.
    set File1Drive=%~d1
    set File1Path=%~p1
    cd /d %File1Drive%\%File1Path%
    
    REM First parameter always exists (checked above)
    if not exist "%file1%.pdf" (
       echo "%file1%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       REM When called from Explorer Send To, need a "pause" to see error
       pause
       goto End
    )
    REM If the next parameter doesn't exist, skip to renaming files.
    if ###%2###==###### goto RenameFiles
    REM If the next parameter is "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), skip to renaming files.
    if "%file2%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file2%.pdf" (
       echo "%file2%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%3###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file3%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file3%.pdf" (
       echo "%file3%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%4###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file4%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file4%.pdf" (
       echo "%file4%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%5###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file5%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file5%.pdf" (
       echo "%file5%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%6###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file6%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file6%.pdf" (
       echo "%file6%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%7###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file7%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file7%.pdf" (
       echo "%file7%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%8###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file8%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file8%.pdf" (
       echo "%file8%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    if ###%9###==###### goto RenameFiles
    if "%file9%"=="-sb" goto ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    if not exist "%file9%.pdf" (
       echo "%file9%.pdf" not found. Exiting.
       goto End
    )
    
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Rename input file(s) to .OLD.pdf and build a list of input files.  
    REM Optionally set flag to show the Bookmarks panel
    REM Convert input file(s) to PDF/A.
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    :ShowBookmarksAndRenameFiles
    set ShowBookmarksPanel=Y
    
    :RenameFiles
    
    
    REM First parameter always exists (checked above)
    echo ren "%file1%.pdf" "%file1%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file1%.pdf" "%file1%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file1%.OLD.pdf"
    
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    REM :ConvertFiles1
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file1%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    REM If the next parameter doesn't exist, skip to converting files.
    if ###%2###==###### goto :Preskocit
    REM If the next parameter is "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), skip to converting files.
    if "%file2%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles2
    echo ren "%file2%.pdf" "%file2%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file2%.pdf" "%file2%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file2%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles2
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file2%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    if ###%3###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file3%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles3
    echo ren "%file3%.pdf" "%file3%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file3%.pdf" "%file3%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file3%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles3
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file3%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    if ###%4###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file4%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles4
    echo ren "%file4%.pdf" "%file4%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file4%.pdf" "%file4%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file4%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles4
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file4%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    if ###%5###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file5%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles5
    echo ren "%file5%.pdf" "%file5%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file5%.pdf" "%file5%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file5%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles5
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file5%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    if ###%6###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file6%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles6
    echo ren "%file6%.pdf" "%file6%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file6%.pdf" "%file6%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file6%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles6
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file6%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    if ###%7###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file7%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles7
    echo ren "%file7%.pdf" "%file7%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file7%.pdf" "%file7%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file7%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles7
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file7%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    if ###%8###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file8%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles8
    echo ren "%file8%.pdf" "%file8%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file8%.pdf" "%file8%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file8%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles8
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file8%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    if ###%9###==###### goto :Preskocit
    if "%file9%"=="-sb" goto ConvertFiles9
    echo ren "%file9%.pdf" "%file9%.OLD.pdf"
    ren "%file9%.pdf" "%file9%.OLD.pdf"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    set inputfilelist="%file9%.OLD.pdf"
    
    :ConvertFiles9
    REM If the last  parameter was "-sb" (ShowBookmarks), add the appropriate file to the file list
    if %ShowBookmarksPanel%==Y (
       set inputfilelist=%inputfilelist% "C:\GS_PDFA\PDF_ShowBookmarksPanel.ps"
    )
    
    REM Convert to PDF/A. Use name of first input file as name of output file.
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
       -dPDFA=2 ^
       -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
       --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
       -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
       -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
       -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
       -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
       -dNOPAUSE ^
       -dBATCH ^
       -o "%file9%.pdf" ^
        "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
        %inputfilelist%
    
    
    :Preskocit
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Open converted PDF/A file with the default PDF reader.
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    REM The leading "title" (empty here) is necessary to get START to interpret parameters correctly
    REM start "" /b "%file1%.pdf"
    goto End
    
    :RenameFailed
    echo Exiting without converting because renaming an input file to .OLD failed.
    REM Pause so user can see message (in case called from Explorer Send To context menu)
    pause
    
    :End
    

23. 

    Mark Berry Post authorFebruary 3, 2023

    @MONOLEMA, thanks for you efforts. I’ve pasted the code directly into the comment above.

    Blog readers, please note that I have not tested MONOLEMA’s code. Please test it yourself!

    As for the limit of 9, not sure, but you could try 01, 02, 03 … 10, 11, or you could switch to letters 7 8 9 A B C.

24. 

    MONOLEMA February 9, 2023

    Hello Mark,
    CMD only knows %0 – %9 values. The solution is SHIFT and loop and then the number of files is unlimited.
    I am sending abbreviated sample functional code – only Loop and selection of PDF/A version and it recognizes when there is no *.pdf file and skips it, so it is not necessary to mark only *.pdf.
    For one input PDF it creates 1 output PDF/A.
    The loop can easily be applied to your original code for an unlimited number of incoming files.
    (my code was already very specialized for my needs with wide options of settings for specific use, and because my English is bad and the target users are similar, I write notes and variables in Czech, so the code is probably unreadable :-) )

    [Editor’s note: more untested code that MONOLEMA uploaded. I believe this will actually loop through all files in a folder, converting all to PDF, so be aware of that. Copy and paste to pdfa.cmd to try it!]

    @echo off
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM pdfa.cmd
    REM Copyright 2018 by MCB Systems.
    REM Free for personal and commercial use. No warranties. May not be sold.
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM 2023 modify MONOLEMA
    REM for one PDF -> one PDF/A
    REM no limit files
    REM sorry my english is very very low level... :-)
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    
    REM PDFA is PDF/A version - value 1 or 2 or 3
    set "PDFA=2"
    set "Suffix=.OLD"
    
    REM Ghostscript
    set gs_path=C:\Program Files\gs\gs\bin\
    if not exist "%gs_path%gswin64c.exe" (echo "%gs_path%gswin64c.exe" neexistuje. Konec.
    goto End2)
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    
    REM is first file file? or Dir or nothing?
    if ###%~x1###==###### goto NoFile
    goto YesFile
    
    REM No file, Exit
    :NoFile
    echo No file, Exit
    pause
    goto End2
    
    :YesFile
    REM Ok, file is file :-)
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    echo ===========================================================================================
    echo SETTINGS:
    echo Versione PDF/A - PDF/A-%PDFA%
    echo Suffix - %Suffix%
    echo ===========================================================================================
    
    set FileDrive=%~d1
    set FilePath=%~p1
    
    cd /d %FileDrive%\%FilePath%
    
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM Loop PDF do PDF/A
    REM ===========================================================================================
    :Loop
    
    set file=%~n1
    set pripona=%~x1
    REM If file not found, exit.
    If ###%1###==###### goto End
    
    REM If file is *.pdf, continue
    If "%pripona%"==".pdf" goto OkPdf
    
    REM If file is not *.pdf, goto end Loop and continue next file
    echo goto next file "%file%%pripona%"
    goto NoPdf
    
    :OkPdf
    
    set fileA=%file%%pripona%
    set fileB=%file%%Suffix%%pripona%
    
    ren "%fileA%" "%fileB%"
    if errorlevel 1 goto RenameFailed
    
    echo convert to PDF/A "%fileA%"
    
    "%gs_path%\gswin64c" ^
    -dPDFA=%PDFA% ^
    -sColorConversionStrategy=RGB ^
    --permit-file-read="C:/GS_PDFA/AdobeRGB1998.icc" ^
    -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
    -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 ^
    -dPDFSETTINGS=/default ^
    -dAutoRotatePages=/All ^
    -dNOPAUSE ^
    -dBATCH ^
    -o "%fileA%" ^
    "C:\GS_PDFA\PDFA_def.ps" ^
    "%fileB%"
    
    :NoPdf
    
    REM SHIFT return value ´2´na ´1´ and continue Loop next file
    SHIFT
    echo ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    REM ===========================================================================================
    goto Loop
    REM ===========================================================================================
    REM ===========================================================================================
    
    
    
    :RenameFailed
    echo ===========================================================================================
    echo Exiting without converting because renaming an input file to .old failed.
    echo ===========================================================================================
    pause
    goto End2
    
    :End
    echo ===========================================================================================
    echo Done
    echo ===========================================================================================
    pause
    
    :End2