PDF/A is the format designed to still be readable in twenty years: fonts are embedded in the file and content that depends on the outside world is excluded. It is required for compliant archiving and for many electronic filings.
The document is analysed on your device.
If the document contains something that cannot become PDF/A, it says so instead of producing a file that is not really compliant.
Conversion happens locally; the server steps in only if you turn it on.
The tool works locally and uses the server only if you turn it on. The switch is on the tool card, not hidden elsewhere.
No, and the distinction matters: Plicum converts and checks the suitability of the source document, but formal validation is the job of a dedicated validator such as veraPDF. If an authority requires validation, it must be done with the tool that authority recognises.
Only if you turn the option on. The switch is in the tool’s own card, not hidden elsewhere: by default conversion stays on your device.
Because some content is incompatible with PDF/A — elements pointing at external resources, for instance. Plicum prefers to tell you rather than hand over a file that carries the label but would not survive a check.
It opens in your browser, nothing to install. Five operations a day are free, with no payment details.