PDF document validity check

How to check whether a PDF document has been modified online?

Many professional or administrative processes today rely on the exchange of PDF documents: contracts, proof of address, payslips, certificates, bank statements, legal or administrative documents.

These documents are very often generated, modified, or assembled digitally before being sent by email or via an online platform. In this context, it becomes difficult to know whether a PDF:

• has been modified after its initial creation,

• comes from an office, graphic, or online tool,

• has undergone invisible additions, deletions, or injections,

• or has been rebuilt from a template.

Our PDF analysis service addresses this exact issue:
it enables you to analyze the integrity, structure, and metadata of a PDF document in order to detect signs of modification or manipulation.

👉 And all of this in just a few seconds, directly online.

What can PDF analysis detect?

The analysis is based on several levels of technical and forensic checks, designed to identify traces left by document modification.

PDF validity analysis – “Standard” level

The Standard level provides an initial, fast verification of the PDF file’s consistency.

The elements analyzed include in particular:

• The PDF format and version

• The number of pages

• The overall document structure

• The essential PDF metadata (dates, creator, producer)

• The presence of a linearized PDF (optimized for the web)

• Basic inconsistencies between creation and modification

This level allows quick detection of:

• PDFs generated or modified by known software,

• temporal inconsistencies,

• abnormally restructured files.

PDF validity analysis – “Pro” level (Forensic)

With the Pro level, the analysis becomes forensic and in-depth.

In addition to the Standard-level checks, we perform a complete analysis of the PDF file, including:

🔍 Advanced metadata

• Creator

• Producer

• XMP (Adobe XMP, third-party tools, etc. if present)

• Document ID and Instance ID

• Creation, modification, and metadata dates

• Detection of modification after creation

🧱 PDF structure analysis

• Detection of data after EOF

• Analysis of internal PDF objects

• Detection of suspicious or non-standard sections

• Analysis of active objects (JavaScript, actions, embedded files)

• Verification of stream and reference consistency

🧪 Integrity and manipulation analysis

• Detection of PDFs modified after signing or generation

• Identification of editing or conversion tools

• Detection of recomposed or cleaned PDFs

• Analysis of probable modification scenarios

👉 A document modified using graphic software, office software, or an online tool will almost always leave detectable traces, even if the visual appearance seems normal.

How does online PDF document analysis work?

Example of PDF document verification

Platform workflow

1. Platform access

After your purchase is confirmed, you will receive an email containing your credentials to access our web application.

2. Document upload

You upload your document in PDF format (one or more files).

No action is required:

• no cropping,

• no conversion,

• no technical configuration.

3. Automatic analysis

The document is analyzed automatically:

• metadata,

• internal structure,

• integrity,

• modification scenarios.

4. Instant result

The results are displayed immediately:

• clear status (intact / modified / suspicious),

• detailed report available online.

5. Archiving and deletion

Reports remain available in your history.
You can delete them at any time to ensure confidentiality.

Accepted document formats

• PDF documents (native or scanned)

• Multi-page PDFs

• Linearized or non-linearized PDFs

• PDFs generated by software, scanners, or online tools

Billing: am I charged if no modification is detected?

👉 Yes, the analysis is billed because it has been fully performed.

However:

• you receive a complete report, even if the document is deemed intact,

• no additional charge is applied for a clean document.

Main use cases

Recruitment and onboarding

Verify that submitted documents (contracts, certificates, proofs) have not been modified before signing.

Real estate rental

Check the integrity of PDF supporting documents (tax notices, payslips, certificates).

KYC / compliance processes

Detect modified or recomposed PDF documents in anti-fraud and compliance workflows.

B2B relationships

Secure contractual exchanges and legal documents transmitted via PDF.

Online platforms and services

Automate the detection of modified PDF documents before file validation.