Content Explorer Panel

The Content Explorer Panel provides a tree based hierarchical view of the content objects that make up the internal structure of the PDF. These include the pages and content objects including Containers, Form XObjects, Text, Images, Paths and Shades. The content in the tree matches the same order in which the content is written within the document and so may not match the reading order on the page.

NOTE: This panel is primarily used for viewing the document structure. To make edits to the PDF see Content Editing.

How to Open the Content Panel

Open any document
Click on the Content button on the left side of the PDF Studio window
Once loaded the left pane will display the document content structure tree

Viewing / Navigating Content

Use the content tree to view and navigate to the content in the document. Use the arrow icons to expand or collapse items and click on the content element to highlight the content on the page.

The expand and collapse all buttons can also be used to show and hide all the children in the content tree at once.

Content Types

Container: a group of related graphics objects that can be processed as a single unit and can be located in different parts of the document. For example: content grouped into Layers across the PDF that can be toggled on or off.

Form XObject: a group of graphics objects that can be referenced from different places within the PDF so It can be reused and drawn multiple times.For example: a company logo drawn on every page.

Text: text content stored as strings within the document

Note: Not all text displayed in a PDF is considered text content. In some cases the text may actually be an image or even path objects. Text content that is either a path or image will not function the same and have limited editing abilities

Images: image content stored as graphical image ojects within the document

Note: Not all images displayed in a PDF are actually image content. In some cases the images may actually be many path objects combined together to form an image. Image content that is a path will not function the same and have limited editing abilities.

Paths: a sequence of connected and disconnected points, lines, and curves that together create shapes.

Shades: Similar to path except using a gradient fill that produces a smooth transition between colors across the area.

Viewing Content Properties

Double Click on any content in the tree (or Right click and select the Properties option) to view additional details for the selected content.