PDF Show Structure
NEWInspect a PDF's internal structure as formatted JSON. See objects, streams, cross-reference tables, and page trees — useful for debugging and learning.
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Developer tool. All processing is done in-browser. Your file never leaves your device.
Developer Tool — Inspects the internal structure of a PDF: objects, streams, cross-reference table, and page tree. Useful for debugging PDF generation, analyzing file composition, or learning the PDF format.
Upload a PDF and click Analyze to see its internal structure.
How to use PDF Show Structure
- Upload the PDF you want to inspect.
- Click Analyze Structure to extract the JSON representation.
- Use the filter input to find specific objects (e.g. 'font', 'image', 'page').
- Copy the JSON to clipboard or download it for offline review.
What is PDF Show Structure?
Every PDF is a collection of numbered objects — pages, fonts, images, content streams — linked by a cross-reference table. This developer tool uses qpdf's --json=latest mode to dump the complete internal structure as human-readable JSON. Browse objects, filter by keyword, copy to clipboard, or download the JSON for offline analysis.
Useful for debugging PDF generation libraries, understanding how a particular PDF is built, or learning the internals of the PDF format. No programming required.
FAQ
- Is this a developer-only tool?
- Primarily yes — it shows raw PDF internals. But it's also useful for curious users who want to see what's inside their PDF files.
- What can I learn from the JSON output?
- You can see every object in the file: fonts used, embedded images, page dimensions, content stream data, annotations, form fields, and metadata.
- Does this tool modify my PDF?
- No. It only reads the structure and outputs JSON. Your file is never altered.
Related tools
- PDF Compress
- PDF Merge
- PDF Overlay / Stamp
- PDF Fix / Repair Corrupted
- PDF Remove Metadata
- PDF Page Labels
- JSON Formatter / Validator
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