PDF structure recovery begins by scanning the entire file for object markers, identifying every indirect object regardless of whether the cross-reference table points to it. This raw inventory forms the basis for reconstruction.
Cross-reference table rebuilding compares found objects against the trailer dictionary to identify missing, duplicate, or misaligned entries. The tool generates a corrected xref table and optionally converts to cross-reference streams for better compression.
Page tree reconstruction handles cases where the document catalog or page tree nodes are damaged. The tool identifies page content streams by their resource dictionaries and assembles a new page tree in the correct order.
Incremental update cleanup merges all incremental saves into a single revision, eliminating orphaned objects and resolving conflicting updates. This often reduces file size significantly while ensuring structural integrity.