ci: add crates trusted publishing

* docs: add crates.io install instructions

* docs: add npm badge

.github/workflows/publish-crate.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+name: Publish Rust crate
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+    paths: ['Cargo.toml']
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+env:
+  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
+
+jobs:
+  check-version:
+    name: Check version change
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      changed: ${{ steps.check.outputs.changed }}
+      published: ${{ steps.check.outputs.published }}
+      version: ${{ steps.check.outputs.version }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 2
+
+      - name: Check if version changed
+        id: check
+        run: |
+          NEW_VERSION=$(python3 -c 'import pathlib, tomllib; print(tomllib.loads(pathlib.Path("Cargo.toml").read_text())["package"]["version"])')
+          OLD_VERSION=$(git show HEAD~1:Cargo.toml | python3 -c 'import sys, tomllib; print(tomllib.loads(sys.stdin.read())["package"]["version"])')
+          echo "old=$OLD_VERSION new=$NEW_VERSION"
+          echo "version=$NEW_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+          if [ "$NEW_VERSION" = "$OLD_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "changed=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "published=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          echo "changed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+          HTTP_STATUS=$(curl --silent --show-error --output /tmp/crate-version.json --write-out "%{http_code}" \
+            -H "User-Agent: firecrawl/pdf-inspector publish workflow (https://github.com/firecrawl/pdf-inspector)" \
+            "https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/pdf-inspector/$NEW_VERSION")
+
+          case "$HTTP_STATUS" in
+            200)
+              echo "published=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+              echo "pdf-inspector v$NEW_VERSION is already published"
+              ;;
+            404)
+              echo "published=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+              ;;
+            *)
+              cat /tmp/crate-version.json
+              echo "Unexpected crates.io response: $HTTP_STATUS" >&2
+              exit 1
+              ;;
+          esac
+
+  publish:
+    name: Publish to crates.io
+    needs: check-version
+    if: needs.check-version.outputs.changed == 'true' && needs.check-version.outputs.published == 'false'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    environment: crates-io
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Install Rust
+        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+
+      - name: Verify package
+        run: cargo publish --dry-run
+
+      - name: Authenticate with crates.io
+        id: auth
+        uses: rust-lang/crates-io-auth-action@v1
+
+      - name: Publish crate
+        run: cargo publish
+        env:
+          CARGO_REGISTRY_TOKEN: ${{ steps.auth.outputs.token }}

Cargo.toml

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ crate-type = ["lib", "cdylib"]
 pyo3 = { version = "0.25", features = ["extension-module"], optional = true }
 
 # PDF parsing
-lopdf = { git = "https://github.com/J-F-Liu/lopdf", rev = "7a05512d831415b1f2b1ce522391d6beab8a1284", features = ["rayon"] }
+lopdf = { version = "0.41.0", features = ["rayon"] }
 
 # Error handling
 thiserror = "2.0"

README.md

@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # pdf-inspector
 
+[![Crates.io](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/pdf-inspector.svg)](https://crates.io/crates/pdf-inspector)
+[![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@firecrawl/pdf-inspector.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@firecrawl/pdf-inspector)
+
 Fast Rust library for PDF classification and text extraction. Detects whether a PDF is text-based or scanned, extracts text with position awareness, and converts to clean Markdown — all without OCR. Includes bindings for [Python](docs/python.md) and [Node.js](napi/README.md).
 
 Built by [Firecrawl](https://firecrawl.dev) to handle text-based PDFs locally in under 200ms, skipping expensive OCR services for the ~54% of PDFs that don't need them.
@@ -71,9 +74,17 @@ console.log(result.markdown);  // Markdown string or null
 
 ### Rust
 
+Install from [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/pdf-inspector):
+
+```bash
+cargo add pdf-inspector
+```
+
+Or add it manually:
+
 ```toml
 [dependencies]
-pdf-inspector = { git = "https://github.com/firecrawl/pdf-inspector" }
+pdf-inspector = "0.1"
 ```
 
 ```rust
@@ -91,29 +102,34 @@ if let Some(markdown) = &result.markdown {
 ### CLI
 
 ```bash
+# Install the CLI tools
+cargo install pdf-inspector
+
 # Convert PDF to Markdown
-cargo run --bin pdf2md -- document.pdf
+pdf2md document.pdf
 
 # JSON output (for piping)
-cargo run --bin pdf2md -- document.pdf --json
+pdf2md document.pdf --json
 
 # Raw markdown only (no headers)
-cargo run --bin pdf2md -- document.pdf --raw
+pdf2md document.pdf --raw
 
 # Insert page break markers (<!-- Page N -->)
-cargo run --bin pdf2md -- document.pdf --pages
+pdf2md document.pdf --pages
 
 # Process only specific pages
-cargo run --bin pdf2md -- document.pdf --select-pages 1,3,5-10
+pdf2md document.pdf --select-pages 1,3,5-10
 
 # Detection only (no extraction)
-cargo run --bin detect-pdf -- document.pdf
-cargo run --bin detect-pdf -- document.pdf --json
+detect-pdf document.pdf
+detect-pdf document.pdf --json
 
 # Detection + layout analysis (tables, columns)
-cargo run --bin detect-pdf -- document.pdf --analyze --json
+detect-pdf document.pdf --analyze --json
 ```
 
+From a source checkout, use `cargo run --bin pdf2md -- document.pdf` or `cargo run --bin detect-pdf -- document.pdf` instead.
+
 ## Architecture
 
 ```

docs/publishing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Publishing
+
+The Rust crate is published to [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/pdf-inspector) with trusted publishing from GitHub Actions. The first release was published manually; future releases publish from `.github/workflows/publish-crate.yml` when a `Cargo.toml` version change lands on `main`.
+
+## crates.io Trusted Publisher
+
+Configure the trusted publisher for the `pdf-inspector` crate with:
+
+- Repository: `firecrawl/pdf-inspector`
+- Workflow: `publish-crate.yml`
+- Environment: `crates-io`
+
+The workflow uses `rust-lang/crates-io-auth-action@v1` to exchange GitHub's OIDC token for a short-lived crates.io token, then passes it to `cargo publish`.
+
+## Release Steps
+
+1. Update `version` in `Cargo.toml`.
+2. Merge the version bump to `main`.
+3. The publish workflow compares the new `Cargo.toml` version with `HEAD~1`, runs `cargo publish --dry-run`, then publishes if that version is not already on crates.io.
+
+If `Cargo.toml` changes without a package version bump, the workflow exits without publishing.

napi/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@firecrawl/pdf-inspector",
-  "version": "1.8.15",
+  "version": "1.9.5",
   "description": "Fast PDF classification and text extraction. Detect text-based vs scanned PDFs, extract text by region with quality checks. Native Rust performance via napi-rs.",
   "main": "index.js",
   "types": "index.d.ts",

src/extractor/content_stream.rs

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use super::fonts::{
     get_font_file2_obj_num, get_operand_bytes, CMapDecisionCache,
 };
 use super::xobjects::{extract_form_xobject_text, get_page_xobjects, XObjectType};
-use super::{get_number, multiply_matrices};
+use super::{get_number, image_bbox_from_ctm, multiply_matrices};
 
 /// Strip PDF comments (% to end of line) from content stream bytes.
 ///
@@ -664,7 +664,29 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_page_text_items(
                         if let Some(xobj_type) = xobjects.get(&xobj_name) {
                             match xobj_type {
                                 XObjectType::Image => {
-                                    // Skip images — text extraction only
+                                    // Emit a positional placeholder for the image
+                                    // so downstream consumers (layout-aware
+                                    // pipelines, figure-OCR routers) can locate
+                                    // raster figures without parsing the PDF
+                                    // again. The text field carries the
+                                    // XObject resource name in the legacy
+                                    // `[Image: Im0]` format that the markdown
+                                    // emitter already recognizes.
+                                    let (x, y, width, height) = image_bbox_from_ctm(&ctm);
+                                    items.push(TextItem {
+                                        text: format!("[Image: {}]", xobj_name),
+                                        x,
+                                        y,
+                                        width,
+                                        height,
+                                        font: String::new(),
+                                        font_size: 0.0,
+                                        page: page_num,
+                                        is_bold: false,
+                                        is_italic: false,
+                                        item_type: ItemType::Image,
+                                        mcid: current_mcid(&marked_content_stack),
+                                    });
                                 }
                                 XObjectType::Form(form_id) => {
                                     // Extract text from Form XObject

src/extractor/fonts.rs

@@ -858,6 +858,13 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_text_from_operand(
             // unmapped. Don't fall through to text-interpretation fallbacks
             // (Latin-1, UTF-16, etc.) which would misinterpret CID bytes as
             // character codes (e.g. CID 0x01A9 → Latin-1 "©").
+            if is_type0_cid_font && bytes.iter().any(|&b| b > 0x7F) {
+                // 2-byte CIDs (Identity-H) are by far the common case; for
+                // an odd byte count we still emit at least one marker so
+                // detection downstream fires.
+                let cid_count = (bytes.len() / 2).max(1);
+                return Some("\u{FFFD}".repeat(cid_count));
+            }
 
             // Try our custom encoding map from Differences arrays.
             // The Differences array overrides specific codes in a base encoding (typically
@@ -966,27 +973,6 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_text_from_operand(
                 return Some(symbol_text);
             }
 
-            // Latin-1 fallback. Safe ONLY for fonts that use single-byte
-            // encodings — for these, an unmapped byte is a valid character
-            // code in Latin-1/WinAnsi space. CID fonts (Type0 / Identity-H)
-            // emit multi-byte CIDs that aren't characters; per-byte Latin-1
-            // produces mojibake (e.g. 2-byte CID 0xCDD9 → "ÍÙ" for the
-            // production scrape_id 019de78c-... samples).
-            //
-            // For a CID font (has_cmap is set OR a /ToUnicode reference
-            // exists) with any non-ASCII bytes, emit a single U+FFFD per
-            // CID instead. This both replaces the mojibake with a proper
-            // "decode failed" marker AND keeps `detect_encoding_issues`
-            // tripping so the page is flagged for OCR — the existing
-            // garbage-detection path that the high-Latin-1 mojibake used
-            // to satisfy by accident.
-            if is_type0_cid_font && bytes.iter().any(|&b| b > 0x7F) {
-                // 2-byte CIDs (Identity-H) are by far the common case; for
-                // an odd byte count we still emit at least one marker so
-                // detection downstream fires.
-                let cid_count = (bytes.len() / 2).max(1);
-                return Some("\u{FFFD}".repeat(cid_count));
-            }
             // Pure ASCII bytes round-trip safely (Latin-1 == ASCII for
             // 0x00..=0x7F), and non-CID (Type1 / TrueType / Type3) fonts
             // use single-byte encodings where Latin-1 fallback is the

src/extractor/layout.rs

@@ -29,8 +29,12 @@ pub(crate) fn detect_columns(
     const MIN_ITEMS_PER_COLUMN: usize = 10;
     const NOISE_FRACTION: f32 = 0.15;
 
-    // Get items for this page
-    let page_items: Vec<&TextItem> = items.iter().filter(|i| i.page == page).collect();
+    // Get items for this page. Strip Image placeholders — an image's left edge
+    // would otherwise count toward the column projection profile.
+    let page_items: Vec<&TextItem> = items
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|i| i.page == page && crate::extractor::is_text_layout_item(i))
+        .collect();
 
     if page_items.is_empty() {
         return vec![];

src/extractor/mod.rs

@@ -227,6 +227,69 @@ fn extract_positioned_text_impl(
 // Shared helpers (used by submodules via `super::`)
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+/// Return true when this item should participate in text-layout
+/// heuristics (column detection, table grid detection, line grouping).
+///
+/// Image XObjects emit a positional placeholder via
+/// `extract_text_with_positions` (so layout-aware callers can crop +
+/// caption figures), but their bboxes don't carry text glyphs and would
+/// skew column/row clustering if they reached the heuristics. Hyperlinks
+/// and form fields *do* participate — the existing logic treats them as
+/// text-like and we keep that.
+pub(crate) fn is_text_layout_item(item: &crate::types::TextItem) -> bool {
+    !matches!(item.item_type, crate::types::ItemType::Image)
+}
+
+/// Map a (u, v) point in unit-square coordinates through the 6-element CTM
+/// to page-space. CTM format is `[a, b, c, d, e, f]` per
+/// [`multiply_matrices`].
+fn apply_ctm_point(ctm: &[f32; 6], u: f32, v: f32) -> (f32, f32) {
+    (
+        u * ctm[0] + v * ctm[2] + ctm[4],
+        u * ctm[1] + v * ctm[3] + ctm[5],
+    )
+}
+
+/// Compute the page-space axis-aligned bounding box of an Image XObject
+/// invoked under the given CTM.
+///
+/// Per the PDF spec, an image XObject is always rendered into a unit
+/// square `(0,0)–(1,1)` in its local coordinate system, and the `Do`
+/// operator applies the current CTM to position/scale/rotate that square
+/// onto the page. For the common axis-aligned case (no rotation/shear),
+/// the CTM reduces to `[w, 0, 0, h, x, y]` and the bbox is just
+/// `(x, y, w, h)`. For rotated/sheared images we transform all four
+/// corners and return their axis-aligned bbox so the caller always gets
+/// an upright rectangle.
+///
+/// Coordinates are PDF user space (origin at bottom-left, y-up). Width
+/// and height are non-negative.
+pub(crate) fn image_bbox_from_ctm(ctm: &[f32; 6]) -> (f32, f32, f32, f32) {
+    let corners = [
+        apply_ctm_point(ctm, 0.0, 0.0),
+        apply_ctm_point(ctm, 1.0, 0.0),
+        apply_ctm_point(ctm, 1.0, 1.0),
+        apply_ctm_point(ctm, 0.0, 1.0),
+    ];
+    let (mut x_min, mut x_max) = (corners[0].0, corners[0].0);
+    let (mut y_min, mut y_max) = (corners[0].1, corners[0].1);
+    for (cx, cy) in corners.iter().skip(1) {
+        if *cx < x_min {
+            x_min = *cx;
+        }
+        if *cx > x_max {
+            x_max = *cx;
+        }
+        if *cy < y_min {
+            y_min = *cy;
+        }
+        if *cy > y_max {
+            y_max = *cy;
+        }
+    }
+    (x_min, y_min, x_max - x_min, y_max - y_min)
+}
+
 /// Multiply two 2D transformation matrices
 /// Matrix format: [a, b, c, d, e, f] representing:
 /// | a  b  0 |

src/extractor/xobjects.rs

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use super::fonts::{
     build_font_encodings, build_font_widths, compute_string_width_ts, extract_text_from_operand,
     get_font_file2_obj_num, get_operand_bytes, CMapDecisionCache,
 };
-use super::{get_number, multiply_matrices};
+use super::{get_number, image_bbox_from_ctm, multiply_matrices};
 
 const MAX_FORM_XOBJECT_DEPTH: u8 = 5;
 
@@ -262,19 +262,43 @@ fn extract_form_xobject_text_inner(
                 if !op.operands.is_empty() {
                     if let Ok(name) = op.operands[0].as_name() {
                         let xobj_name = String::from_utf8_lossy(name).to_string();
-                        if let Some(XObjectType::Form(nested_id)) = form_xobjects.get(&xobj_name) {
-                            if depth < MAX_FORM_XOBJECT_DEPTH {
-                                let nested_items = extract_form_xobject_text_inner(
-                                    doc,
-                                    *nested_id,
-                                    page_num,
-                                    font_cmaps,
-                                    &ctm,
-                                    cmap_decisions,
-                                    depth + 1,
-                                );
-                                items.extend(nested_items);
+                        match form_xobjects.get(&xobj_name) {
+                            Some(XObjectType::Form(nested_id)) => {
+                                if depth < MAX_FORM_XOBJECT_DEPTH {
+                                    let nested_items = extract_form_xobject_text_inner(
+                                        doc,
+                                        *nested_id,
+                                        page_num,
+                                        font_cmaps,
+                                        &ctm,
+                                        cmap_decisions,
+                                        depth + 1,
+                                    );
+                                    items.extend(nested_items);
+                                }
                             }
+                            Some(XObjectType::Image) => {
+                                // Mirror the top-level Image-XObject emission
+                                // in content_stream.rs so figures embedded
+                                // inside Form XObjects (common in print-to-PDF
+                                // workflows) aren't silently dropped.
+                                let (x, y, width, height) = image_bbox_from_ctm(&ctm);
+                                items.push(TextItem {
+                                    text: format!("[Image: {}]", xobj_name),
+                                    x,
+                                    y,
+                                    width,
+                                    height,
+                                    font: String::new(),
+                                    font_size: 0.0,
+                                    page: page_num,
+                                    is_bold: false,
+                                    is_italic: false,
+                                    item_type: ItemType::Image,
+                                    mcid: None,
+                                });
+                            }
+                            None => {}
                         }
                     }
                 }

src/lib.rs

@@ -47,7 +47,10 @@ pub use detector::{
     detect_pdf_type, detect_pdf_type_mem, detect_pdf_type_mem_with_config,
     detect_pdf_type_with_config, DetectionConfig, PdfType, PdfTypeResult, ScanStrategy,
 };
-pub use extractor::{extract_text, extract_text_with_positions, extract_text_with_positions_pages};
+pub use extractor::{
+    extract_text, extract_text_with_positions, extract_text_with_positions_mem,
+    extract_text_with_positions_pages,
+};
 pub use markdown::{
     to_markdown, to_markdown_from_items, to_markdown_from_items_with_rects, MarkdownOptions,
 };
@@ -820,7 +823,10 @@ pub fn extract_tables_in_regions_mem(
                     // symmetrically low under font-decode failure — this
                     // guard breaks that symmetry by comparing against
                     // bbox area, which is independent of extraction.
-                    if region_text_density_too_low(region_text_chars, region_area) {
+                    if source != TableCandidateSource::KeyValue
+                        && region_text_density_too_low(region_text_chars, region_area)
+                        && !markdown_table_body_is_dense(&md)
+                    {
                         return None;
                     }
                     let shape = markdown_table_shape(&md);
@@ -831,7 +837,11 @@ pub fn extract_tables_in_regions_mem(
                         Some(TableCandidateIssue::LineRowUndercount)
                     } else if wide_table_sparse_prefix_undercount(&md) {
                         Some(TableCandidateIssue::SparseWideUndercount)
-                    } else if text_cluster_column_undercount(&matched, shape) {
+                    } else if !matches!(
+                        source,
+                        TableCandidateSource::Line | TableCandidateSource::KeyValue
+                    ) && text_cluster_column_undercount(&matched, shape)
+                    {
                         Some(TableCandidateIssue::TextColumnUndercount)
                     } else if prose_grid_fragment_needs_ocr(&md) {
                         Some(TableCandidateIssue::ProseGridFragment)
@@ -874,6 +884,16 @@ pub fn extract_tables_in_regions_mem(
             {
                 candidates.push(candidate);
             }
+            if let Some(table) = tables::try_build_table_from_columns(&matched, page_1idx) {
+                if let Some(candidate) = evaluate(TableCandidateSource::Column, &table) {
+                    candidates.push(candidate);
+                }
+            }
+            if let Some(table) = tables::try_build_key_value_table_from_rows(&matched, page_1idx) {
+                if let Some(candidate) = evaluate(TableCandidateSource::KeyValue, &table) {
+                    candidates.push(candidate);
+                }
+            }
 
             match select_table_candidate(&candidates) {
                 Some(candidate) => page_results.push(RegionText {
@@ -3745,6 +3765,8 @@ enum TableCandidateSource {
     Rect,
     Line,
     Heuristic,
+    Column,
+    KeyValue,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
@@ -3779,8 +3801,12 @@ fn select_table_candidate(candidates: &[TableCandidate]) -> Option<&TableCandida
     // serving a tidy-looking fragment.
     if first.issue == Some(TableCandidateIssue::LineRowUndercount) {
         return candidates.iter().find(|candidate| {
-            candidate.source == TableCandidateSource::Heuristic
-                && candidate.issue.is_none()
+            matches!(
+                candidate.source,
+                TableCandidateSource::Heuristic
+                    | TableCandidateSource::Column
+                    | TableCandidateSource::KeyValue
+            ) && candidate.issue.is_none()
                 && candidate.shape.cols * 10 >= first.shape.cols * 13
         });
     }
@@ -3798,14 +3824,31 @@ fn select_table_candidate(candidates: &[TableCandidate]) -> Option<&TableCandida
         TableCandidateSource::Rect | TableCandidateSource::Line
     ) {
         if let Some(heuristic) = candidates.iter().find(|candidate| {
-            candidate.source == TableCandidateSource::Heuristic
-                && candidate.issue.is_none()
+            matches!(
+                candidate.source,
+                TableCandidateSource::Heuristic
+                    | TableCandidateSource::Column
+                    | TableCandidateSource::KeyValue
+            ) && candidate.issue.is_none()
                 && heuristic_substantially_better(candidate.shape, accepted.shape)
         }) {
             accepted = heuristic;
         }
     }
 
+    if accepted.source == TableCandidateSource::Heuristic {
+        if let Some(layout_candidate) = candidates.iter().find(|candidate| {
+            matches!(
+                candidate.source,
+                TableCandidateSource::Column | TableCandidateSource::KeyValue
+            ) && candidate.issue.is_none()
+                && candidate.shape.cols >= accepted.shape.cols
+                && candidate.shape.rows > accepted.shape.rows
+        }) {
+            accepted = layout_candidate;
+        }
+    }
+
     Some(accepted)
 }
 
@@ -4250,12 +4293,21 @@ fn looks_like_partial_table_ex(markdown: &str, layout_assisted: bool) -> bool {
     }
 
     // Failure mode 2: header has empty cells in a multi-column table.
-    // When layout-assisted, allow up to 1 empty header cell (common in
-    // tables with merged/spanning header cells that we can't represent).
-    let empty_count = header_cells.iter().filter(|c| c.is_empty()).count();
+    // When layout-assisted, tolerate merged/spanning header gaps if the
+    // body is dense. Region bboxes from a layout model often start at a
+    // visual table whose header cannot be represented faithfully in a
+    // flat pipe table, while the body rows are still complete enough to use.
+    let header_empty_indices: Vec<usize> = header_cells
+        .iter()
+        .enumerate()
+        .filter_map(|(idx, cell)| cell.is_empty().then_some(idx))
+        .collect();
+    let empty_count = header_empty_indices.len();
     if layout_assisted {
-        // Reject only if >1 empty header cell (2+ means serious boundary issue)
-        if n_cols >= 3 && empty_count >= 2 {
+        if n_cols >= 3
+            && empty_count >= 2
+            && !layout_assisted_empty_header_has_dense_body(markdown, n_cols)
+        {
             return true;
         }
     } else if n_cols >= 3 && empty_count >= 1 {
@@ -4293,7 +4345,16 @@ fn looks_like_partial_table_ex(markdown: &str, layout_assisted: bool) -> bool {
             // (totals, subtotals) are common.
             let threshold = if layout_assisted { 2 } else { 3 };
             if n_cols >= 3 && empty_data * threshold >= n_cols {
-                return true;
+                let sparse_row_shares_header_spacer = layout_assisted
+                    && data_inner.iter().enumerate().any(|(idx, cell)| {
+                        cell.trim().is_empty() && header_empty_indices.contains(&idx)
+                    })
+                    && layout_assisted_empty_header_has_dense_body(markdown, n_cols);
+                let sparse_row_is_section_label = layout_assisted
+                    && layout_assisted_sparse_section_row_is_ok(data_inner, markdown, n_cols);
+                if !sparse_row_shares_header_spacer && !sparse_row_is_section_label {
+                    return true;
+                }
             }
         }
     }
@@ -4351,6 +4412,88 @@ fn looks_like_partial_table_ex(markdown: &str, layout_assisted: bool) -> bool {
     false
 }
 
+fn layout_assisted_empty_header_has_dense_body(markdown: &str, n_cols: usize) -> bool {
+    let rows = markdown_pipe_rows(markdown);
+    let data_rows: Vec<&Vec<&str>> = rows
+        .iter()
+        .skip(1)
+        .filter(|row| row.iter().any(|cell| !cell.trim().is_empty()))
+        .collect();
+    if data_rows.len() < 2 || n_cols < 3 {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    let total_cells = data_rows.len() * n_cols;
+    let mut filled_cells = 0usize;
+    let mut rows_with_multiple_cells = 0usize;
+    let mut max_filled_in_row = 0usize;
+    for row in &data_rows {
+        let filled = row.iter().filter(|cell| !cell.trim().is_empty()).count();
+        filled_cells += filled;
+        max_filled_in_row = max_filled_in_row.max(filled);
+        if filled >= 2 {
+            rows_with_multiple_cells += 1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Dense enough to be a useful extraction despite lossy merged headers.
+    // The row-count gate avoids accepting a single tidy row under a broken
+    // header, and the density gate keeps sparse fragments on the OCR path.
+    rows_with_multiple_cells * 2 >= data_rows.len()
+        && max_filled_in_row >= n_cols.min(3)
+        && filled_cells * 100 >= total_cells * 45
+}
+
+fn layout_assisted_sparse_section_row_is_ok(row: &[&str], markdown: &str, n_cols: usize) -> bool {
+    let labels: Vec<&str> = row
+        .iter()
+        .map(|cell| cell.trim())
+        .filter(|cell| !cell.is_empty())
+        .collect();
+    if labels.len() != 1 {
+        return false;
+    }
+    let label = labels[0];
+    if label.len() > 40 || !label.chars().any(|ch| ch.is_alphabetic()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if label.ends_with('.') || label.ends_with('!') || label.ends_with('?') || label.ends_with(':')
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+    layout_assisted_empty_header_has_dense_body(markdown, n_cols)
+}
+
+fn markdown_table_body_is_dense(markdown: &str) -> bool {
+    let rows = markdown_pipe_rows(markdown);
+    let data_rows: Vec<&Vec<&str>> = rows
+        .iter()
+        .skip(1)
+        .filter(|row| row.iter().any(|cell| !cell.trim().is_empty()))
+        .collect();
+    if data_rows.len() < 3 {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    let cols = rows.iter().map(|row| row.len()).max().unwrap_or_default();
+    if cols < 3 {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    let mut filled_cells = 0usize;
+    let mut rows_with_multiple_cells = 0usize;
+    for row in &data_rows {
+        let filled = row.iter().filter(|cell| !cell.trim().is_empty()).count();
+        filled_cells += filled;
+        if filled >= cols.min(3) {
+            rows_with_multiple_cells += 1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    let total_cells = data_rows.len() * cols;
+    rows_with_multiple_cells * 2 >= data_rows.len() && filled_cells * 100 >= total_cells * 45
+}
+
 /// Original strict validation (no layout assistance). Used by tests and
 /// full-page extraction paths that don't have layout model assistance.
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -4702,6 +4845,16 @@ mod table_candidate_selection_tests {
         assert_eq!(selected.source, TableCandidateSource::Heuristic);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn prefers_clean_column_fallback_when_it_recovers_more_rows() {
+        let candidates = vec![
+            candidate(TableCandidateSource::Heuristic, 6, 5, None),
+            candidate(TableCandidateSource::Column, 7, 5, None),
+        ];
+        let selected = select_table_candidate(&candidates).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(selected.source, TableCandidateSource::Column);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn line_candidate_collapsing_captured_y_clusters_is_suspicious() {
         let long = "value value value value value value value value value value value value";
@@ -4806,7 +4959,9 @@ mod table_candidate_selection_tests {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod looks_like_partial_table_tests {
-    use super::{looks_like_partial_table, looks_like_partial_table_ex};
+    use super::{
+        looks_like_partial_table, looks_like_partial_table_ex, markdown_table_body_is_dense,
+    };
 
     #[test]
     fn good_table_passes() {
@@ -4941,11 +5096,29 @@ mod looks_like_partial_table_tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn two_empty_headers_still_rejected_when_layout_assisted() {
-        // 2+ empty headers is still bad even with layout assistance.
+        // A single tidy row is not enough evidence to trust a badly gapped header.
         let md = "|A|||D|\n|---|---|---|---|\n|x|y|z|w|";
         assert!(
             looks_like_partial_table_ex(md, true),
-            "2 empty headers rejected even layout-assisted"
+            "2 empty headers with only one body row are rejected even layout-assisted"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn dense_body_with_empty_merged_header_passes_when_layout_assisted() {
+        let md = "|Year||Unadjusted Basis|||\n\
+                  |---|---|---|---|---|\n\
+                  |1|.1667|$100,000|$16,670|$16,670|\n\
+                  |2|.3333|$100,000|$33,330|$50,000|\n\
+                  |3|.3333|$100,000|$33,330|$88,330|\n\
+                  |4|.1667|$100,000|$16,670|$100,000|";
+        assert!(
+            looks_like_partial_table(md),
+            "strict mode still rejects merged-header gaps"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !looks_like_partial_table_ex(md, true),
+            "layout-assisted should trust a dense body under a merged header"
         );
     }
 
@@ -4970,6 +5143,40 @@ mod looks_like_partial_table_tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn sparse_first_row_with_header_spacer_passes_when_layout_assisted() {
+        let md = "|Properties|Instruction||Training Datasets Alignment|\n\
+                  |---|---|---|---|\n\
+                  ||Alpaca-GPT4 OpenOrca Synth. Math-Instruct||Orca DPO Pairs Ultrafeedback Cleaned|\n\
+                  |Total # Samples|52K 2.91M 126K||12.9K 60.8K 126K|";
+        assert!(
+            looks_like_partial_table(md),
+            "strict mode rejects the sparse first row"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !looks_like_partial_table_ex(md, true),
+            "layout-assisted should allow sparse rows that share a header spacer column"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sparse_section_row_passes_when_layout_assisted_body_is_dense() {
+        let md = "|Properties|Conditions|Method|Typical values|Units|\n\
+                  |---|---|---|---|---|\n\
+                  |Rheology|||||\n\
+                  |Melt Flow Rate|230 C/2.16 kg|ASTM D1238|3.0|g/10 min|\n\
+                  |Tensile Stress at Yield|50 mm/min|ASTM D638|31|MPa|\n\
+                  |Elongation at Yield|50 mm/min|ASTM D638|8|%|";
+        assert!(
+            looks_like_partial_table(md),
+            "strict mode rejects the sparse first row"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !looks_like_partial_table_ex(md, true),
+            "layout-assisted should allow a short section label above dense table rows"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn paragraph_still_rejected_when_layout_assisted() {
         // Paragraph detection is not relaxed — it's a genuine extraction issue.
@@ -5023,6 +5230,27 @@ mod looks_like_partial_table_tests {
             "duplicate headers rejected even layout-assisted"
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn dense_numeric_table_body_is_structurally_trusted() {
+        let md = "|Year|3-Year|5-Year|7-Year|\n\
+                  |---|---|---|---|\n\
+                  |1|33.0%|20.00%|14.29%|\n\
+                  |2|44.45%|32.00%|24.49%|\n\
+                  |3|14.81%|19.20%|17.49%|\n\
+                  |4|7.41%|11.52%|12.49%|";
+        assert!(markdown_table_body_is_dense(md));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sparse_markdown_fragment_is_not_structurally_trusted() {
+        let md = "|A|B|C|D|\n\
+                  |---|---|---|---|\n\
+                  |x||||\n\
+                  |||y||\n\
+                  ||||z|";
+        assert!(!markdown_table_body_is_dense(md));
+    }
 }
 
 /// Analyse extracted items and rects for layout complexity.

src/markdown/convert.rs

@@ -149,6 +149,79 @@ fn find_isolated_lines(lines: &[TextLine], base_size: f32, para_threshold: f32)
     set
 }
 
+/// Pre-scan body-size all-bold runs that are too long to be headings.
+///
+/// Some academic PDFs use an all-bold abstract/summary paragraph immediately
+/// after the author block.  A line-local bold heading heuristic sees each
+/// wrapped visual line as "standalone" once the first line is misclassified,
+/// producing a stack of `##` headings.  Multi-line body-size bold runs with a
+/// paragraph-sized word count should stay paragraph text.
+fn find_wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines(
+    lines: &[TextLine],
+    base_size: f32,
+    para_threshold: f32,
+) -> HashSet<usize> {
+    let mut set = HashSet::new();
+    let mut i = 0usize;
+
+    while i < lines.len() {
+        if !is_body_size_all_bold_line(&lines[i], base_size) {
+            i += 1;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        let start = i;
+        let mut end = i;
+        let mut word_count = lines[i].text().split_whitespace().count();
+
+        while end + 1 < lines.len()
+            && is_body_size_all_bold_line(&lines[end + 1], base_size)
+            && is_wrapped_same_style_line(&lines[end], &lines[end + 1], para_threshold)
+        {
+            end += 1;
+            word_count += lines[end].text().split_whitespace().count();
+        }
+
+        let line_count = end - start + 1;
+        if line_count >= 3 && word_count > 20 {
+            for idx in start..=end {
+                set.insert(idx);
+            }
+        }
+
+        i = end + 1;
+    }
+
+    set
+}
+
+fn is_body_size_all_bold_line(line: &TextLine, base_size: f32) -> bool {
+    let Some(first) = line.items.first() else {
+        return false;
+    };
+    first.font_size >= base_size * 0.95
+        && first.font_size < base_size * 1.2
+        && line
+            .items
+            .iter()
+            .all(|item| item.is_bold && (item.font_size - first.font_size).abs() < 0.5)
+}
+
+fn is_wrapped_same_style_line(prev: &TextLine, next: &TextLine, para_threshold: f32) -> bool {
+    if prev.page != next.page {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    let y_gap = prev.y - next.y;
+    if !(y_gap > 0.0 && y_gap <= para_threshold) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    let prev_x = prev.items.first().map(|item| item.x).unwrap_or(0.0);
+    let next_x = next.items.first().map(|item| item.x).unwrap_or(0.0);
+    (prev_x - next_x).abs() <= 40.0
+}
+
 /// Resolve the dominant structure role for a text line by looking up its items' MCIDs.
 ///
 /// Returns the first non-container role found (skipping Document/Part/Sect/Div/NonStruct/Span).
@@ -397,6 +470,8 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
     // between paragraphs at body font size. Inspired by opendataloader's
     // lookahead in HeadingProcessor (prevNode/nextNode context).
     let isolated_lines = find_isolated_lines(&lines, base_size, para_threshold);
+    let wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines =
+        find_wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines(&lines, base_size, para_threshold);
 
     // Detect struct heading levels that are overused (body text mistagged as headings)
     let overused_heading_levels = detect_overused_struct_heading_levels(&lines, struct_roles);
@@ -410,6 +485,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
     let mut last_list_x: Option<f32> = None;
     let mut in_code_block = false;
     let mut prev_had_dot_leaders = false;
+    let mut paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
     let mut inserted_tables: HashSet<(u32, usize)> = HashSet::new();
     let mut inserted_images: HashSet<(u32, usize)> = HashSet::new();
 
@@ -475,6 +551,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             current_page = line.page;
             prev_y = f32::MAX;
             prev_x = 0.0;
+            paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
 
             if options.include_page_numbers {
                 output.push_str(&format!("<!-- Page {} -->\n\n", current_page));
@@ -489,6 +566,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
                     if in_paragraph {
                         output.push_str("\n\n");
                         in_paragraph = false;
+                        paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
                     }
                     output.push('\n');
                     output.push_str(table_md);
@@ -506,6 +584,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
                     if in_paragraph {
                         output.push_str("\n\n");
                         in_paragraph = false;
+                        paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
                     }
                     output.push('\n');
                     output.push_str(image_md);
@@ -527,9 +606,18 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             && y_gap.abs() <= para_threshold
             && (prev_x - line_x).abs() > 50.0
             && prev_y < f32::MAX;
-        if (is_para_break || is_band_switch) && in_paragraph {
+        let line_all_bold = !line.items.is_empty() && line.items.iter().all(|item| item.is_bold);
+        let line_in_wrapped_bold_run = wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines.contains(&line_idx);
+        let is_bold_to_regular_break = in_paragraph
+            && paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run
+            && !line_in_wrapped_bold_run
+            && !line_all_bold
+            && y_gap > base_size * 1.2
+            && y_gap <= para_threshold;
+        if (is_para_break || is_band_switch || is_bold_to_regular_break) && in_paragraph {
             output.push_str("\n\n");
             in_paragraph = false;
+            paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
         }
         // Don't immediately end list on paragraph break
         // Let the continuation check below decide if we're still in a list
@@ -572,6 +660,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             output.push_str(trimmed);
             output.push_str("\n\n");
@@ -625,6 +714,9 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
                 if !(1..=15).contains(&word_count) {
                     return None;
                 }
+                if wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines.contains(&line_idx) {
+                    return None;
+                }
                 let rarity = font_size_rarity(line_font_size, &font_stats);
                 let all_bold = !line.items.is_empty() && line.items.iter().all(|i| i.is_bold);
                 let standalone = !in_paragraph;
@@ -656,6 +748,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             let prefix = "#".repeat(level);
             // Use plain text for headers to avoid redundant formatting
@@ -678,6 +771,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             output.push_str(&format!("- {}", trimmed));
             output.push('\n');
@@ -691,6 +785,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             let formatted = format_list_item(trimmed);
             output.push_str(&formatted);
@@ -737,6 +832,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             output.push_str(&format!("> {}\n", trimmed));
             continue;
@@ -747,6 +843,7 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             if !in_code_block {
                 output.push_str("```\n");
@@ -767,6 +864,11 @@ pub(super) fn to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
             }
         }
         output.push_str(trimmed);
+        paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = if in_paragraph {
+            paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run || line_in_wrapped_bold_run
+        } else {
+            line_in_wrapped_bold_run
+        };
         in_paragraph = true;
         prev_had_dot_leaders = cur_dot_leaders;
     }
@@ -836,6 +938,8 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
     let para_threshold = compute_paragraph_threshold(&lines, base_size);
 
     let isolated_lines = find_isolated_lines(&lines, base_size, para_threshold);
+    let wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines =
+        find_wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines(&lines, base_size, para_threshold);
 
     let mut output = String::new();
     let mut current_page = 0u32;
@@ -844,6 +948,7 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
     let mut in_paragraph = false;
     let mut last_list_x: Option<f32> = None;
     let mut prev_had_dot_leaders = false;
+    let mut paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
 
     for (line_idx, line) in lines.iter().enumerate() {
         // Page break
@@ -860,6 +965,7 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
             in_list = false;
             last_list_x = None;
             prev_had_dot_leaders = false;
+            paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
 
             if options.include_page_numbers {
                 output.push_str(&format!("<!-- Page {} -->\n\n", current_page));
@@ -870,9 +976,18 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
         // (newspaper columns emitted sequentially on the same page).
         let y_gap = prev_y - line.y;
         let is_para_break = y_gap.abs() > para_threshold;
-        if is_para_break && in_paragraph {
+        let line_all_bold = !line.items.is_empty() && line.items.iter().all(|item| item.is_bold);
+        let line_in_wrapped_bold_run = wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines.contains(&line_idx);
+        let is_bold_to_regular_break = in_paragraph
+            && paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run
+            && !line_in_wrapped_bold_run
+            && !line_all_bold
+            && y_gap > base_size * 1.2
+            && y_gap <= para_threshold;
+        if (is_para_break || is_bold_to_regular_break) && in_paragraph {
             output.push_str("\n\n");
             in_paragraph = false;
+            paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
         }
         // Don't immediately end list on paragraph break
         // Let the continuation check below decide if we're still in a list
@@ -896,6 +1011,7 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             output.push_str(trimmed);
             output.push_str("\n\n");
@@ -918,6 +1034,9 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
                     if !(1..=15).contains(&word_count) {
                         return None;
                     }
+                    if wrapped_bold_paragraph_lines.contains(&line_idx) {
+                        return None;
+                    }
                     let rarity = font_size_rarity(line_font_size, &font_stats);
                     let all_bold = !line.items.is_empty() && line.items.iter().all(|i| i.is_bold);
                     let standalone = !in_paragraph;
@@ -935,6 +1054,7 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
                 if in_paragraph {
                     output.push_str("\n\n");
                     in_paragraph = false;
+                    paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
                 }
                 let prefix = "#".repeat(header_level);
                 // Use plain text for headers to avoid redundant formatting
@@ -949,6 +1069,7 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
             if in_paragraph {
                 output.push_str("\n\n");
                 in_paragraph = false;
+                paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
             }
             let formatted = format_list_item(trimmed);
             output.push_str(&formatted);
@@ -993,6 +1114,7 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
                 if in_paragraph {
                     output.push_str("\n\n");
                     in_paragraph = false;
+                    paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = false;
                 }
                 // Use plain text for code blocks
                 output.push_str(&format!("```\n{}\n```\n", plain_trimmed));
@@ -1010,6 +1132,11 @@ pub fn to_markdown_from_lines(lines: Vec<TextLine>, options: MarkdownOptions) ->
             }
         }
         output.push_str(trimmed);
+        paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run = if in_paragraph {
+            paragraph_in_wrapped_bold_run || line_in_wrapped_bold_run
+        } else {
+            line_in_wrapped_bold_run
+        };
         in_paragraph = true;
         prev_had_dot_leaders = cur_dot_leaders;
     }
@@ -1356,6 +1483,109 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_wrapped_bold_abstract_is_not_split_into_headings() {
+        // Regression for arXiv 1107.1353: the opening abstract paragraph is
+        // entirely bold at body size. The first wrapped lines used to become
+        // separate H2 headings, and the following body paragraph was joined to
+        // the bold abstract because the paragraph gap is modest.
+        let make = |text: &str, y: f32, font_size: f32, bold: bool| {
+            let mut item = make_item(text, 1, None);
+            item.y = y;
+            item.font_size = font_size;
+            item.height = font_size;
+            item.is_bold = bold;
+            item
+        };
+
+        let lines = vec![
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "Quantum Nature of Light Measured With a Single Detector",
+                747.7,
+                25.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "Gesine A. Steudle1*, Stefan Schietinger1, David Höckel1",
+                651.1,
+                11.0,
+                false,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "Zwiller2, and Oliver Benson1",
+                638.5,
+                11.0,
+                false,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "The introduction of light quanta by Einstein in 1905 triggered strong efforts to",
+                607.5,
+                11.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "demonstrate the quantum properties of light directly, without involving matter",
+                594.8,
+                11.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "quantization. It however took more than seven decades for the quantum granularity",
+                582.2,
+                11.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "of light to be observed in the fluorescence of single atoms. Single atoms emit",
+                569.5,
+                11.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "photons one at a time, this is typically demonstrated with a Hanbury-Brown-Twiss",
+                556.9,
+                11.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "Our work significantly simplifies a widely used photon-correlation technique.",
+                544.2,
+                11.0,
+                true,
+            )]),
+            make_line(vec![make(
+                "A photon is a single excitation of a mode of the electromagnetic field.",
+                528.7,
+                11.0,
+                false,
+            )]),
+        ];
+
+        let md = to_markdown_from_lines_with_tables_and_images(
+            lines,
+            MarkdownOptions::default(),
+            HashMap::new(),
+            HashMap::new(),
+            &std::collections::HashSet::new(),
+            None,
+        );
+
+        assert!(
+            md.contains("# Quantum Nature of Light Measured With a Single Detector"),
+            "title should remain a heading: {md}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !md.contains("## The introduction")
+                && !md.contains("## demonstrate")
+                && !md.contains("## quantization"),
+            "bold abstract lines should not become headings: {md}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            md.contains("technique.**\n\nA photon is a single excitation"),
+            "body paragraph should be separated from bold abstract: {md}"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_struct_role_code_multiline_accumulation() {
         let mut line1 = make_item("fn main() {", 1, Some(0));

src/markdown/mod.rs

@@ -422,7 +422,16 @@ impl Default for MarkdownOptions {
             fix_hyphenation: true,
             detect_bold: true,
             detect_italic: true,
-            include_images: true,
+            // `include_images: false` is intentional. The content-stream walker
+            // now emits `ItemType::Image` `TextItem`s for every Image XObject
+            // it encounters (see `extractor/content_stream.rs`). If we rendered
+            // those into markdown by default, every existing caller would
+            // suddenly see `![Image: Im0](image)` placeholders inserted
+            // throughout their output — a silent regression for anyone who
+            // upgrades. Image bboxes are still available via
+            // `extract_text_with_positions` for callers (e.g. layout-aware
+            // pipelines) that want to crop + caption figures themselves.
+            include_images: false,
             include_links: true,
             include_page_numbers: false,
             strip_headers_footers: true,

src/tables/detect_rects.rs

@@ -231,6 +231,15 @@ pub fn detect_tables_from_rects(
     rects: &[PdfRect],
     page: u32,
 ) -> (Vec<Table>, Vec<RectHintRegion>) {
+    // Strip Image placeholders before column/row clustering — an image's bbox
+    // would otherwise show up as a spurious column edge. See `is_text_layout_item`.
+    let items_owned: Vec<TextItem> = items
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|i| crate::extractor::is_text_layout_item(i))
+        .cloned()
+        .collect();
+    let items = items_owned.as_slice();
+
     // Filter rects on this page; normalize negative widths/heights; skip tiny rects.
     let mut page_rects: Vec<(f32, f32, f32, f32)> = Vec::new(); // (x, y, w, h) normalized
     for r in rects {

src/tables/format.rs

@@ -208,6 +208,24 @@ fn looks_like_compact_entry_label(cell: &str) -> bool {
     (1..=6).contains(&words)
 }
 
+fn looks_like_plain_section_label(cell: &str) -> bool {
+    let trimmed = cell.trim();
+    if trimmed.len() < 4 || trimmed.len() > 40 {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if trimmed.ends_with(['.', ',', ';', ':']) || trimmed.contains(|ch: char| ch.is_ascii_digit()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if trimmed.len() <= 4 && trimmed.chars().all(|ch| !ch.is_lowercase()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    trimmed
+        .chars()
+        .all(|ch| ch.is_alphabetic() || ch.is_whitespace() || matches!(ch, '&' | '/' | '-'))
+        && starts_with_uppercase_alpha(trimmed)
+        && (1..=4).contains(&alpha_word_count(trimmed))
+}
+
 fn ends_like_incomplete_phrase(cell: &str) -> bool {
     let lower = cell.trim_end().to_ascii_lowercase();
     lower.ends_with(" and")
@@ -305,6 +323,10 @@ fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
             .and_then(|r| r.first())
             .map(|c| c.trim())
             .unwrap_or("");
+        let header_filled = cleaned
+            .first()
+            .map(|r| r.iter().filter(|c| !c.trim().is_empty()).count())
+            .unwrap_or(num_cols);
         let looks_like_spanning_first_column_row = first_cell.is_empty()
             && row.len() >= 4
             && non_first_cells.len() == row.len().saturating_sub(1)
@@ -328,6 +350,10 @@ fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
             && non_first_cells
                 .iter()
                 .any(|cell| looks_like_compact_entry_label(cell));
+        let looks_like_section_label_row = !first_cell.is_empty()
+            && filled_cells == 1
+            && header_filled >= 3
+            && looks_like_plain_section_label(first_cell);
         // Classic continuation: first cell empty, content in other cells
         let is_classic_continuation = first_cell.is_empty()
             && !non_first_cells.is_empty()
@@ -344,10 +370,6 @@ fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
             .last()
             .map(|r| r.iter().filter(|c| !c.trim().is_empty()).count())
             .unwrap_or(0);
-        let header_filled = cleaned
-            .first()
-            .map(|r| r.iter().filter(|c| !c.trim().is_empty()).count())
-            .unwrap_or(num_cols);
         // Merge when the row has significantly fewer filled cells than header.
         // For wide tables (5+ cols), require ≤50% of header cells.
         // For narrow tables (2-4 cols), require fewer than header cells.
@@ -369,6 +391,7 @@ fn clean_table_cells(cells: &[Vec<String>]) -> (Vec<Vec<String>>, Vec<String>) {
             && !looks_like_spanning_first_column_row
             && !looks_like_hierarchical_subrow
             && !looks_like_new_first_column_entry
+            && !looks_like_section_label_row
             && !is_short_subheader;
 
         let is_continuation = is_classic_continuation || is_wrapped_continuation;
@@ -514,6 +537,44 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(cleaned[1][1].contains("continued text here"));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_clean_table_cells_first_column_section_label_not_merged() {
+        let cells = vec![
+            vec![
+                "Properties".into(),
+                "Conditions".into(),
+                "Method".into(),
+                "Typical values".into(),
+                "Units".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "Melt Flow Rate".into(),
+                "230 C/2.16 kg".into(),
+                "ASTM D1238".into(),
+                "3.0".into(),
+                "g/10 min".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "Mechanical".into(),
+                "".into(),
+                "".into(),
+                "".into(),
+                "".into(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "Tensile Stress at Yield".into(),
+                "50 mm/min".into(),
+                "ASTM D638".into(),
+                "31".into(),
+                "MPa".into(),
+            ],
+        ];
+        let (cleaned, _) = clean_table_cells(&cells);
+
+        assert_eq!(cleaned.len(), 4);
+        assert_eq!(cleaned[2][0], "Mechanical");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_clean_table_cells_short_subheader_not_merged() {
         let cells = vec![

tests/integration_tests.rs

@@ -2,13 +2,14 @@
 
 use pdf_inspector::detector::{estimate_page_count_from_bytes, DetectionConfig, ScanStrategy};
 use pdf_inspector::extractor::group_into_lines;
+use pdf_inspector::types::ItemType;
 use pdf_inspector::types::TextLine;
 use pdf_inspector::{
     detect_pdf_type, detect_vector_grid_in_region_mem, extract_pages_markdown,
     extract_pages_markdown_mem, extract_tables_in_regions_mem, extract_text,
-    extract_text_in_regions_mem, extract_text_with_positions, process_pdf_mem,
-    process_pdf_with_options, to_markdown, MarkdownOptions, PdfError, PdfOptions, PdfType,
-    TextItem,
+    extract_text_in_regions_mem, extract_text_with_positions, extract_text_with_positions_mem,
+    process_pdf_mem, process_pdf_with_options, to_markdown, MarkdownOptions, PdfError, PdfOptions,
+    PdfType, TextItem,
 };
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 
@@ -3391,3 +3392,186 @@ fn test_synthetic_type0_broken_tounicode_emits_fffd_not_latin1_mojibake() {
         result.pages_needing_ocr
     );
 }
+
+// ============================================================================
+// Image XObject emission
+// ============================================================================
+
+/// Build a minimal PDF containing one Image XObject placed at a known CTM.
+/// `image_ctm` is the 6-element matrix applied to the unit square by the
+/// `Do` operator (per PDF spec section 8.9.5 "Image Coordinate System").
+/// For an axis-aligned image at `(x, y)` with size `w × h`, that's
+/// `[w, 0, 0, h, x, y]`.
+fn make_pdf_with_image(image_ctm: [f32; 6]) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut pdf = b"%PDF-1.4\n".to_vec();
+    let mut offsets = vec![0usize];
+
+    fn add_object(pdf: &mut Vec<u8>, offsets: &mut Vec<usize>, id: usize, body: &str) {
+        offsets.push(pdf.len());
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(format!("{id} 0 obj\n").as_bytes());
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(body.as_bytes());
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(b"\nendobj\n");
+    }
+    fn add_stream_object(
+        pdf: &mut Vec<u8>,
+        offsets: &mut Vec<usize>,
+        id: usize,
+        dict: &str,
+        stream_bytes: &[u8],
+    ) {
+        offsets.push(pdf.len());
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(format!("{id} 0 obj\n").as_bytes());
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(
+            format!("<< {} /Length {} >>\nstream\n", dict, stream_bytes.len()).as_bytes(),
+        );
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(stream_bytes);
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(b"\nendstream\nendobj\n");
+    }
+
+    // 1: catalog → 2: pages → 3: page with XObject /Im0 → 4: content stream
+    // 5: font → 6: image XObject (1×1 grayscale)
+    add_object(
+        &mut pdf,
+        &mut offsets,
+        1,
+        "<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>",
+    );
+    add_object(
+        &mut pdf,
+        &mut offsets,
+        2,
+        "<< /Type /Pages /Kids [3 0 R] /Count 1 >>",
+    );
+    add_object(
+        &mut pdf,
+        &mut offsets,
+        3,
+        "<< /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] \
+         /Resources << /Font << /F1 5 0 R >> /XObject << /Im0 6 0 R >> >> \
+         /Contents 4 0 R >>",
+    );
+    let [a, b, c, d, e, f] = image_ctm;
+    // BT/ET around a small text item just so the page isn't classified as
+    // image-only (which would route to a different code path). Then save
+    // graphics state, apply the image CTM, invoke Im0, restore.
+    let content = format!(
+        "BT /F1 12 Tf 100 700 Td (Hi) Tj ET\nq {} {} {} {} {} {} cm /Im0 Do Q",
+        a, b, c, d, e, f
+    );
+    add_stream_object(&mut pdf, &mut offsets, 4, "", content.as_bytes());
+    add_object(
+        &mut pdf,
+        &mut offsets,
+        5,
+        "<< /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /BaseFont /Helvetica >>",
+    );
+    // 1×1 grayscale image; the single byte is mid-gray. Contents don't
+    // matter to the extractor — it only cares about the XObject's
+    // /Subtype and the CTM at the `Do` operator.
+    let image_pixel = [128u8];
+    add_stream_object(
+        &mut pdf,
+        &mut offsets,
+        6,
+        "/Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 1 /Height 1 \
+         /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8",
+        &image_pixel,
+    );
+
+    let xref_start = pdf.len();
+    pdf.extend_from_slice(format!("xref\n0 {}\n", offsets.len()).as_bytes());
+    pdf.extend_from_slice(b"0000000000 65535 f \n");
+    for offset in offsets.iter().skip(1) {
+        pdf.extend_from_slice(format!("{offset:010} 00000 n \n").as_bytes());
+    }
+    pdf.extend_from_slice(
+        format!(
+            "trailer\n<< /Size {} /Root 1 0 R >>\nstartxref\n{}\n%%EOF",
+            offsets.len(),
+            xref_start
+        )
+        .as_bytes(),
+    );
+    pdf
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_extract_text_with_positions_emits_image_bboxes() {
+    // Place a 200×100 image at (50, 600) in PDF user space (origin
+    // bottom-left). The Do operator applies the CTM to a unit square,
+    // so for an axis-aligned image, CTM = [w, 0, 0, h, x, y].
+    let pdf = make_pdf_with_image([200.0, 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, 50.0, 600.0]);
+    let items = extract_text_with_positions_mem(&pdf).expect("extract");
+
+    let images: Vec<&TextItem> = items
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|i| matches!(i.item_type, ItemType::Image))
+        .collect();
+    assert_eq!(
+        images.len(),
+        1,
+        "expected exactly one Image item, got items: {:?}",
+        items
+            .iter()
+            .map(|i| (&i.text, &i.item_type))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+    );
+    let img = images[0];
+    assert!((img.x - 50.0).abs() < 0.01, "x={}", img.x);
+    assert!((img.y - 600.0).abs() < 0.01, "y={}", img.y);
+    assert!((img.width - 200.0).abs() < 0.01, "width={}", img.width);
+    assert!((img.height - 100.0).abs() < 0.01, "height={}", img.height);
+    assert_eq!(img.page, 1);
+    // text field carries the legacy `[Image: <resource-name>]` form that
+    // the markdown emitter already knows how to parse.
+    assert_eq!(img.text, "[Image: Im0]");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_image_xobject_bbox_handles_rotated_ctm() {
+    // 90° rotation CTM: a unit square at the origin maps to a square
+    // rotated counter-clockwise about (0,0), then translated to (200, 300).
+    // For a 100×100 image, that's CTM = [0, 100, -100, 0, 200, 300]
+    // (apply the rotation: (1,0) → (0,100); (0,1) → (-100,0)).
+    // The page-space corners are:
+    //   (0,0) → (200, 300)
+    //   (1,0) → (200, 400)
+    //   (1,1) → (100, 400)
+    //   (0,1) → (100, 300)
+    // → AABB: x=100..200 (w=100), y=300..400 (h=100).
+    let pdf = make_pdf_with_image([0.0, 100.0, -100.0, 0.0, 200.0, 300.0]);
+    let items = extract_text_with_positions_mem(&pdf).expect("extract");
+    let img = items
+        .iter()
+        .find(|i| matches!(i.item_type, ItemType::Image))
+        .expect("image item");
+    assert!((img.x - 100.0).abs() < 0.01, "x={}", img.x);
+    assert!((img.y - 300.0).abs() < 0.01, "y={}", img.y);
+    assert!((img.width - 100.0).abs() < 0.01, "width={}", img.width);
+    assert!((img.height - 100.0).abs() < 0.01, "height={}", img.height);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_image_emission_does_not_change_default_markdown() {
+    // Default `MarkdownOptions::include_images = false` — adding image
+    // emission MUST NOT make `extract_pages_markdown` start producing
+    // `![Image: …]` placeholders for everyone. Existing callers that
+    // upgrade should see no diff in their markdown.
+    let pdf = make_pdf_with_image([200.0, 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, 50.0, 600.0]);
+    let result = extract_pages_markdown_mem(&pdf, None).expect("extract");
+    assert_eq!(result.pages.len(), 1);
+    assert!(
+        !result.pages[0].markdown.contains("Image:"),
+        "default markdown leaked an image placeholder: {:?}",
+        result.pages[0].markdown
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_markdown_options_default_has_include_images_false() {
+    // Explicit assertion so anyone flipping this back catches it in CI.
+    // See `MarkdownOptions::default` in src/markdown/mod.rs for the
+    // long-form rationale.
+    let opts = MarkdownOptions::default();
+    assert!(!opts.include_images);
+}