Class PdfExtractionOptions

Configuration options for PDF extraction behavior

Provides control over how tables and text are extracted from PDF documents.

Use this class to customize extraction parameters such as text mode, table detection strategy,

and various tolerance values that affect extraction accuracy.

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Usage: 

var options = new PdfExtractionOptions
{
TextMode = TextExtractionMode.Stream,
TableStrategy = TableDetectionStrategy.Hybrid,
EnableTableExtraction = true,
EnableTextExtraction = true,
CellMergeThreshold = 2.0,
ColumnDetectionSensitivity = 15.0
};
var result = PdfExtractor.Extract("document.pdf", options);

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Inheritance
System.Object
PdfExtractionOptions
Namespace: IronPdf.Extractions
Assembly: IronPdf.dll
Syntax
public class PdfExtractionOptions : Object

PdfExtractionOptions is what IronPDF C# code uses for text extraction. It represents configuration options for PDF extraction behavior Provides control over how tables and text are extracted from PDF documents.

PdfExtractionOptions matters when an application needs to configure or invoke text extraction from C# code. The class encapsulates the related options and behavior in a single object that is set up once and reused across render or processing calls. Typical scenarios include batch generation pipelines, templated document workflows, and integration with existing C# document services.

To use PdfExtractionOptions, instantiate or obtain it from the relevant entry point in the IronPDF C# API. Key properties include CellMergeThreshold, CellWordInclusionTolerance, ColumnDetectionSensitivity, ColumnGapMultiplier. Assign options or invoke methods on the instance to configure or perform the operation. The extract text and images covers typical usage in C# end to end.

using IronPdf;

var instance = new PdfExtractionOptions();
var current = instance.CellMergeThreshold;
// Read or assign other properties such as CellWordInclusionTolerance, ColumnDetectionSensitivity

For the broader workflow, see the draw text and bitmap guide in the IronPDF C# documentation. For broader context, the text extraction portion of the IronPDF C# API contains related types that work with PdfExtractionOptions directly. PdfExtractionOptions exposes additional members beyond those highlighted above; the reference tables on this page list the full set. In application code, treat PdfExtractionOptions as a configured object that is constructed once and reused across operations rather than instantiated per call. Configuration is generally idempotent: assigning the same property value twice has the same effect as assigning it once. For diagnostic purposes, inspect the relevant PdfExtractionOptions property after each operation to confirm the configured state. See the constructors, properties, and methods tables below for the complete API surface of PdfExtractionOptions.

Constructors

PdfExtractionOptions()

Declaration
public PdfExtractionOptions()

Properties

CellMergeThreshold

Controls how close cell boundaries need to be to merge (in points).

• Lower values = stricter alignment

• Higher values = more forgiving

Default value: 2.0

Declaration
public double CellMergeThreshold { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double

CellWordInclusionTolerance

Positional tolerance (in points) for deciding if a word lies within a table cell.

Declaration
public double CellWordInclusionTolerance { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double
Remarks

Expands cell boundaries slightly to avoid losing near-edge words.

• Lower values = stricter geometric adherence

• Higher values = better for noisy PDFs

Default value: 3.0.

ColumnDetectionSensitivity

Gap size (in points) required to split text into separate columns.

• Lower values = more aggressive column detection

• Higher values = less aggressive

Default value: 15.0

Declaration
public double ColumnDetectionSensitivity { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double

ColumnGapMultiplier

Multiplier applied to the average inter-word gap to detect

if a gap represents a column break within a table cell.

Declaration
public double ColumnGapMultiplier { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double
Remarks

Helps distinguish normal spacing from real column separators.

• Lower values = more sensitive, risk of false splits

• Higher values = more conservative

Default value: 3.0

EnableTableExtraction

Enable or disable table extraction

When set to false, only text will be extracted from the PDF.

Default value: true

Declaration
public bool EnableTableExtraction { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Boolean

EnableTextExtraction

Enable or disable text extraction

When set to false, only tables will be extracted from the PDF.

Default value: true

Declaration
public bool EnableTextExtraction { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Boolean

LineHeightGroupingTolerance

Vertical tolerance (in points) for grouping words into text lines.

Declaration
public double LineHeightGroupingTolerance { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double
Remarks

This tolerance defines the maximum allowed difference between the

vertical midpoints of two words for them to be considered part of

the same textual line.

• Lower values good for clean digital PDFs

• Higher values recommended for noisy docs

Default value: 3.0.

OwnerPassword

Optional owner password if the PDF document is protected by owner restrictions.

This password may be required to bypass restrictions such as printing or modification.

Declaration
public string OwnerPassword { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String

Password

Optional user password if the PDF document is encrypted.

This password is required to open the document.

Declaration
public string Password { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String

TableBoundaryExpansion

Expand table boundaries (in points) to capture edge words.

Helps capture content at table edges, especially bottom rows

Default value: 5.0

Declaration
public double TableBoundaryExpansion { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double

TableDeduplicationTolerance

Positional tolerance used when determining whether two detected

tables should be considered duplicates during post-processing.

Declaration
public double TableDeduplicationTolerance { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double
Remarks

If all edges fall within this tolerance, the tables are treated as

duplicates and only the first instance is retained.

• Lower values = stricter matching

• Higher values = more forgiving

Default value: 5.0

TableStrategy

Table detection strategy (Nurminen, Spreadsheet, or Hybrid)

Determines which algorithm(s) to use for detecting tables in the PDF.

Default value: Hybrid

Declaration
public TableDetectionStrategy TableStrategy { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
TableDetectionStrategy

TextMode

Text extraction mode. Stream mode is preferred for multi-column layouts.

PositionBased mode extracts text positioned top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

Default value: PositionBased

Declaration
public TextExtractionMode TextMode { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
TextExtractionMode

UseFirstRowAsHeader

If true, the first row will be treated as a header row when converting/exporting the table.

Default value: false

Declaration
public bool UseFirstRowAsHeader { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Boolean

WordBoundaryJitterTolerance

Tolerance (in points) for assigning words to detected column regions.

Declaration
public double WordBoundaryJitterTolerance { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double
Remarks

Compensates for extraction jitter or slight coordinate drift.

• Lower values = stricter boundaries

• Higher values = more forgiving

Default value: 0.5.

WordOverlapTolerance

Allowed negative horizontal overlap (in points) before suppressing a space.

Declaration
public double WordOverlapTolerance { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.Double
Remarks

Handles overlap in bold or italic word boxes.

• Less negative = stricter, risk of unwanted concatenation

• More negative = more forgiving spacing

Default value: -25.0.