What is Layout Analysis?

Layout analysis is a crucial step in document processing that involves analyzing and understanding the spatial arrangement of content within a document. It helps identify and classify different regions of a document, such as text, table, headers, footers, and pictures.

Basically, it tells us where and what is in the document.

​

Why is Layout Analysis Important?

Layout analysis serves several key purposes:

• Structure Recognition: It helps identify the logical structure and reading order of a document
• Data Extraction: By identifying specific regions (like tables, headers, or paragraphs), we can use specialized extraction methods for each type, improving accuracy
• Better Chunking: Layout elements allows us to identify sections of the document and generate better chunks.
• Citations: It allows LLMs to cite the correct region of the document, which can then be highlighted for a better experience.

​

Segment Types

Chunkr uses a two way vision-grid transformer to identify the layout of the document. We support the following segment types:

• Caption: Text describing figures, tables, or other visual elements
• Footnote: References or additional information at the bottom of pages
• Formula: Mathematical or scientific equations
• List Item: Individual items in bulleted or numbered lists
• Page: Entire page (segmentation_strategy=Page)
• Page Footer: Content that appears at the bottom of each page
• Page Header: Content that appears at the top of each page
• Picture: Images, diagrams, or other visual elements
• Section Header: Headers that divide the document into sections
• Table: Structured data arranged in rows and columns
• Text: Regular paragraph text
• Title: Main document title