1. A computer-implemented method comprising: opening, by a document viewing application, an electronic document, the electronic document comprising descriptive content and an illustrative object, the illustrative object identified by a reference label, wherein a document preparation module and a reference detector cooperate with and function in conjunction with the document viewing application to: (1) automatically detect the illustrative object in the electronic document, determine an identification label associated with the illustrative object, scan the electronic document to detect one or more text items that refer to the illustrative object, and tag each of the one or more text items with a reference label corresponding to the identification label; (2) automatically detect that a cursor is positioned over the one or more text items in the descriptive content that is tagged with the reference label; and responding to the detecting, using at least one processor coupled to a memory, by loading the illustrative object into memory and rendering the illustrative object in a float window, the float window being presented in a display area of the viewing application.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: opening, by a document viewing application, an electronic document, the electronic document comprising descriptive content and an illustrative object, the illustrative object identified by a reference label, wherein a document preparation module and a reference detector cooperate with and function in conjunction with the document viewing application to: (1) automatically detect the illustrative object in the electronic document, determine an identification label associated with the illustrative object, scan the electronic document to detect one or more text items that refer to the illustrative object, and tag each of the one or more text items with a reference label corresponding to the identification label; (2) automatically detect that a cursor is positioned over the one or more text items in the descriptive content that is tagged with the reference label; and responding to the detecting, using at least one processor coupled to a memory, by loading the illustrative object into memory and rendering the illustrative object in a float window, the float window being presented in a display area of the viewing application. 9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic document is in a Portable Document Format.