The invention converts a document originating in a page-image format into a form suitable for an arbitrarily sized display, by reformatting or “re-flowing” of the document to fit an arbitrarily sized display device. A two-stage system analyzes, or “deconstructs,” page image layout. The deconstruction includes both physical (geometric) and logical (functional) segmentation of page images. The segment that image elements may include blocks, lines, and/or words of text, and other segmented image elements. The segment that image elements are synthesized and converted into an intermediate structure. The intermediate data structure is then distilled or converted or redisplayed into any number of standard print formats.