A method for extracting data from lineless tables includes storing an image including a table in a memory. A processor operably coupled to the memory identifies a plurality of text-based characters in the image, and defines multiple bounding boxes based on the characters. Each of the bounding boxes is uniquely associated with at least one of the text-based characters. A graph including multiple nodes and multiple edges is generated based on the bounding boxes, using a graph construction algorithm. At least one of the edges is identified for removal from the graph, and removed from the graph to produce a reduced graph. The reduced graph can be sent to a neural network to predict row labels and column labels for the table.