A method for generating a searchable file from a document. The method includes identifying an object within the document and a formatting attribute of the object, determining an inferred semantic characteristic of the object by comparing the formatting attribute with a plurality of inference rules, wherein the inferred semantic characteristic comprises an estimation of author-defined semantic characteristic of the object, generating metadata based at least on the inferred semantic characteristic and the formatting attribute of the object, wherein the metadata comprises text data that is searchable by a search application for the searchable file to identify the object within the searchable file, and generating, based on the document, the searchable file comprising the metadata.