diff --git a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig.Tests/PublicApiScannerTests.cs b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig.Tests/PublicApiScannerTests.cs
index 4a8f7575..4e4d643a 100644
--- a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig.Tests/PublicApiScannerTests.cs
+++ b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig.Tests/PublicApiScannerTests.cs
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
                 "UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis.RecursiveXYCut",
                 "UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis.TextEdgesExtractor",
                 "UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis.EdgeType",
+                "UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis.WhitespaceCoverExtractor",
                 "UglyToad.PdfPig.Exceptions.PdfDocumentEncryptedException",
                 "UglyToad.PdfPig.Exceptions.PdfDocumentFormatException",
                 "UglyToad.PdfPig.Export.AltoXmlTextExporter",
diff --git a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/ClusteringAlgorithms.cs b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/ClusteringAlgorithms.cs
index 97231d9f..5b1740d3 100644
--- a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/ClusteringAlgorithms.cs
+++ b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/ClusteringAlgorithms.cs
@@ -22,11 +22,15 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// <param name="candidatesPoint">The candidates' point to use for pairing, e.g. BottomLeft, TopLeft.</param>
         /// <param name="filterPivot">Filter to apply to the pivot point. If false, point will not be paired at all, e.g. is white space.</param>
         /// <param name="filterFinal">Filter to apply to both the pivot and the paired point. If false, point will not be paired at all, e.g. pivot and paired point have same font.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
         internal static IEnumerable<HashSet<int>> ClusterNearestNeighbours<T>(List<T> elements,
             Func<PdfPoint, PdfPoint, double> distMeasure,
             Func<T, T, double> maxDistanceFunction,
             Func<T, PdfPoint> pivotPoint, Func<T, PdfPoint> candidatesPoint,
-            Func<T, bool> filterPivot, Func<T, T, bool> filterFinal)
+            Func<T, bool> filterPivot, Func<T, T, bool> filterFinal,
+            int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             /*************************************************************************************
              * Algorithm steps
@@ -48,8 +52,10 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             int[] indexes = Enumerable.Repeat((int)-1, elements.Count).ToArray();
             var candidatesPoints = elements.Select(candidatesPoint).ToList();
 
+            ParallelOptions parallelOptions = new ParallelOptions() { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = maxDegreeOfParallelism };
+
             // 1. Find nearest neighbours indexes
-            Parallel.For(0, elements.Count, e =>
+            Parallel.For(0, elements.Count, parallelOptions, e =>
             {
                 var pivot = elements[e];
 
@@ -85,11 +91,15 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// <param name="candidatesPoint">The candidates' point to use for pairing, e.g. BottomLeft, TopLeft.</param>
         /// <param name="filterPivot">Filter to apply to the pivot point. If false, point will not be paired at all, e.g. is white space.</param>
         /// <param name="filterFinal">Filter to apply to both the pivot and the paired point. If false, point will not be paired at all, e.g. pivot and paired point have same font.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
         internal static IEnumerable<HashSet<int>> ClusterNearestNeighbours<T>(T[] elements,
             Func<PdfPoint, PdfPoint, double> distMeasure,
             Func<T, T, double> maxDistanceFunction,
             Func<T, PdfPoint> pivotPoint, Func<T, PdfPoint> candidatesPoint,
-            Func<T, bool> filterPivot, Func<T, T, bool> filterFinal)
+            Func<T, bool> filterPivot, Func<T, T, bool> filterFinal,
+            int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             /*************************************************************************************
              * Algorithm steps
@@ -111,8 +121,10 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             int[] indexes = Enumerable.Repeat((int)-1, elements.Length).ToArray();
             var candidatesPoints = elements.Select(candidatesPoint).ToList();
 
+            ParallelOptions parallelOptions = new ParallelOptions() { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = maxDegreeOfParallelism };
+
             // 1. Find nearest neighbours indexes
-            Parallel.For(0, elements.Length, e =>
+            Parallel.For(0, elements.Length, parallelOptions, e =>
             {
                 var pivot = elements[e];
 
@@ -148,11 +160,15 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// <param name="candidatesLine">The candidates' line to use for pairing.</param>
         /// <param name="filterPivot">Filter to apply to the pivot point. If false, point will not be paired at all, e.g. is white space.</param>
         /// <param name="filterFinal">Filter to apply to both the pivot and the paired point. If false, point will not be paired at all, e.g. pivot and paired point have same font.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
         internal static IEnumerable<HashSet<int>> ClusterNearestNeighbours<T>(T[] elements,
             Func<PdfLine, PdfLine, double> distMeasure,
             Func<T, T, double> maxDistanceFunction,
             Func<T, PdfLine> pivotLine, Func<T, PdfLine> candidatesLine,
-            Func<T, bool> filterPivot, Func<T, T, bool> filterFinal)
+            Func<T, bool> filterPivot, Func<T, T, bool> filterFinal,
+            int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             /*************************************************************************************
              * Algorithm steps
@@ -174,8 +190,10 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             int[] indexes = Enumerable.Repeat((int)-1, elements.Length).ToArray();
             var candidatesLines = elements.Select(x => candidatesLine(x)).ToList();
 
+            ParallelOptions parallelOptions = new ParallelOptions() { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = maxDegreeOfParallelism };
+
             // 1. Find nearest neighbours indexes
-            Parallel.For(0, elements.Length, e =>
+            Parallel.For(0, elements.Length, parallelOptions, e =>
             {
                 var pivot = elements[e];
 
diff --git a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/DocstrumBoundingBoxes.cs b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/DocstrumBoundingBoxes.cs
index 4dc02c1e..136265f6 100644
--- a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/DocstrumBoundingBoxes.cs
+++ b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/DocstrumBoundingBoxes.cs
@@ -28,11 +28,25 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// Get the blocks.
         /// <para>Uses wlAngleLB = -30, wlAngleUB = 30, blAngleLB = -135, blAngleUB = -45, blMulti = 1.3.</para>
         /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="pageWords"></param>
-        /// <returns></returns>
-        public IReadOnlyList<TextBlock> GetBlocks(IEnumerable<Word> pageWords)
+        /// <param name="words">The words to segment into <see cref="TextBlock"/>s.</param>
+        /// <returns>The <see cref="TextBlock"/>s generated by the document spectrum method.</returns>
+        public IReadOnlyList<TextBlock> GetBlocks(IEnumerable<Word> words)
         {
-            return GetBlocks(pageWords, new AngleBounds(-30, 30), new AngleBounds(-135, -45), 1.3);
+            return GetBlocks(words, -1);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get the blocks.
+        /// <para>Uses wlAngleLB = -30, wlAngleUB = 30, blAngleLB = -135, blAngleUB = -45, blMulti = 1.3.</para>
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="words">The words to segment into <see cref="TextBlock"/>s.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
+        /// <returns>The <see cref="TextBlock"/>s generated by the document spectrum method.</returns>
+        public IReadOnlyList<TextBlock> GetBlocks(IEnumerable<Word> words, int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
+        {
+            return GetBlocks(words, new AngleBounds(-30, 30), new AngleBounds(-135, -45), 1.3, maxDegreeOfParallelism);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -46,8 +60,26 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// distance found by the analysis.</param>
         /// <returns>The <see cref="TextBlock"/>s generated by the document spectrum method.</returns>
         public IReadOnlyList<TextBlock> GetBlocks(IEnumerable<Word> words, AngleBounds withinLine,
-            AngleBounds betweenLine,
-            double betweenLineMultiplier)
+         AngleBounds betweenLine, double betweenLineMultiplier)
+        {
+            return GetBlocks(words, withinLine, betweenLine, betweenLineMultiplier, -1);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get the blocks. See original paper for more information.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="words">The words to segment into <see cref="TextBlock"/>s.</param>
+        /// <param name="withinLine">Angle bounds for words to be considered on the same line.</param>
+        /// <param name="betweenLine">Angle bounds for words to be considered on separate lines.</param>
+        /// <param name="betweenLineMultiplier">Multiplier that gives the maximum perpendicular distance between 
+        /// text lines for blocking. Maximum distance will be this number times the between-line 
+        /// distance found by the analysis.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
+        /// <returns>The <see cref="TextBlock"/>s generated by the document spectrum method.</returns>
+        public IReadOnlyList<TextBlock> GetBlocks(IEnumerable<Word> words, AngleBounds withinLine,
+            AngleBounds betweenLine, double betweenLineMultiplier, int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             if (words == null)
             {
@@ -74,8 +106,10 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             var withinLineDistList = new ConcurrentBag<double>();
             var betweenLineDistList = new ConcurrentBag<double>();
 
+            ParallelOptions parallelOptions = new ParallelOptions() { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = maxDegreeOfParallelism };
+
             // 1. Estimate in line and between line spacing
-            Parallel.For(0, wordsList.Count, i =>
+            Parallel.For(0, wordsList.Count, parallelOptions, i =>
             {
                 var word = wordsList[i];
 
@@ -107,16 +141,16 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
 
             if (withinLineDistance == null || betweenLineDistance == null)
             {
-                return new[] {new TextBlock(new[] {new TextLine(wordsList)})};
+                return new[] { new TextBlock(new[] { new TextLine(wordsList) }) };
             }
 
             // 2. Find lines of text
             double maxDistanceWithinLine = Math.Min(3 * withinLineDistance.Value, Math.Sqrt(2) * betweenLineDistance.Value);
-            var lines = GetLines(wordsList, maxDistanceWithinLine, withinLine).ToArray();
+            var lines = GetLines(wordsList, maxDistanceWithinLine, withinLine, maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToArray();
 
             // 3. Find blocks of text
             double maxDistanceBetweenLine = betweenLineMultiplier * betweenLineDistance.Value;
-            var blocks = GetLinesGroups(lines, maxDistanceBetweenLine).ToList();
+            var blocks = GetLinesGroups(lines, maxDistanceBetweenLine, maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToList();
 
             // 4. Merge overlapping blocks - might happen in certain conditions, e.g. justified text.
             for (var b = 0; b < blocks.Count; b++)
@@ -128,7 +162,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
 
                 // Merge all lines (words)
                 blocks[b] = new TextBlock(GetLines(blocks[b].TextLines.SelectMany(l => l.Words).ToList(),
-                    double.MaxValue, withinLine).ToList());
+                    double.MaxValue, withinLine, maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToList());
 
                 for (var c = 0; c < blocks.Count; c++)
                 {
@@ -147,7 +181,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
                         // 2. Rebuild lines, using max distance = +Inf as we know all words will be in the
                         // same block. Filtering will still be done based on angle.
                         // Merge all lines (words) sharing same bottom (baseline)
-                        var mergedLines = GetLines(mergedWords, double.MaxValue, withinLine).ToList();
+                        var mergedLines = GetLines(mergedWords, double.MaxValue, withinLine, maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToList();
                         blocks[b] = new TextBlock(mergedLines.OrderByDescending(l => l.BoundingBox.Bottom).ToList());
 
                         // Remove
@@ -207,7 +241,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             return finalDistanceMeasure(pointR, wordsWithinAngleBoundDistancePoints[closestWordIndex]);
         }
 
-        private static IEnumerable<TextLine> GetLines(List<Word> words, double maxDist, AngleBounds withinLine)
+        private static IEnumerable<TextLine> GetLines(List<Word> words, double maxDist, AngleBounds withinLine, int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             TextDirection textDirection = words[0].TextDirection;
             var groupedIndexes = ClusteringAlgorithms.ClusterNearestNeighbours(words, Distances.Euclidean,
@@ -220,7 +254,8 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
                     var withinLineAngle = Distances.Angle(pivot.BoundingBox.BottomRight, candidate.BoundingBox.BottomLeft); 
 
                     return (withinLineAngle >= withinLine.Lower && withinLineAngle <= withinLine.Upper);
-                }).ToList();
+                },
+                maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToList();
 
             Func<IEnumerable<Word>, IReadOnlyList<Word>> orderFunc = l => l.OrderBy(x => x.BoundingBox.Left).ToList();
             if (textDirection == TextDirection.Rotate180)
@@ -242,7 +277,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             }
         }
 
-        private static IEnumerable<TextBlock> GetLinesGroups(TextLine[] lines, double maxDist)
+        private static IEnumerable<TextBlock> GetLinesGroups(TextLine[] lines, double maxDist, int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             /**************************************************************************************************
              * We want to measure the distance between two lines using the following method:
@@ -269,7 +304,8 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
                 (pivot, candidate) => maxDist,
                 pivot => new PdfLine(pivot.BoundingBox.BottomLeft, pivot.BoundingBox.BottomRight),
                 candidate => new PdfLine(candidate.BoundingBox.TopLeft, candidate.BoundingBox.TopRight),
-                pivot => true, (pivot, candidate) => true).ToList();
+                pivot => true, (pivot, candidate) => true,
+                maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToList();
 
             for (int a = 0; a < groupedIndexes.Count(); a++)
             {
diff --git a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/NearestNeighbourWordExtractor .cs b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/NearestNeighbourWordExtractor .cs
index 62e212da..559e4228 100644
--- a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/NearestNeighbourWordExtractor .cs	
+++ b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/NearestNeighbourWordExtractor .cs	
@@ -16,7 +16,14 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// <summary>
         /// Create an instance of Nearest Neighbour Word Extractor, <see cref="NearestNeighbourWordExtractor"/>.
         /// </summary>
-        public static IWordExtractor Instance { get; } = new NearestNeighbourWordExtractor();
+        public static NearestNeighbourWordExtractor Instance { get; } = new NearestNeighbourWordExtractor();
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. Default value is -1.
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para>
+        /// </summary>
+        public int MaxDegreeOfParallelism { get; set; } = -1;
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the words.
@@ -27,14 +34,14 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             List<Word> wordsH = GetWords(
                 letters.Where(l => l.TextDirection == TextDirection.Horizontal),
                 (l1, l2) => Math.Max((double)(l1.GlyphRectangle.Width), (double)(l2.GlyphRectangle.Width)) * 0.2, 
-                Distances.Manhattan)
+                Distances.Manhattan, MaxDegreeOfParallelism)
                 .OrderByDescending(x => x.BoundingBox.Bottom)
                 .ThenBy(x => x.BoundingBox.Left).ToList();
 
             List<Word> words180 = GetWords(
                 letters.Where(l => l.TextDirection == TextDirection.Rotate180),
                 (l1, l2) => Math.Max((double)(l1.GlyphRectangle.Width), (double)(l2.GlyphRectangle.Width)) * 0.2,
-                Distances.Manhattan)
+                Distances.Manhattan, MaxDegreeOfParallelism)
                 .OrderBy(x => x.BoundingBox.Top)
                 .ThenByDescending(x => x.BoundingBox.Right).ToList();
             wordsH.AddRange(words180);
@@ -42,7 +49,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             List<Word> words90 = GetWords(
                 letters.Where(l => l.TextDirection == TextDirection.Rotate90),
                 (l1, l2) => Math.Max((double)(l1.GlyphRectangle.Height), (double)(l2.GlyphRectangle.Height)) * 0.2,
-                Distances.Manhattan)
+                Distances.Manhattan, MaxDegreeOfParallelism)
                 .OrderByDescending(x => x.BoundingBox.Left)
                 .ThenBy(x => x.BoundingBox.Top).ToList();
             wordsH.AddRange(words90);
@@ -50,7 +57,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             List<Word> words270 = GetWords(
                 letters.Where(l => l.TextDirection == TextDirection.Rotate270),
                 (l1, l2) => Math.Max((double)(l1.GlyphRectangle.Height), (double)(l2.GlyphRectangle.Height)) * 0.2,
-                Distances.Manhattan)
+                Distances.Manhattan, MaxDegreeOfParallelism)
                 .OrderBy(x => x.BoundingBox.Right)
                 .ThenByDescending(x => x.BoundingBox.Bottom).ToList();
             wordsH.AddRange(words270);
@@ -58,7 +65,7 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
             List<Word> wordsU = GetWords(
                 letters.Where(l => l.TextDirection == TextDirection.Unknown),
                 (l1, l2) => Math.Max((double)(l1.GlyphRectangle.Width), (double)(l2.GlyphRectangle.Width)) * 0.2,
-                Distances.Manhattan)
+                Distances.Manhattan, MaxDegreeOfParallelism)
                 .OrderByDescending(x => x.BoundingBox.Bottom)
                 .ThenBy(x => x.BoundingBox.Left).ToList();
             wordsH.AddRange(wordsU);
@@ -75,15 +82,19 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// e.g. Max(GlyphRectangle.Width) x 20%.</param>
         /// <param name="distMeasure">The distance measure between two start and end base line points,
         /// e.g. the Manhattan distance.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
         private List<Word> GetWords(IEnumerable<Letter> pageLetters,
-            Func<Letter, Letter, double> maxDistanceFunction, Func<PdfPoint, PdfPoint, double> distMeasure)
+            Func<Letter, Letter, double> maxDistanceFunction, Func<PdfPoint, PdfPoint, double> distMeasure, 
+            int maxDegreeOfParallelism)
         {
             if (pageLetters == null || pageLetters.Count() == 0) return new List<Word>();
             TextDirection textDirection = pageLetters.ElementAt(0).TextDirection;
 
             if (pageLetters.Any(x => textDirection != x.TextDirection))
             {
-                throw new ArgumentException("NNWordExtractor.GetWords(): Mixed Text Direction.");
+                throw new ArgumentException("NearestNeighbourWordExtractor.GetWords(): Mixed Text Direction.");
             }
 
             Func<IEnumerable<Letter>, IReadOnlyList<Letter>> orderFunc = l => l.OrderBy(x => x.GlyphRectangle.Left).ToList();
@@ -106,7 +117,8 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
                 distMeasure, maxDistanceFunction,
                 l => l.EndBaseLine, l => l.StartBaseLine,
                 l => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(l.Value),
-                (l1, l2) => string.Equals(l1.FontName, l2.FontName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(l2.Value)).ToList();
+                (l1, l2) => string.Equals(l1.FontName, l2.FontName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(l2.Value),
+                maxDegreeOfParallelism).ToList();
 
             List<Word> words = new List<Word>();
             for (int a = 0; a < groupedIndexes.Count(); a++)
diff --git a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/TextEdgesExtractor.cs b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/TextEdgesExtractor.cs
index 83fc7661..e8a3806c 100644
--- a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/TextEdgesExtractor.cs
+++ b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/TextEdgesExtractor.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="pageWords">The words in the page.</param>
         /// <param name="minimumElements">The minimum number of elements to define a text edge.</param>
-        public static IReadOnlyDictionary<EdgeType, List<PdfLine>> GetEdges(IEnumerable<Word> pageWords, int minimumElements = 4)
+        /// <param name="maxDegreeOfParallelism">Sets the maximum number of concurrent tasks enabled. 
+        /// <para>A positive property value limits the number of concurrent operations to the set value. 
+        /// If it is -1, there is no limit on the number of concurrently running operations.</para></param>
+        public static IReadOnlyDictionary<EdgeType, List<PdfLine>> GetEdges(IEnumerable<Word> pageWords, int minimumElements = 4, 
+            int maxDegreeOfParallelism = -1)
         {
             if (minimumElements < 0)
             {
@@ -40,7 +44,9 @@ namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
 
             ConcurrentDictionary<EdgeType, List<PdfLine>> dictionary = new ConcurrentDictionary<EdgeType, List<PdfLine>>();
 
-            Parallel.ForEach(edgesFuncs, f =>
+            ParallelOptions parallelOptions = new ParallelOptions() { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = maxDegreeOfParallelism };
+
+            Parallel.ForEach(edgesFuncs, parallelOptions, f =>
             {
                 dictionary.TryAdd(f.Item1, GetVerticalEdges(cleanWords, f.Item2, minimumElements));
             });
diff --git a/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/WhitespaceCoverExtractor.cs b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/WhitespaceCoverExtractor.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dd9cf6e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/UglyToad.PdfPig/DocumentLayoutAnalysis/WhitespaceCoverExtractor.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,400 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using UglyToad.PdfPig.Content;
+using UglyToad.PdfPig.Geometry;
+using UglyToad.PdfPig.Util;
+
+namespace UglyToad.PdfPig.DocumentLayoutAnalysis
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A top-down algorithm that finds a cover of the background whitespace of a document in terms of maximal empty rectangles.
+    /// <para>See Section 3.2 of 'High precision text extraction from PDF documents' by Øyvind Raddum Berg and Section 2 of 'Two geometric algorithms for layout analysis' by Thomas M. Breuel.</para>
+    /// </summary>
+    public static class WhitespaceCoverExtractor
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the cover of the background whitespace of a page in terms of maximal empty rectangles.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="words">The words in the page.</param>
+        /// <param name="images">The images in the page.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxRectangleCount">The maximum number of rectangles to find.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxBoundQueueSize">The maximum size of the queue used in the algorithm.</param>
+        /// <returns>The identified whitespace rectangles.</returns>
+        public static IReadOnlyList<PdfRectangle> GetWhitespaces(IEnumerable<Word> words, IEnumerable<IPdfImage> images = null, int maxRectangleCount = 40, int maxBoundQueueSize = 0)
+        {
+            return GetWhitespaces(words,
+                                  images,
+                                  words.SelectMany(w => w.Letters).Select(x => x.GlyphRectangle.Width).Mode() * 1.25m,
+                                  words.SelectMany(w => w.Letters).Select(x => x.GlyphRectangle.Height).Mode() * 1.25m,
+                                  maxRectangleCount: maxRectangleCount,
+                                  maxBoundQueueSize: maxBoundQueueSize);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the cover of the background whitespace of a page in terms of maximal empty rectangles.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="words">The words in the page.</param>
+        /// <param name="images">The images in the page.</param>
+        /// <param name="minWidth">Lower bounds for the width of rectangles.</param>
+        /// <param name="minHeight">Lower bounds for the height of rectangles.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxRectangleCount">The maximum number of rectangles to find.</param>
+        /// <param name="whitespaceFuzziness">Constant value to allow candidate whitespace rectangle to overlap the 
+        /// surrounding obstacles by some percent. Default value is 15%.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxBoundQueueSize">The maximum size of the queue used in the algorithm.</param>
+        /// <returns>The identified whitespace rectangles.</returns>
+        public static IReadOnlyList<PdfRectangle> GetWhitespaces(IEnumerable<Word> words, IEnumerable<IPdfImage> images,
+            decimal minWidth, decimal minHeight, int maxRectangleCount = 40, decimal whitespaceFuzziness = 0.15m, int maxBoundQueueSize = 0)
+        {
+            var bboxes = words.Where(w => w.BoundingBox.Width > 0 && w.BoundingBox.Height > 0)
+                .Select(o => o.BoundingBox).ToList();
+
+            if (images != null && images.Count() > 0)
+            {
+                bboxes.AddRange(images.Where(w => w.Bounds.Width > 0 && w.Bounds.Height > 0).Select(o => o.Bounds));
+            }
+
+            return GetWhitespaces(bboxes,
+                                  minWidth: minWidth,
+                                  minHeight: minHeight,
+                                  maxRectangleCount: maxRectangleCount,
+                                  whitespaceFuzziness: whitespaceFuzziness,
+                                  maxBoundQueueSize: maxBoundQueueSize);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the cover of the background whitespace of a page in terms of maximal empty rectangles.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="boundingboxes">The list of obstacles' bounding boxes in the page.</param>
+        /// <param name="minWidth">Lower bounds for the width of rectangles.</param>
+        /// <param name="minHeight">Lower bounds for the height of rectangles.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxRectangleCount">The maximum number of rectangles to find.</param>
+        /// <param name="whitespaceFuzziness">Constant value to allow candidate whitespace rectangle to overlap the 
+        /// surrounding obstacles by some percent. Default value is 15%.</param>
+        /// <param name="maxBoundQueueSize">The maximum size of the queue used in the algorithm.</param>
+        /// <returns>The identified whitespace rectangles.</returns>
+        public static IReadOnlyList<PdfRectangle> GetWhitespaces(IEnumerable<PdfRectangle> boundingboxes,
+            decimal minWidth, decimal minHeight, int maxRectangleCount = 40, decimal whitespaceFuzziness = 0.15m, int maxBoundQueueSize = 0)
+        {
+            if (boundingboxes.Count() == 0) return EmptyArray<PdfRectangle>.Instance;
+
+            var obstacles = new HashSet<PdfRectangle>(boundingboxes);
+            var pageBound = GetBound(obstacles);
+            return GetMaximalRectangles(pageBound,
+                                        obstacles,
+                                        minWidth: minWidth,
+                                        minHeight: minHeight,
+                                        maxRectangleCount: maxRectangleCount,
+                                        whitespaceFuzziness: whitespaceFuzziness,
+                                        maxBoundQueueSize: maxBoundQueueSize);
+        }
+
+        private static IReadOnlyList<PdfRectangle> GetMaximalRectangles(PdfRectangle bound,
+            HashSet<PdfRectangle> obstacles, decimal minWidth, decimal minHeight, int maxRectangleCount, 
+            decimal whitespaceFuzziness, int maxBoundQueueSize)
+        {
+            QueueEntries queueEntries = new QueueEntries(maxBoundQueueSize);
+            queueEntries.Enqueue(new QueueEntry(bound, obstacles, whitespaceFuzziness));
+
+            HashSet<PdfRectangle> selected = new HashSet<PdfRectangle>();
+            HashSet<QueueEntry> holdList = new HashSet<QueueEntry>();
+
+            while (queueEntries.Any())
+            {
+                var current = queueEntries.Dequeue();
+
+                if (current.IsEmptyEnough(obstacles))
+                {
+                    if (selected.Any(c => Inside(c, current.Bound))) continue;
+
+                    // A check was added which impeded the algorithm from accepting
+                    // rectangles which were not adjacent to an already accepted 
+                    // rectangle, or to the border of the page.
+                    if (!IsAdjacentToPageBounds(bound, current.Bound) &&        // NOT in contact to border page AND
+                        !selected.Any(q => IsAdjacentTo(q, current.Bound)))     // NOT in contact to any already accepted rectangle
+                    {
+                        // In order to maintain the correctness of the algorithm, 
+                        // rejected rectangles are put in a hold list. 
+                        holdList.Add(current);
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    selected.Add(current.Bound);
+
+                    if (selected.Count >= maxRectangleCount) return selected.ToList();
+
+                    obstacles.Add(current.Bound);
+
+                    // Each time a new rectangle is identified and accepted, this hold list 
+                    // will be added back to the queue in case any of them will have become valid.
+                    foreach (var hold in holdList)
+                    {
+                        queueEntries.Enqueue(hold);
+                    }
+
+                    // After a maximal rectangle has been found, it is added back to the list 
+                    // of obstacles. Whenever a QueueEntry is dequeued, its list of obstacles 
+                    // can be recomputed to include newly identified whitespace rectangles.
+                    foreach (var overlapping in queueEntries)
+                    {
+                        if (OverlapsHard(current.Bound, overlapping.Bound))
+                            overlapping.AddWhitespace(current.Bound);
+                    }
+
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                var pivot = current.GetPivot();
+                var b = current.Bound;
+
+                List<PdfRectangle> subRectangles = new List<PdfRectangle>();
+
+                var rRight = new PdfRectangle(pivot.Right, b.Bottom, b.Right, b.Top);
+                if (b.Right > pivot.Right && rRight.Height > minHeight && rRight.Width > minWidth)
+                {
+                    queueEntries.Enqueue(new QueueEntry(rRight,
+                        new HashSet<PdfRectangle>(current.Obstacles.Where(o => OverlapsHard(rRight, o))),
+                        whitespaceFuzziness));
+                }
+
+                var rLeft = new PdfRectangle(b.Left, b.Bottom, pivot.Left, b.Top);
+                if (b.Left < pivot.Left && rLeft.Height > minHeight && rLeft.Width > minWidth)
+                {
+                    queueEntries.Enqueue(new QueueEntry(rLeft,
+                        new HashSet<PdfRectangle>(current.Obstacles.Where(o => OverlapsHard(rLeft, o))),
+                        whitespaceFuzziness));
+                }
+
+                var rAbove = new PdfRectangle(b.Left, b.Bottom, b.Right, pivot.Bottom);
+                if (b.Bottom < pivot.Bottom && rAbove.Height > minHeight && rAbove.Width > minWidth)
+                {
+                    queueEntries.Enqueue(new QueueEntry(rAbove,
+                        new HashSet<PdfRectangle>(current.Obstacles.Where(o => OverlapsHard(rAbove, o))),
+                        whitespaceFuzziness));
+                }
+
+                var rBelow = new PdfRectangle(b.Left, pivot.Top, b.Right, b.Top);
+                if (b.Top > pivot.Top && rBelow.Height > minHeight && rBelow.Width > minWidth)
+                {
+                    queueEntries.Enqueue(new QueueEntry(rBelow,
+                        new HashSet<PdfRectangle>(current.Obstacles.Where(o => OverlapsHard(rBelow, o))),
+                        whitespaceFuzziness));
+                }
+            }
+
+            return selected.ToList();
+        }
+
+        private static bool IsAdjacentTo(PdfRectangle rectangle1, PdfRectangle rectangle2)
+        {
+            if (rectangle1.Left > rectangle2.Right ||
+                rectangle2.Left > rectangle1.Right ||
+                rectangle1.Top < rectangle2.Bottom ||
+                rectangle2.Top < rectangle1.Bottom)
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            if (rectangle1.Left == rectangle2.Right ||
+                rectangle1.Right == rectangle2.Left ||
+                rectangle1.Bottom == rectangle2.Top ||
+                rectangle1.Top == rectangle2.Bottom)
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        private static bool IsAdjacentToPageBounds(PdfRectangle pageBound, PdfRectangle rectangle)
+        {
+            if (rectangle.Bottom == pageBound.Bottom ||
+                rectangle.Top == pageBound.Top ||
+                rectangle.Left == pageBound.Left ||
+                rectangle.Right == pageBound.Right)
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        private static bool OverlapsHard(PdfRectangle rectangle1, PdfRectangle rectangle2)
+        {
+            if (rectangle1.Left >= rectangle2.Right ||
+                rectangle2.Left >= rectangle1.Right ||
+                rectangle1.Top <= rectangle2.Bottom ||
+                rectangle2.Top <= rectangle1.Bottom)
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        private static bool Inside(PdfRectangle rectangle1, PdfRectangle rectangle2)
+        {
+            if (rectangle2.Right <= rectangle1.Right && rectangle2.Left >= rectangle1.Left &&
+                rectangle2.Top <= rectangle1.Top && rectangle2.Bottom >= rectangle1.Bottom)
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        private static PdfRectangle GetBound(IEnumerable<PdfRectangle> obstacles)
+        {
+            return new PdfRectangle(
+                obstacles.Min(b => b.Left),
+                obstacles.Min(b => b.Bottom),
+                obstacles.Max(b => b.Right),
+                obstacles.Max(b => b.Top));
+        }
+
+        #region Sorted Queue
+        private class QueueEntries : SortedSet<QueueEntry>
+        {
+            int bound;
+
+            public QueueEntries(int maximumBound)
+            {
+                this.bound = maximumBound;
+            }
+
+            public QueueEntry Dequeue()
+            {
+                var current = this.Max;
+                this.Remove(current);
+                return current;
+            }
+
+            public void Enqueue(QueueEntry queueEntry)
+            {
+                if (this.bound > 0 && this.Count > this.bound)
+                {
+                    this.Remove(this.Min);
+                }
+                this.Add(queueEntry);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private class QueueEntry : IComparable<QueueEntry>
+        {
+            public PdfRectangle Bound { get; private set; }
+
+            public decimal Quality { get; private set; }
+
+            public HashSet<PdfRectangle> Obstacles { get; private set; }
+
+            private decimal WhitespaceFuzziness;
+
+            public QueueEntry(PdfRectangle bound, HashSet<PdfRectangle> obstacles, decimal whitespaceFuzziness)
+            {
+                this.Bound = bound;
+                this.Quality = ScoringFunction(Bound);
+                this.Obstacles = obstacles;
+                this.WhitespaceFuzziness = whitespaceFuzziness;
+            }
+
+            public PdfRectangle GetPivot()
+            {
+                int indexMiddle = Distances.FindIndexNearest(Bound.Centroid,
+                                    Obstacles.Select(o => o.Centroid).ToList(),
+                                    p => p, p => p, Distances.Euclidean, out double d);
+
+                return indexMiddle == -1 ? Obstacles.First() : Obstacles.ElementAt(indexMiddle);
+            }
+
+            public bool IsEmptyEnough()
+            {
+                return !Obstacles.Any();
+            }
+
+            public bool IsEmptyEnough(IEnumerable<PdfRectangle> pageObstacles)
+            {
+                if (IsEmptyEnough()) return true;
+
+                decimal sum = 0;
+                foreach (var obstacle in pageObstacles)
+                {
+                    var intersect = Bound.Intersect(obstacle);
+                    if (!intersect.HasValue) return false;
+
+                    decimal minimumArea = MinimumOverlappingArea(obstacle, Bound, WhitespaceFuzziness);
+
+                    if (intersect.Value.Area > minimumArea)
+                    {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                    sum += intersect.Value.Area;
+                }
+                return sum < Bound.Area * WhitespaceFuzziness;
+            }
+
+            public override string ToString()
+            {
+                return "Q=" + Quality.ToString("#0.0") + ", O=" + Obstacles.Count + ", " + Bound.ToString();
+            }
+
+            public void AddWhitespace(PdfRectangle rectangle)
+            {
+                Obstacles.Add(rectangle);
+            }
+
+            public int CompareTo(QueueEntry entry)
+            {
+                return this.Quality.CompareTo(entry.Quality);
+            }
+
+            public override bool Equals(object obj)
+            {
+                if (obj is QueueEntry entry)
+                {
+                    if (this.Bound.Left != entry.Bound.Left ||
+                        this.Bound.Right != entry.Bound.Right ||
+                        this.Bound.Top != entry.Bound.Top ||
+                        this.Bound.Bottom != entry.Bound.Bottom ||
+                        this.Obstacles != entry.Obstacles) return false;
+                    return true;
+                }
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            public override int GetHashCode()
+            {
+                return (Bound.Left, Bound.Right,
+                        Bound.Top, Bound.Bottom,
+                        Obstacles).GetHashCode();
+            }
+
+            private static decimal MinimumOverlappingArea(PdfRectangle r1, PdfRectangle r2, decimal whitespaceFuzziness)
+            {
+                return Math.Min(r1.Area, r2.Area) * whitespaceFuzziness;
+            }
+
+            /// <summary>
+            /// The scoring function Q(r) which is subsequently used to sort a priority queue.
+            /// </summary>
+            /// <param name="rectangle"></param>
+            private static decimal ScoringFunction(PdfRectangle rectangle)
+            {
+                // As can be seen, tall rectangles are preferred. The trick while choosing this Q(r) was
+                // to keep that preference while still allowing wide rectangles to be chosen. After having
+                // experimented with quite a few variations, this simple function was considered a good
+                // solution.
+                return rectangle.Area * (rectangle.Height / 4m);
+            }
+
+            private static decimal OverlappingArea(PdfRectangle rectangle1, PdfRectangle rectangle2)
+            {
+                var intersect = rectangle1.Intersect(rectangle2);
+                if (intersect.HasValue)
+                {
+                    return intersect.Value.Area;
+                }
+                return 0;
+            }
+        }
+        #endregion
+    }
+}