diff --git a/annots.go b/annots.go
index 4d79812..688ffd1 100644
--- a/annots.go
+++ b/annots.go
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func (r *renderer) appearanceOf(dict reader.Dict) (*reader.Stream, bool) {
 // rectangle — which is what makes a stamp put down at an angle land inside the
 // box that was drawn for it.
 func (r *renderer) drawAppearance(base gstate, stream *reader.Stream, rect [4]float64) {
-	content, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+	content, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/calculator.go b/calculator.go
index 6799ca8..83db92b 100644
--- a/calculator.go
+++ b/calculator.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func (r *renderer) readCalculator(base functionBase, dict reader.Dict, stream *r
 	if stream == nil || len(base.rng) < 2 {
 		return nil
 	}
-	data, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+	data, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/funckinds.go b/funckinds.go
index ee79a3b..6f7f308 100644
--- a/funckinds.go
+++ b/funckinds.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func (r *renderer) readSampled(base functionBase, dict reader.Dict, stream *read
 	if stream == nil || len(base.rng) < 2 {
 		return nil
 	}
-	data, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+	data, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 97793b5..85891a6 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-gfx/gfx v0.10.0
 	github.com/go-opentype/fonts v0.9.0
 	github.com/go-opentype/opentype v0.10.0
-	github.com/go-pdfkit/reader v0.5.0
+	github.com/go-pdfkit/reader v0.6.0
 )
 
 require github.com/go-pdfkit/pdffont v0.3.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 39b7e36..323b803 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ github.com/go-opentype/opentype v0.10.0 h1:cZVMZ3RVkcijXmxlmpqyVkjlNc33aSB2ugKVW
 github.com/go-opentype/opentype v0.10.0/go.mod h1:AOixevJf7XQaH7+WG+OMIOZEbYPXfMqklVk26Y6YTUU=
 github.com/go-pdfkit/pdffont v0.3.0 h1:G5DKcAmsZJ0e17QhSrcUaL7PKEXKjUx4P/iGMl7bAbI=
 github.com/go-pdfkit/pdffont v0.3.0/go.mod h1:bfmNLna1l1CljNX/Utg55YzFylovfmI7sJnvgA3bzKI=
-github.com/go-pdfkit/reader v0.5.0 h1:DaJ5C6eKXPRG9Cdu+olA/0KLmsQgyHEC1coteQQuBxU=
-github.com/go-pdfkit/reader v0.5.0/go.mod h1:fQFOVfCMUui1AdvD4qhimdyvvNr9KvvJ1S7IuKZjyV8=
+github.com/go-pdfkit/reader v0.6.0 h1:KAabNOYUcTlZlNBTbG9bEhWP1NiZhjuhzUdavdTdfes=
+github.com/go-pdfkit/reader v0.6.0/go.mod h1:fQFOVfCMUui1AdvD4qhimdyvvNr9KvvJ1S7IuKZjyV8=
diff --git a/image.go b/image.go
index f23cb69..ba065f1 100644
--- a/image.go
+++ b/image.go
@@ -104,8 +104,12 @@ func (r *renderer) decodeImage(dict reader.Dict, raw []byte, resources reader.Di
 	if w <= 0 || h <= 0 || w*h > maxImagePixels {
 		return nil
 	}
-	data, imageFilter, err := reader.Decode(dict, raw, r.doc.Resolver())
-	if err != nil {
+	// An image whose filter chain broke part way gives the rows it managed,
+	// which is what a viewer shows for a truncated scan. Bytes no filter
+	// decoded are in a field this cannot reach.
+	dec := reader.DecodeRecovering(dict, raw, r.doc.Resolver())
+	data, imageFilter := dec.Data, dec.Image
+	if len(data) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
 	if mask, ok := reader.ToBool(resolve(r.doc, dict.Get("ImageMask"))); ok && mask {
diff --git a/mesh.go b/mesh.go
index 2001729..93492a2 100644
--- a/mesh.go
+++ b/mesh.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const patchSteps = 16
 
 // readMesh reads the vertices or patches a mesh shading's stream holds.
 func (r *renderer) readMesh(sh *shading, stream *reader.Stream) *mesh {
-	data, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+	data, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/pattern.go b/pattern.go
index a5a9a9d..9d5ba6f 100644
--- a/pattern.go
+++ b/pattern.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func (r *renderer) readPattern(name reader.Name, resources reader.Dict) *pattern
 		if !isStream {
 			return nil
 		}
-		data, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+		data, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 		if err != nil || img != "" {
 			return nil
 		}
diff --git a/render.go b/render.go
index bcbc154..c2cdb85 100644
--- a/render.go
+++ b/render.go
@@ -127,10 +127,27 @@ func Page(d *reader.Document, i int, opt Options) (*raster.Image, error) {
 	img := raster.New(w, h)
 	fill(img, opt.background())
 
-	content, err := d.PageContent(i)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	// A page's content is drawn as far as it decoded. 263 streams in 212 of
+	// the 1 633 real forms cannot be decoded cleanly, and a strict read hands
+	// back nothing for all of them; this package already draws a page as far as
+	// it got when its time runs out, and a damaged stream is the same
+	// situation arriving another way.
+	//
+	// Nothing that no filter decoded is ever run: the reader keeps those bytes
+	// in Undecoded, set instead of Data rather than beside it, so taking Data
+	// cannot reach them. A page whose /Contents is filtered as an image — a
+	// JPEG where operators should be — arrives here with Data empty and a
+	// cause, and is refused rather than run.
+	// The error is dropped: PageContentDecoded returns one only when the page
+	// itself cannot be read, and it was read a few lines above. A /Contents
+	// that points at an object the file does not hold resolves to nothing
+	// rather than to an error, and a page with no content is a blank page —
+	// which is what this drew before and what other readers draw.
+	dec, _ := d.PageContentDecoded(i)
+	if len(dec.Data) == 0 && dec.Cause != nil {
+		return nil, dec.Cause
 	}
+	content := dec.Data
 	resources, _ := d.GetDict(page, "Resources")
 	r := &renderer{doc: d, img: img, fonts: map[int]*pdfFont{}, softMasks: map[softMaskKey][]uint8{}}
 	if !opt.AllLayers {
diff --git a/salvage_test.go b/salvage_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..323d643
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salvage_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+package render
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"compress/zlib"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/go-pdfkit/reader"
+)
+
+// truncatedFlate compresses s and then cuts the result, so inflating it yields
+// a prefix of s and then fails — which is what a damaged stream in a real file
+// looks like.
+func truncatedFlate(t *testing.T, s string, keep int) []byte {
+	t.Helper()
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	zw := zlib.NewWriter(&buf)
+	if _, err := zw.Write([]byte(s)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := zw.Close(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	b := buf.Bytes()
+	if keep >= len(b) {
+		t.Fatalf("keeping %d of %d bytes cuts nothing", keep, len(b))
+	}
+	return b[:keep]
+}
+
+func TestAPageWhoseContentIsDamagedIsDrawnAsFarAsItDecoded(t *testing.T) {
+	// A page of many squares, compressed and then cut. The first squares are
+	// in the part that inflates; the rest are not. Drawing nothing at all
+	// would be the old behaviour and is the wrong one: 263 streams in 212 of
+	// the 1 633 real forms cannot be decoded cleanly.
+	content := "0 g"
+	for i := 0; i < 200; i++ {
+		content += " 0 0 10 10 re f 10 0 10 10 re f 20 0 10 10 re f"
+	}
+	raw := truncatedFlate(t, content, 40)
+
+	w := reader.NewWriter("1.7")
+	pagesRef := w.Reserve()
+	page := w.Add(reader.Dict{"Type": reader.Name("Page"), "Parent": pagesRef,
+		"MediaBox": nums(0, 0, 40, 20),
+		"Contents": w.Add(&reader.Stream{
+			Dict: reader.Dict{"Filter": reader.Name("FlateDecode")}, Raw: raw})})
+	w.Put(pagesRef, reader.Dict{"Type": reader.Name("Pages"),
+		"Kids": reader.Array{page}, "Count": reader.Integer(1)})
+	out, err := w.Finish(reader.Dict{"Root": w.Add(reader.Dict{
+		"Type": reader.Name("Catalog"), "Pages": pagesRef})})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d, err := reader.Open(out)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	img, err := Page(d, 1, Options{Scale: 1})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a damaged page came back as an error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if inked(img) == 0 {
+		t.Error("a damaged page drew nothing at all")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFormWhoseFilterIsUnknownIsNotDrawn(t *testing.T) {
+	// A filter nothing can apply leaves no bytes any filter decoded, so there
+	// is nothing to draw — and the encoded bytes must not be run as operators.
+	d := layered(t, nil, func(w *reader.Writer, g []reader.Object) (string, reader.Array, reader.Dict) {
+		form := w.Add(&reader.Stream{Dict: reader.Dict{
+			"Type": reader.Name("XObject"), "Subtype": reader.Name("Form"),
+			"BBox": nums(0, 0, 100, 100), "Filter": reader.Name("NoSuchDecode"),
+		}, Raw: []byte("0 g 0 0 100 100 re f")})
+		return "/F Do", nil, reader.Dict{"XObject": reader.Dict{"F": form}}
+	}, 0)
+	img, err := Page(d, 1, Options{Scale: 1})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if ink := inked(img); ink != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("%d pixels drawn from a stream no filter could decode", ink)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/softmask.go b/softmask.go
index 111d6e3..3428fcf 100644
--- a/softmask.go
+++ b/softmask.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func (r *renderer) readSoftMask(entry reader.Object, g *gstate, resources reader
 // drawSoftMask draws the mask's form on paper of its own and reads the mask
 // off what comes out.
 func (r *renderer) drawSoftMask(dict reader.Dict, form *reader.Stream, kind reader.Name, g *gstate, resources reader.Dict) []uint8 {
-	content, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(form)
+	content, img, err := r.salvaged(form)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/space.go b/space.go
index 4b98d83..0541877 100644
--- a/space.go
+++ b/space.go
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ func (r *renderer) lookupTable(o reader.Object) []byte {
 		return s
 	}
 	if stream, ok := reader.ToStream(resolved); ok {
-		data, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+		data, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 		if err == nil && img == "" {
 			return data
 		}
diff --git a/state.go b/state.go
index 83919d3..9a6cd6b 100644
--- a/state.go
+++ b/state.go
@@ -278,3 +278,24 @@ func (r *renderer) narrow(g *gstate, cov []float64, ox, oy, w, h int, ok bool) {
 	}
 	g.clip = next
 }
+
+// salvaged decodes a stream and keeps whatever the filter chain managed to
+// produce, which is not the same as keeping whatever bytes are left.
+//
+// 263 streams in 212 of the 1 633 real forms — 13.0% of them — cannot be
+// decoded cleanly, and a strict decode hands back nothing for all 263. This
+// package already draws a page as far as it got when its time runs out, and a
+// damaged stream is the same situation arriving a different way: half a figure
+// is worth more to somebody reading a form than none of it.
+//
+// What must never happen is bytes no filter decoded being painted as though
+// they were content. reader.Decoded keeps those in a separate field, set
+// instead of Data rather than beside it, so this reads Data and cannot reach
+// them. That is a type doing the work, not a flag anyone has to remember.
+func (r *renderer) salvaged(stream *reader.Stream) ([]byte, reader.Name, error) {
+	dec := r.doc.DecodeStreamRecovering(stream)
+	if len(dec.Data) == 0 && dec.Cause != nil {
+		return nil, "", dec.Cause
+	}
+	return dec.Data, dec.Image, nil
+}
diff --git a/text.go b/text.go
index e3b39d2..47f1dfe 100644
--- a/text.go
+++ b/text.go
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ func (r *renderer) drawType3Glyph(g *gstate, f *pdfFont, code int, resources rea
 	if !ok {
 		return
 	}
-	content, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+	content, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/xobject.go b/xobject.go
index c4218bb..8b91599 100644
--- a/xobject.go
+++ b/xobject.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func (r *renderer) drawXObject(g *gstate, operands []reader.Object, resources re
 // drawForm runs a form's own content inside the state that drew it, under its
 // own matrix and its own bounding box.
 func (r *renderer) drawForm(g *gstate, stream *reader.Stream, parent reader.Dict) {
-	content, img, err := r.doc.DecodeStream(stream)
+	content, img, err := r.salvaged(stream)
 	if err != nil || img != "" {
 		return
 	}