1. A computer-implemented method comprising: opening, by a document viewing application, an electronic document, the electronic document comprising descriptive content and an illustrative object, the illustrative object identified by a reference label; detecting that a cursor is positioned over text in the descriptive content that refers to the illustrative object; and responding to the detecting, using at least one processor coupled to a memory, by loading the illustrative object into memory and rendering the illustrative object in a float window, the float window being presented in a display area of the document viewing application.