PDF 1.6+ Templates Missing “Kids” Tag – How to Retrieve Page Information via API?

Hello Team,

I am not sure if this is the correct forum to post API-related queries, so please let me know if there is a more appropriate place for this question.

I am working on reading a PDF template file and programmatically adding 3D content to it. This workflow was working correctly with PDF version 1.5, where the document structure contained the “Kids” tag to represent page information. I use this tag to identify pages and correctly place my 3D content.

However, one of my clients reported an issue when using PDF templates created with Acrobat Pro 25 (PDF version 1.6 and above), where the Kids tag is not present. During my investigation, I also found that some sample PDF files with version 1.6+ contain the Kids tag, while others do not. This has created confusion about the correct and expected behavior.

Could you please clarify the following:

1. Is the Kids tag still expected to be present in PDF version 1.6 and above?
2. If the Kids tag is no longer mandatory in newer PDF versions, what is the recommended way to retrieve page information using the API?
3. If the Kids tag is required, how can we create PDF templates in the latest version of Acrobat that consistently include this tag?

Looking forward to your guidance.

Adobe Acrobat version: 64 Bit 25.001.20997
Windows version: 11

Thank you.