diff --git a/docs/docset/docSet.sql b/docs/docset/docSet.sql
index 42b92757c..cf7cee5a3 100644
--- a/docs/docset/docSet.sql
+++ b/docs/docset/docSet.sql
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::accept',
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::erase', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/erase/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::insert', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/insert/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::is_discarded', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/is_discarded/index.html');
+INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::load', 'Function', 'api/basic_json_document/load/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::memory_usage', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/memory_usage/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::node_count', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/node_count/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::owns_source', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/owns_source/index.html');
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@ INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::parse_co
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::push_back', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/push_back/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::read', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/read/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::root', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/root/index.html');
+INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::save', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/save/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::set', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/set/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::shrink_to_fit', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/shrink_to_fit/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_document::source', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_document/source/index.html');
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/index.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/index.md
index 534b63755..539437616 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/index.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/index.md
@@ -52,10 +52,16 @@ bookkeeping edits need, and calling any of them on one fails to compile (`#!cpp
 ## Member functions
 
 - [(constructor)](basic_json_document.md)
+
+### Parsing
+
 - [**parse**](parse.md) (_static_) - deserialize from a compatible input, borrowing or owning it as appropriate
 - [**parse_copy**](parse_copy.md) (_static_) - deserialize a copy of a compatible input
 - [**accept**](accept.md) (_static_) - check whether the input is valid JSON
 - [**read**](read.md) - (re-)parse into this document, reusing its memory
+
+### Access
+
 - [**root**](root.md) - the view of the root value
 - [**is_discarded**](is_discarded.md) - return whether the last parse failed
 - [**source**](source.md) - the parsed text
@@ -63,6 +69,14 @@ bookkeeping edits need, and calling any of them on one fails to compile (`#!cpp
 - [**node_count**](node_count.md) - the number of index entries (values plus object keys)
 - [**memory_usage**](memory_usage.md) - the number of bytes held by the document
 - [**shrink_to_fit**](shrink_to_fit.md) - release unused index capacity
+
+### Images
+
+- [**save**](save.md) - the document as an image that `load()` reads without parsing
+- [**load**](load.md) (_static_) - read an image written by `save()`
+
+### Edits
+
 - [**set**](set.md) - replace a value, or set an object member, an array element, or the value a JSON pointer refers
   to (`#!cpp Editable` documents only)
 - [**push_back**](push_back.md) - append to an array (`#!cpp Editable` documents only)
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/load.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/load.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f9d72692
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/load.md
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_document::</small>load
+
+```cpp
+// (1)
+static basic_json_document load(const std::uint8_t* image, std::size_t size,
+                                 const image_check check = image_check::full);
+
+// (2)
+static basic_json_document load(const std::vector<std::uint8_t>& image,
+                                 const image_check check = image_check::full);
+
+// (3)
+static basic_json_document load(std::vector<std::uint8_t>&& image,
+                                 const image_check check = image_check::full);
+```
+
+1. Reads an image [`save()`](save.md) wrote, from a pointer and a byte count. The image is **borrowed**: `image`
+   must stay alive and unchanged for as long as the returned document, and any view taken from it, is used.
+2. Reads an image from a `#!cpp std::vector`. Also **borrowed** -- equivalent to overload 1 called with
+   `#!cpp image.data()` and `#!cpp image.size()`.
+3. Reads an image, keeping the vector instead of copying it: `image` is moved into the document (no copy), which
+   then owns it for as long as it needs the text and the decoded strings. [`owns_source()`](owns_source.md) is
+   `#!cpp true` afterward.
+
+In every overload, the node index is copied into storage the document itself owns -- so that it is properly aligned,
+and, for an [editable](index.md#edits) document, can be edited -- while the text and the decoded strings stay in
+`image`. The hash indexes [large objects](../../features/json_view.md) use for lookup are rebuilt, exactly as after
+parsing.
+
+## Parameters
+
+`image` (in)
+:   the image [`save()`](save.md) wrote (overloads 1 and 2), or one to take ownership of (overload 3)
+
+`size` (in)
+:   the number of bytes at `image` (overload 1)
+
+`check` (in)
+:   how thoroughly to validate `image` before trusting it; see [`image_check`](#image_check) below (optional,
+    `#!cpp image_check::full` by default)
+
+## Return value
+
+The document read from the image.
+
+## Exception safety
+
+Overloads 1 and 2 give the strong guarantee: `image` is only read, never written, so a thrown exception leaves the
+caller's buffer untouched.
+
+Overload 3 moves `image` into the document *before* validating it, so that a good image is kept without a copy. If
+loading then fails, the partially built document -- and the vector now inside it -- is discarded along with the
+exception, and `image` itself is left **empty**, not restored to what was passed in. Move a copy in instead, or
+validate with overload 2 first, if the original vector must survive a failed load.
+
+## Exceptions
+
+On a big-endian target, throws [`type_error.320`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error320) -- the same
+exception [`save()`](save.md#exceptions) throws there, since the image format is little-endian only.
+
+Otherwise throws [`parse_error.116`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error116) if `image` is not one
+`save()` could have written, or fails the requested `check`:
+
+| message               | when                                                                                                |
+|------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `too short`            | `image` is `#!cpp nullptr`, or `size` is smaller than the 64-byte header                             |
+| `unknown format`       | the header's magic bytes or version do not match, or a reserved header field is not zero             |
+| `sizes out of range`   | the node count, text size, or decoded-string size the header describes does not fit `size`, or the `#!cpp '\0'` after the text or after the decoded strings is missing |
+| `the check failed`     | `check` is not `#!cpp image_check::none`, and the image fails it -- see [`image_check`](#image_check) |
+
+!!! failure "Example messages"
+
+    ```
+    [json.exception.parse_error.116] parse error: invalid json_document image: too short
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.parse_error.116] parse error: invalid json_document image: unknown format
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.parse_error.116] parse error: invalid json_document image: sizes out of range
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.parse_error.116] parse error: invalid json_document image: the check failed
+    ```
+
+## Complexity
+
+Linear in the number of nodes, which are always copied into the document. With `#!cpp check == image_check::full`,
+additionally linear in the combined length of the text and the decoded strings; `#!cpp image_check::bounds` and
+`#!cpp image_check::none` do not read them.
+
+## `image_check`
+
+```cpp
+using image_check = detail::view::image_check;
+
+enum class image_check
+{
+    full,
+    bounds,
+    none
+};
+```
+
+How thoroughly `load()` validates `image` before trusting it.
+
+| value    | checks                                                                                                    | guarantees |
+|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|
+| `full`   | everything the parser itself guarantees: structure and bounds; that every string is valid UTF-8 (and, for a string still in the source text, that it contains no quote, backslash, or control character); and that every number token is well-formed and matches the value stored for it | reading and serializing a checked image is safe and always produces valid JSON, exactly as for a parsed document |
+| `bounds` | structure and bounds only -- that every offset and count in the node index stays inside the image            | reading and serializing stay memory-safe, but a crafted image can hold strings that are not valid UTF-8 or that serialize to invalid JSON ([`dump()`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) writes them unchanged or throws [`type_error.316`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error316)), and numbers whose values differ from their text |
+| `none`   | nothing                                                                                                       | images from a trusted source only -- reading a damaged image is undefined behavior |
+
+`full` is the default and the right choice for an image from anything you do not fully control -- a file, a cache
+shared with other processes, a peer on the network. `bounds` skips scanning the text and the decoded strings, so it
+fits a cache your own process just wrote and reads straight back, where damage would mean a bug or a hardware fault
+rather than adversarial input; it still cannot crash or read out of bounds. `none` skips validation entirely and
+should only be used for an image you trust as much as your own memory.
+
+## Notes
+
+**Lifetime.** Overloads 1 and 2 borrow `image`: it must stay alive and byte-for-byte unchanged for as long as the
+returned document, and any [view](../basic_json_view/index.md) taken from it, is used -- exactly like a document
+[`parse()`](parse.md) borrowed its input for. Overload 3 avoids this by keeping the vector itself; see
+[`owns_source`](owns_source.md).
+
+!!! warning "Experimental"
+
+    The image format is versioned but not yet stable, and may change in an incompatible way before it is declared
+    stable; `load()` already rejects an image written by a different format version with `parse_error.116`
+    ("unknown format"). Use images to cache a document within one build of the library, or to hand one to another
+    process running the *same* build on the *same* (little-endian) machine -- not as a long-term storage format.
+
+**What `image_check::bounds` does not guarantee.** A bounds-checked image can never make `load()`,
+[`root()`](root.md), element access, or [`materialize()`](../basic_json_view/materialize.md) read outside the image,
+so those stay safe on a damaged one. It does *not* guarantee that the image describes valid JSON: a string
+that a `full` check would have rejected can make [`dump()`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) write invalid UTF-8 or invalid
+JSON, or throw `type_error.316`, and a number can read back with a value that does not match how it is spelled. Reserve `bounds` for images you already trust to be well-formed, and use it
+only to skip the extra scan.
+
+## Examples
+
+??? example "Caching a document, ownership, and a rejected image"
+
+    The example below saves a parsed document as an image, checks that `load()` reproduces the original
+    [`dump()`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) without parsing, and shows the difference between
+    `load(std::move(image))` (owned) and `load(image)` (borrowed). It then damages one byte of the image and shows
+    `image_check::full` rejecting it with `parse_error.116`, while `image_check::bounds` -- meant for a cache the
+    process already trusts -- still reads it without going out of bounds.
+
+    ```cpp
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__load.cpp"
+    ```
+
+    Output:
+
+    ```json
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__load.output"
+    ```
+
+## See also
+
+- [save](save.md) - write the document as an image
+- [owns_source](owns_source.md) - return whether the document holds its own copy of the text
+- [parse](parse.md) - deserialize from JSON text instead of an image
+- [Images](../../features/json_view.md#images) - why and when to use images
+
+## Version history
+
+- Added in version 3.13.0.
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/parse.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/parse.md
index a3c44f4e0..88a4fc20c 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/parse.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/parse.md
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ integer type becomes a floating-point value.
 - [accept](accept.md) - check whether the input is valid JSON
 - [read](read.md) - (re-)parse into this document, reusing its memory
 - [owns_source](owns_source.md) - return whether the document holds its own copy of the text
+- [load](load.md) - read a document from an image instead of parsing JSON text
 - [`BasicJsonType::parse`](../basic_json/parse.md) - the corresponding function of `basic_json`
 
 ## Version history
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/read.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/read.md
index 2267e46bd..fd6c45657 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/read.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/read.md
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ own on the next, since ownership is decided freshly each time.
 
 - [parse](parse.md) - deserialize from a compatible input
 - [root](root.md) - the view of the root value
+- [load](load.md) - read a document from an image instead of parsing JSON text
 
 ## Version history
 
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/save.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/save.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a80927c0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/save.md
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_document::</small>save
+
+```cpp
+std::vector<std::uint8_t> save() const;
+```
+
+Writes the document as an *image*: a byte buffer that [`load`](load.md) reads back without parsing. The image holds
+the node index, the source text (plus, for an edited document, the number tokens edits wrote), and the decoded
+strings (plus the strings edits wrote) -- everything [`root()`](root.md) needs, with nothing left to parse.
+
+An edited document is written in its *current* state, with its values in document order, the way the library's own
+parser would have produced them for that JSON text: a member [`set`](set.md) added goes at the end, an
+[`erase`](erase.md)d member leaves no trace, and a float that is not finite (NaN or positive/negative infinity)
+becomes null, the same substitution [`dump()`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) makes. The same document always saves to
+the same bytes -- also across `BasicJsonType` and `#!cpp Editable`, since the image reflects document order and
+values only, not which specialization produced them.
+
+## Return value
+
+The image, as a `#!cpp std::vector<std::uint8_t>`. Pass it, or a pointer to its data together with its size, to
+[`load`](load.md) to read the document back.
+
+## Exception safety
+
+Strong guarantee: `save()` does not modify `#!cpp *this` (it is `#!cpp const`), so if it throws, the document is left
+exactly as it was, and the partially built image is discarded with the exception.
+
+## Exceptions
+
+Throws [`type_error.320`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error320) if the document is
+[discarded](is_discarded.md) -- a default-constructed document, or one a failed [`parse()`](parse.md)/
+[`read()`](read.md) with `allow_exceptions == false` left discarded.
+
+On a big-endian target, throws `type_error.320` with a different message instead: the image format is little-endian
+only (see [Notes](#notes)).
+
+Throws [`out_of_range.416`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range416) if the node count, the text, or
+the decoded strings of the image would individually reach 4 GiB -- the same 32-bit offsets
+[`parse()`](parse.md#exceptions) and, for edits, [`set`](set.md)/[`push_back`](push_back.md) are already limited to.
+
+!!! failure "Example messages"
+
+    ```
+    [json.exception.type_error.320] cannot save a discarded json_document
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.type_error.320] json_document images need a little-endian target
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.out_of_range.416] images of 4 GiB or more are not supported by json_document
+    ```
+
+## Complexity
+
+Linear in the size of the document: the number of nodes, plus the length of the text and the decoded strings that end
+up in the image.
+
+## Notes
+
+**Format.** The image begins with a 64-byte header (the magic bytes `#!cpp "NJVI"`, a version number, the node count,
+and the sizes of the text and the decoded strings, all little-endian), followed by the nodes (16 bytes each), the
+text and a `#!cpp '\0'`, and the decoded strings and a `#!cpp '\0'`. [`load`](load.md) checks the header, and the
+sizes it describes, before reading anything else -- see [`load`'s Exceptions](load.md#exceptions).
+
+!!! warning "Experimental"
+
+    The image format is versioned but not yet stable: it may change in an incompatible way before it is declared
+    stable. Use images to cache a document within one build of the library, or to hand one to another process running
+    the *same* build on the *same* (little-endian) machine -- not as a long-term storage format. Keep the original
+    JSON text if you need to read a saved document back with a future library version.
+
+**Little-endian only.** The image is written as raw little-endian bytes, with no byte-swapping. `save()` (and
+[`load`](load.md)) throw `type_error.320` on a big-endian target rather than silently produce bytes a big-endian
+reader could not interpret correctly.
+
+## Examples
+
+??? example "Caching a parsed document as an image"
+
+    The example below saves a parsed configuration as an image -- the way a service might cache one to answer later
+    requests without parsing the text again -- and confirms that loading it back gives exactly the same result as
+    parsing did, and that saving is deterministic.
+
+    ```cpp
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__save.cpp"
+    ```
+
+    Output:
+
+    ```json
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__save.output"
+    ```
+
+## See also
+
+- [load](load.md) - read an image written by `save()`
+- [owns_source](owns_source.md) - return whether the document holds its own copy of the text
+- [`basic_json_view::dump`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) - serialize the document to JSON text instead of an image
+- [Images](../../features/json_view.md#images) - why and when to use images
+
+## Version history
+
+- Added in version 3.13.0.
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__load.cpp b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__load.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52a085a10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__load.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+using json = nlohmann::json;
+using json_document = nlohmann::json_document;
+using image_check = json_document::image_check;
+
+int main()
+{
+    std::cout << std::boolalpha;
+
+    // the image of a parsed document -- as if read back from a cache file or
+    // received from another process running the same build of the library
+    const std::string text = R"({"name": "cache", "note": "caf\u00e9", "replicas": ["db2", "db3"]})";
+    const json_document parsed = json_document::parse(text);
+    const std::vector<std::uint8_t> image = parsed.save();
+
+    // (1)/(2) load() needs no parsing, yet dumps exactly what parsing did
+    const json_document borrowed = json_document::load(image);
+    std::cout << (borrowed.root().dump() == parsed.root().dump()) << '\n';
+    std::cout << borrowed.owns_source() << '\n'; // borrowed: still points into `image`
+
+    // (3) load(std::move(image)) keeps the vector instead of copying it
+    std::vector<std::uint8_t> to_move = image;
+    const json_document owned = json_document::load(std::move(to_move));
+    std::cout << owned.owns_source() << '\n';
+
+    // a damaged image -- the last byte of the decoded string "note" holds
+    // (an escape sequence, so it was unescaped into the document's own
+    // buffer), flipped, as storage or transport corruption might do
+    std::vector<std::uint8_t> damaged = image;
+    damaged[damaged.size() - 2] = 0xFF;
+
+    // image_check::full inspects strings and numbers, so it catches the damage
+    try
+    {
+        static_cast<void>(json_document::load(damaged, image_check::full));
+    }
+    catch (const json::parse_error& e)
+    {
+        std::cout << e.id << '\n';
+    }
+
+    // image_check::bounds only checks structure and bounds, so a cache the
+    // process already trusts loads without the extra scan -- reading a value
+    // the damage did not touch is still safe
+    const json_document trusted = json_document::load(damaged, image_check::bounds);
+    std::cout << trusted.root()["name"].get<std::string>() << '\n';
+}
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__load.output b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__load.output
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4dc66a29b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__load.output
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+true
+false
+true
+116
+cache
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__save.cpp b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__save.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a3cc978b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__save.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+using json_document = nlohmann::json_document;
+
+int main()
+{
+    std::cout << std::boolalpha;
+
+    // a configuration a service parses once and then caches as an image, so
+    // that later requests can load() it instead of parsing the text again
+    const std::string text = R"({"name": "cache", "host": "db1", "port": 6379, "replicas": ["db2", "db3"]})";
+    const json_document config = json_document::parse(text);
+
+    // save() turns the parsed document into a byte buffer: a 64-byte header,
+    // the node index, the source text, and the decoded strings
+    const std::vector<std::uint8_t> image = config.save();
+    std::cout << image.size() << '\n';
+
+    // the same document always saves to the same bytes
+    std::cout << (image == json_document::parse(text).save()) << '\n';
+
+    // loading the image back needs no parsing, yet dumps exactly what
+    // parsing the text produced
+    const json_document reloaded = json_document::load(image);
+    std::cout << (reloaded.root().dump() == config.root().dump()) << '\n';
+}
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__save.output b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__save.output
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ce0ade9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_document__save.output
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+316
+true
+true
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/index.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/index.md
index e17d0dabe..7affb523d 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/index.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/index.md
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ C++ types, and finally serialize it again.
   [SAX interface](parsing/sax_interface.md), and [error handling](parsing/parse_exceptions.md).
 - [Zero-copy JSON views](json_view.md) — read a JSON text through a flat index instead of building a `json` tree;
   strings and numbers stay in the input and are only decoded when needed.
-  [Editable documents](json_view.md#editing-a-document) can also be modified.
+  [Editable documents](json_view.md#editing-a-document) can also be modified, and [images](json_view.md#images) load a
+  parsed document again without parsing it.
 - [Comments](comments.md) and [trailing commas](trailing_commas.md) — opt-in relaxations of the JSON grammar.
 
 ## Accessing and modifying values
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md
index 8a275db4a..efef2bda2 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md
@@ -250,6 +250,57 @@ edits. See [`basic_json_document`'s Edits](../api/basic_json_document/index.md#e
 throws (the *basic* guarantee, not the strong one `dump()` and the read-only functions provide). How edits are kept in
 the index is described in the [architecture overview](../home/architecture.md#node-index-of-json-views).
 
+## Images
+
+[`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md) writes a document as an *image*: a byte buffer that
+[`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) reads back into a document without parsing -- no lexing, no building
+the node index, nothing but copying the nodes and pointing the text and the decoded strings at the image. Where
+[`parse_copy()`](../api/basic_json_document/parse_copy.md) still has to scan the whole input,
+[`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) turns that scan into a copy of the node index alone.
+
+**Why.** A document that is parsed once and then read many times -- a configuration loaded at startup, a template
+rendered on every request, a large reference dataset a worker process needs in memory -- pays for parsing once but
+can amortize [`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md)'s cost across every later load. That makes images useful
+for a cache: save a document the first time it is parsed (to a file, a shared-memory segment, an in-process cache),
+and [`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) it on every later use instead of parsing the source text again.
+They are just as useful for handing a parsed document to another process (or a forked worker) running the same build
+of the library, since [`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) turns the transfer into a copy of the node index
+plus pointers into the received bytes, not a re-parse.
+
+**Choosing a check.** [`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) takes an
+[`image_check`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md#image_check) that trades validation against speed:
+`image_check::full` (the default) checks everything the parser itself guarantees, so a checked image is exactly as
+safe to read and serialize as a freshly parsed document -- the right choice whenever the image did not come straight
+from this process's own [`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md), such as a file or a network peer.
+`image_check::bounds` only checks structure and bounds -- cheaper, since it skips scanning the text and the decoded
+strings -- and fits a cache the process trusts, one it wrote and reads back itself. `image_check::none` skips
+validation entirely, for an image trusted as much as the process's own memory. See
+[`load()`'s Notes](../api/basic_json_document/load.md#notes) for exactly what each level does and does not guarantee.
+
+??? example "Example: cache a parsed configuration as an image"
+
+    ```cpp
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__save.cpp"
+    ```
+
+    Output:
+
+    ```json
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__save.output"
+    ```
+
+!!! warning "Experimental"
+
+    The image format is versioned but not yet stable, and may change in an incompatible way before it is declared
+    stable. It is little-endian only, and tied to the library build that wrote it -- use it to cache a document or to
+    hand one to another process running the *same* build, not as a long-term storage format; keep the original JSON
+    text if a saved document needs to be readable by a future library version.
+
+The idea of a document you can read without parsing comes from zero-copy formats such as
+[FlatBuffers](https://github.com/google/flatbuffers) and [YaFF](https://github.com/yandex/yaff); the check
+[`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) runs follows the idea of FlatBuffers' Verifier. No code is taken from
+either.
+
 ## Choosing between `json`, `ordered_json`, the SAX interface, and `json_view`
 
 | | [`json`](../api/json.md) / [`ordered_json`](../api/ordered_json.md) | [SAX interface](parsing/sax_interface.md) | [`json_document`](../api/json_document.md) / [`json_view`](../api/json_view.md) | [`json_editable_document`](../api/json_editable_document.md) / [`json_editable_view`](../api/json_editable_view.md) |
@@ -258,6 +309,7 @@ the index is described in the [architecture overview](../home/architecture.md#no
 | **Mutability** | freely mutable | not applicable (a one-shot event stream) | read-only | [`set`](../api/basic_json_document/set.md)/[`push_back`](../api/basic_json_document/push_back.md)/[`insert`](../api/basic_json_document/insert.md)/[`erase`](../api/basic_json_document/erase.md) edit in place; the source text is never rewritten |
 | **What you get** | a full tree you can read, write, and keep as long as you like | a sequence of callbacks; whatever your handler builds from them | a flat index plus, on demand, [`materialize()`](../api/basic_json_view/materialize.md)d `json`/`ordered_json` values for the parts you actually use | the same, plus [`dump()`](../api/basic_json_view/dump.md) of an edited document that keeps the member order and, with [`number_format::source`](../api/basic_json_view/number_format.md), the spelling of every untouched number |
 | **Typical use** | general-purpose JSON handling: config, request/response bodies you build or modify, anything you hold onto | validating or projecting a text into your own data structure without ever holding the whole thing as JSON | large or high-volume input where you only need part of it, or need it repeatedly, and can keep the source text (or a copy) alive for as long as the document lives | a document you read, patch a few fields of, and write back -- a configuration file, for instance -- where the rest of it should come back exactly as it was |
+| **Caching/reload** | not applicable -- re-parse, or roll your own serialization | not applicable | [`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md)/[`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md): cache the parsed index as an image and reload it without parsing | same, saving the document's current -- possibly edited -- state |
 
 ## Version history
 
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md
index 5ba54acfc..4a73f09d3 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md
@@ -388,6 +388,23 @@ A UBJSON high-precision number could not be parsed.
     [json.exception.parse_error.115] parse error at byte 5: syntax error while parsing UBJSON high-precision number: invalid number text: 1A
     ```
 
+### json.exception.parse_error.116
+
+[`basic_json_document::load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) rejected an
+[image](../features/json_view.md#images): either the bytes are not one [`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md)
+could have written (too short, an unknown magic number or format version, or sizes that do not fit the buffer), or
+they are, but fail the requested [`image_check`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md#image_check).
+
+!!! failure "Example message"
+
+    ```
+    [json.exception.parse_error.116] parse error: invalid json_document image: the check failed
+    ```
+
+!!! note
+
+    This exception was added in version 3.13.0, together with [images](../features/json_view.md#images).
+
 ## Iterator errors
 
 This exception is thrown if iterators passed to a library function do not match
@@ -800,6 +817,26 @@ from JSON text.
 
     This exception was added in version 3.13.0, together with editable [`json_document`s](../features/json_view.md).
 
+### json.exception.type_error.320
+
+[`basic_json_document::save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md) cannot write an
+[image](../features/json_view.md#images) of a [discarded](../api/basic_json_document/is_discarded.md) document.
+[`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md) and [`load()`](../api/basic_json_document/load.md) also throw this
+exception on a big-endian target, since the image format is little-endian only.
+
+!!! failure "Example messages"
+
+    ```
+    [json.exception.type_error.320] cannot save a discarded json_document
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.type_error.320] json_document images need a little-endian target
+    ```
+
+!!! note
+
+    This exception was added in version 3.13.0, together with [images](../features/json_view.md#images).
+
 ## Out of range
 
 This exception is thrown in case a library function is called on an input parameter that exceeds the expected range, for instance, in the case of array indices or nonexisting object keys.
@@ -1027,7 +1064,9 @@ MessagePack's ext type and BSON's binary subtype are each stored in a single byt
 so they do not support an input of 4 GiB or more. The same 32-bit limit applies to an **editable** document's own
 storage: [`set`](../api/basic_json_document/set.md) and [`push_back`](../api/basic_json_document/push_back.md) throw
 this exception once the strings and number tokens written by edits reach 4 GiB in total, or once more than
-4294967295 arrays/objects have had an element set or appended to them.
+4294967295 arrays/objects have had an element set or appended to them. The same limit applies to an
+[image](../features/json_view.md#images): [`save()`](../api/basic_json_document/save.md) throws it if the node
+count, the text, or the decoded strings it would write would individually reach 4 GiB.
 
 !!! failure "Example messages"
 
@@ -1037,6 +1076,9 @@ this exception once the strings and number tokens written by edits reach 4 GiB i
     ```
     [json.exception.out_of_range.416] edits of 4 GiB or more are not supported by json_document
     ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.out_of_range.416] images of 4 GiB or more are not supported by json_document
+    ```
 
 !!! note
 
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml b/docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml
index 462fddb34..cbf7bf1fd 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ nav:
           - 'erase': api/basic_json_document/erase.md
           - 'insert': api/basic_json_document/insert.md
           - 'is_discarded': api/basic_json_document/is_discarded.md
+          - 'load': api/basic_json_document/load.md
           - 'memory_usage': api/basic_json_document/memory_usage.md
           - 'node_count': api/basic_json_document/node_count.md
           - 'owns_source': api/basic_json_document/owns_source.md
@@ -244,6 +245,7 @@ nav:
           - 'push_back': api/basic_json_document/push_back.md
           - 'read': api/basic_json_document/read.md
           - 'root': api/basic_json_document/root.md
+          - 'save': api/basic_json_document/save.md
           - 'set': api/basic_json_document/set.md
           - 'shrink_to_fit': api/basic_json_document/shrink_to_fit.md
           - 'source': api/basic_json_document/source.md