PURPOSE: To improve the operability of a user by specifying the inner part of an area where character recognition is to be performed and automatically finding the area for performing the character recognition by calculation.

CONSTITUTION: Information inside an image storage part 1 is displayed at a display device 2 and a position for performing the character recognition is specified by a recognition position specifying device 3. Then, a recognition area calculation means 4 sets a retrieval block for calculating a character area with the specified position as a center, then sets the retrieval block around the newly prepared retrieval block and judges whether or not they are all white picture elements. It is repeated, and when they all become the white picture elements, a rectangle provided with the retrieval block is set, a part not provided with black picture elements is narrowed in the order of an upper part, a left side, a right side and a lower part and thus, an optimum area for performing the character recognition is found and stored in a character area storage part 5. Thereafter, the character recognition is performed by a character recognition means 6. By the series of processings, just by specifying one point, the area for performing the character recognition is automatically calculated and a recognized result is obtained.