PURPOSE: To shorten processing time by providing a standard pattern with information to show the range where its black pattern exists, and limiting a range of matching.

CONSTITUTION: When a note is optically scanned, characters are converted into a binary pattern, matched with a standard pattern in a standard pattern memory 5, and recognized by a character recognition part 4. When a standard pattern stored in a bit type or a word type in memory is mated with an input pattern, an NSS25 which shows a starting scan of the range where the black exists at every standard pattern, and an NSE26 which shows an end scan of said range are provided on the standard pattern memory 5 together with a standard pattern 23. At the time of inputting an input pattern 24; an NIS27 which shows a starting scan of the range where a black input pattern exists, and an NIE28 which shows an end scan of said range, are detected, and a matching range is limited. A matching range M is reduced to a matching start scan MS ≤M matching end scan ME, and as a result, processing time of matching can be shortened.