PURPOSE: To raise precision, and to accelerate speed by dividing a document picture into plural areas in the direction of a line, and segmenting the line by deciding whether it is the line or a space between the lines according to projection in a line direction within check width wider than it, and segmenting a character by deciding a range according to the projection in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the line.
CONSTITUTION: The line is segmented by dividing the document picture into plural areas in the direction of the line by a control part 101, and the line is segmented by the control part 106 by deciding whether the area is the line or the space not by checking horizontal projection for the line segmentation in respect of the range of each divided area but by checking it in respect of the range of the check width which is wider than each divided area and in which the adjoining divided are overlaps partially each other. Then, the character is segmented by a character segmenting part 111 by determining the segmenting range of the character according to the projection in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the segmented line. Thus, segmenting processing can be executed highly precisely and at high speed.
KOJIMA KEIJI
SATO HAJIME
