Method for automatic removal of text from a signature area

• US 20070205261A1
• Filed: 03/06/2006
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitek Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mitek Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Nepomniachtchi, Grigori, Postnikov, Vasily
• Granted Patent: US 7,657,091 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/379
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/30 Writer recognition; Reading and verifying signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/04 by paper currency

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for processing a document involving the automatic removal of text from a predetermined area of a document, the method comprising inputting a bitmap containing the predetermined area of the document from which the text will be removed wherein the predetermined area contains handwritten strokes, detecting the text, removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text and outputting the bitmap with the text removed therefrom.

Claims

1. A method for processing a document involving the automatic removal of text from a predetermined area of a document, the method comprising the steps of:

inputting a bitmap containing the predetermined area of the document from which the text will be removed, wherein the predetermined area contains handwritten strokes;

detecting the text;

removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text; and

outputting the bitmap with the text removed therefrom.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the document comprises a financial document; and

the predetermined area comprises the signature area of the financial document.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the financial document comprises a check.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of restoring any handwritten strokes that were removed from the predetermined area of the document.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of detecting the text comprises the steps of calculating a dominant letter height of the text, computing text baselines and slope of the text, and computing left and right boundaries of the text.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text comprises the steps of re-computing local baselines of the text, detecting intersections of handwritten strokes and text, and removing rough text from the re-computed local baselines.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating the steps iteratively to remove additional text from the predetermined area of the bitmap.

8. A method for processing a document, comprising the steps of:

inputting a bitmap containing a predetermined area of the document, wherein the predetermined area contains handwritten strokes and text;

detecting the text;

removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text;

restoring any handwritten strokes that were previously removed from the predetermined area of the document; and

outputting the bitmap with the text removed therefrom.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of detecting the text includes the step of calculating a dominant letter height of the text.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of calculating a dominant letter height comprises building a compressed image representation having a predetermined aspect ratio.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of detecting the text includes the step of calculating computing text baselines and slope of the text.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of detecting the text includes the step of calculating computing left and right boundaries of the text.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text includes the step of re-computing local baselines of the text.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text includes the step of detecting intersections of handwritten strokes and text.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of detecting intersections of handwritten strokes and text involves the step of tracing the handwritten strokes to effectively separate the handwritten strokes from the text.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of removing the text and any handwritten strokes that intersect with the text includes the step of removing rough text from the re-computed local baselines.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of restoring handwritten strokes comprises repairing the predetermined area of the document by pasting any previously collected and saved handwritten strokes back onto the bitmap.

18. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the document comprises a financial document; and

the predetermined area comprises the signature area of the financial document.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the financial document comprises a check.

20. A method for processing a document, comprising the steps of:

inputting a bitmap containing a predetermined area of the document, wherein the predetermined area contains handwritten strokes and text;

calculating a dominant letter height of the text;

computing text baselines and slope of the text;

computing left and right boundaries of the text;

re-computing local baselines of the text;

detecting intersections of handwritten strokes and text;

removing rough text from the re-computed local baselines;

restoring any handwritten strokes that were previously removed from the predetermined area of the document; and

outputting the bitmap with the text removed therefrom.