Method for locating and circumscribing text areas on a master which may contain text, graphics and/or image areas
First Claim
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1. A method for locating and circumscribing text areas on a master which may contain text, graphics and/or image areas comprising the steps of:
- optoelectronically scanning said master for generating analog signals corresponding to an optoelectronic imaging of said master;
converting said analog signals into digital signals by undertaking a decision operation by assigning a first binary number to analog signals representing a white level and assigning a second binary number to analog signals representing a black level;
expanding all points having a black level line-wise by a predetermined multiplier such that a horizontal stroke of predetermined length is respectively generated for each point whereby a black block is generated for each line of text on said master, said black block having a length equal to the length of the line of text plus a predetermined extension length for said black points;
expanding all points remaining after the previous step representing a white level by a predetermined multiplier for expanding said white points in a direction opposite to the expansion of said black points, the expansion of said white points being greater than the expansion of said black points;
extending said black block by a differential length with respect to the original length of the line of text such that a black block extending over the entire line of text is generated;
analyzing said black block with an operator for determining whether horizontal white/black transitions characteristic of text areas exist having a predetermined white column length and a predetermined black column length;
generating a vertical black stroke of predetermined length for every white/black transition such that an isolated black block is generated for each line of text;
listing the left and right extreme coordinates of said black block; and
statistically analyzing said extreme coordinates for said black blocks for determining whether said coordinates are boundaries for a line of text.
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Abstract
A method for locating and circumscribing text areas on a master which may contain text, graphics and/or image areas employs the steps of optoelectronically scanning the master, digitizing the analog signals obtained from the scanning, processing the digital values for forming a plurality of isolated black blocks, and statistically analyzing the coordinates corresponding to the beginning and the end of the black blocks in order to obtain a statistical decision as to whether a particular black block being analyzed represents a line of text.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for locating and circumscribing text areas on a master which may contain text, graphics and/or image areas comprising the steps of:
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optoelectronically scanning said master for generating analog signals corresponding to an optoelectronic imaging of said master; converting said analog signals into digital signals by undertaking a decision operation by assigning a first binary number to analog signals representing a white level and assigning a second binary number to analog signals representing a black level; expanding all points having a black level line-wise by a predetermined multiplier such that a horizontal stroke of predetermined length is respectively generated for each point whereby a black block is generated for each line of text on said master, said black block having a length equal to the length of the line of text plus a predetermined extension length for said black points; expanding all points remaining after the previous step representing a white level by a predetermined multiplier for expanding said white points in a direction opposite to the expansion of said black points, the expansion of said white points being greater than the expansion of said black points; extending said black block by a differential length with respect to the original length of the line of text such that a black block extending over the entire line of text is generated; analyzing said black block with an operator for determining whether horizontal white/black transitions characteristic of text areas exist having a predetermined white column length and a predetermined black column length; generating a vertical black stroke of predetermined length for every white/black transition such that an isolated black block is generated for each line of text; listing the left and right extreme coordinates of said black block; and statistically analyzing said extreme coordinates for said black blocks for determining whether said coordinates are boundaries for a line of text. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification