The Handbook of Document Image Processing and Recognition is a comprehensive resource on the latest methods and techniques in document image processing and recognition. Each chapter provides a clear overview of the topic followed by the state of the art of techniques used – including elements of comparison between them – along with supporting references to archival publications, for those interested in delving deeper into topics addressed. Rather than favor a particular approach, the text enables the reader to make an informed decision for their specific problems.

The book focuses on one of the key issues in document image processing – graphical symbol recognition, which is a sub-field of the larger research domain of pattern recognition. It covers several approaches: statistical, structural and syntactic, and discusses their merits and demerits considering the context. Through comprehensive experiments, it also explores whether these approaches can be combined. The book presents research problems, state-of-the-art methods that convey basic steps as well as prominent techniques, evaluation metrics and protocols, and research standpoints/directions that are associated with it. However, it is not limited to straightforward isolated graphics (visual patterns) recognition; it also addresses complex and composite graphical symbols recognition, which is motivated by real-world industrial problems.

Optical character recognition and document image analysis have become very important areas with a fast growing number of researchers in the field. This comprehensive handbook with contributions by eminent experts, presents both the theoretical and practical aspects at an introductory level wherever possible.

"Authored by the Digital Photographic Documentation Task Force of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works"--P. 11.

Document image analysis is the automatic computer interpretation of images of printed and handwritten documents, including text, drawings, maps, music scores, etc. Research in this field supports a rapidly growing international industry. This is the first book to offer a broad selection of state-of-the-art research papers, including authoritative critical surveys of the literature, and parallel studies of the architectureof complete high-performance printed-document reading systems. A unique feature is the extended section on music notation, an ideal vehicle for international sharing of basic research. Also, the collection includes important new work on line drawings, handwriting, character and symbol recognition, and basic methodological issues. The IAPR 1990 Workshop on Syntactic and Structural Pattern Recognition is summarized,including the reports of its expert working groups, whose debates provide a fascinating perspective on the field. The book is an excellent text for a first-year graduate seminar in document image analysis,and is likely to remain a standard reference in the field for years.