Document image template matching based on component block list

Document image matching is the key technique for document image registratio n and retrieval. In this paper, a new matching method based on document com ponent block list (CBL) is proposed. A document image is firstly parsed int o a number of component blocks that are defined as non-adherent rectangular areas of substantial document contents. Then these blocks are organized as a list, on which several matching operations are defined. The template ima ge that is most similar to the querying document image is selected as the m atching result. Our method can effectively make use of the local informatio n of each page component block and the global information of document page layout. We investigate the method with large-scale document template image database. Our method manifests good matching accuracy and good robustness t o image distortion, filled-in text, and noises. (C) 2001 Published by Elsev ier Science B.V.