Patent ID: 6965695

Claim:
A method of correctly identifying areas near character edges in character image data, comprising: performing an edge-enhancement process on the character image data so as to generate edge-enhanced character image data by detecting edges in the portion of the character image data to generate an edge signal; performing a combination of predetermined tests including a first dot pattern peak test on a portion of the character image data representing a character and a background in sets of pixel color component values, the predetermined tests each determining whether or not the portion is a white area and generating a set of test results, performing said first dot pattern peak test based upon a first certain set of color component pixel values of the portion to determine a first dot pattern peak, a first component of said first dot pattern peak test determining whether or not a color component pixel value of a centrally located pixel of the portion has the highest value of the lowest value in the portion, a second component of said first dot pattern peak test determining whether or not an absolute difference in the color component pixel value of the centrally located pixel and an average of each pair of the color component pixel values of pixels that are symmetrically located about the centrally located pixel exceeds a predetermined dot pattern peak threshold value; assigning a white level value to the portion based upon the test of the predetermined tests; comparing the portion to a set of predetermined white patterns if the white level value and the test results satisfy one of predetermined conditions; and converting each of the pixel values in the portion to white if the portion contains one of the predetermined white patterns to generate a white converted portion.