Patent ID: 8855414

Claim:
A method of encoding images comprising: identifying, by a computer, initial pixels within a spatially defined sub-section of an image, wherein the initial pixels are at least a defined number of pixels each comprising a first color; identifying background pixels of the image, wherein the background pixels comprise the first color and are in a first defined spatial proximity to the initial pixels; identifying text pixels of the image, wherein the text pixels contrast the first color and are in a second defined spatial proximity to the background pixels; identifying picture pixels as all pixels of the image other than the background pixels and the text pixels; generating, by the computer, a background encoding comprising (i) spatial locations of the background pixels and (ii) a lossless encoding of the first color; generating a text encoding identifying both a spatial location and a lossless color encoding of each of the text pixels; and generating a picture encoding comprising a lossy encoding of the picture pixels.