Patent ID: 8300942

Claim:
A non-transitory computer readable recording medium in which a program executing an area extraction method is recorded, the program when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform the method comprising: an obtaining step of obtaining a character lattice showing a connection relation between unit areas, which are obtained by separating a character string pattern in an image into patterns each recognized as corresponding to a single character; a judging step of judging whether or not all combinations of each of the unit areas in the character lattice obtained in the obtaining step and each of the unit areas in a regular lattice defining a regular connection relation between the unit areas are likely to be established; a generating step of generating a path coupling between nodes corresponding to the combination of the unit areas, which is determined as likely to be established in the judging step; a determining step of determining an optimum path from the paths generated in the generating step based on a degree of coincidence with the regular lattice or the character lattice; and an extracting step of extracting, from an image, the unit areas in the character lattice corresponding to the optimum path determined in the determining step.