Patent ID: 8675256

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising: a clustering component configured to classify an image into a plurality of clusters based on a color of each pixel included in the image, wherein a cluster number is given for each of the classified clusters; a background cluster specifying component configured to specify a cluster of a background among the plurality of clusters classified by the clustering component; a labeling component configured to obtain a plurality of label areas by giving each label area a label number for every linked pixel group classified into a same cluster by the clustering component, wherein each label number given by the labeling component is associated with one of the cluster numbers which is given to the corresponding one of the plurality of clusters; a first combining component configured to combine a label area whose size is less than a first threshold value among the plurality of label areas obtained by the labeling component, with an adjoining another label area which is not associated with a cluster number which is given to the cluster of the background; a second combining component configured to determine whether the label area combined by the first combining component is further combined with the adjoining another label area based on a characteristic quantity obtained from the label area combined by the first combining component, and to further combine the label area with the adjoining another label area when determined as the label area being further combined; and a generating component configured to generate vector data based on the label area further combined by the second combining component.