Patent ID: 8102572

Claim:
An image processing method, comprising: reading a document image; storing the document image in a storage module; registering a plurality of marking images in a registration module by encoding different marking information into each respective one of the plurality of marking images; analyzing an embedded image in the document image by extracting marking information from the embedded image and comparing the embedded image to the plurality of marking images in the registration module; composing an output image based on the document image stored in the storage module and a result of the analyzing the embedded image; and outputting the output image, wherein the analyzing the embedded image in the document image includes searching for an approximate marking image by comparing the embedded image to the plurality of marking images stored in the registration module, and wherein the searching for the approximate marking image includes listing a plurality of approximate marking images that are sorted by an approximate matching rate, retrieving marking information relating to the plurality of approximate marking images from the marking image registration module, and displaying the marking information relating to the plurality of approximate marking images on an operation panel with the plurality of approximate marking images sorted by the approximate matching rate.