Patent ID: 6947596

Claim:
A character recognition method for recognizing characters entered in a document or the like including preprint information, comprising: dividing an image in an area where the characters to be recognized are present into line segments individually, wherein the image is obtained by reading said preprint information and the entry characters; creating a recognition image by changing a combination of a plurality of line segments divided; memorizing a recognition result with reliability by making the character recognition for said created recognition image; and outputting the recognition result having a greatest reliability by making the character recognition for all the combinations while changing said combination of line segments successively, wherein the division into said line segments comprises: thinning all the line segments in the image within said recognition area; extracting an endpoint and an intersection from said line segments; dividing said thinned image into line segments from said endpoint to said intersection, said endpoint to said endpoint, or said intersection to said intersection, wherein each of said line segments is extended to the original line width by referring to said input original image.