Patent ID: 7302116

Claim:
A method for generating a thumbnail image, comprising: discarding data of a portion of lines of an original image of an original document; combining data not discarded to generate the thumbnail image corresponding to the original image; identifying the portion of lines to be discarded based on a y_position value and a y_increment value; selecting pixels in lines not discarded that are within a neighborhood from a current x_position value and an x_size value; combining values of selected pixels to generate a value of a current pixel of the thumbnail image; including one or more pixels in a first neighborhood that are within a boundary corresponding to the current x_position value and a position corresponding to a sum of the current x_position value and the x_size value; generating a next current x_position value for a next pixel of the thumbnail image by: adding the x_increment value to the current x_position value corresponding to the current pixel of the thumbnail image, or adding the y_increment value to a current y_position value corresponding to the current pixel of the thumbnail image and setting the next current x_position value to an x_start value if a sum of the x_increment value and the current x_position value exceeds a line_width value, or when an x_count value of reduced size pixels exceeds an x_count limit value, the x_count value being a pixel number in a current line of the reduced size image; including pixels in a next neighborhood that are within a next boundary corresponding to the next current x_position value for the next pixel of the thumbnail image and the next current x_position value corresponding to a sum of the current x_position value and the x_size value; and using repeatedly a last pixel when positions corresponding to the sum of a value of the current x_position value and the x_size value exceed a position of a last pixel in a current line of the original image.