Patent ID: 8843756

Claim:
A non-transitory computer program product having a computer readable medium including programmed instructions for image processing, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform: sectioning an image to be processed into a plurality of blocks; rearranging the blocks into positions specified by an encryption key that uniquely specifies the positions of the blocks in the image; setting a minimum area which is a part of the block and smaller than the block, with respect to each of the blocks rearranged at the rearranging; determining a computing method used to convert pixel values of pixels that form the minimum area set at the setting based on statistical characteristics computed from predetermined pixels forming an area near the minimum area and not belonging to the minimum area; and converting the pixel values of pixels that form the minimum area based on the computing method determined at the determining without converting pixel values of pixels including the predetermined pixels other than the pixels forming the minimum area in each of the blocks.