Processing of text documents: straight line approximation and lost loop recovery

This paper deals with two different problems in processing of text documents. Firstly, an integrated algorithm that finds a straight line approximation of a textual stroke is described. It has the advantage of using the distance transform of thinned binary images to identify, spurious bifurcation points which are unavoidable when thinning algorithms are used, remove them, and recover the original ones. Secondly, a method is presented to recover loops that become blobs due to blotting. The method depends on removing the pixels whose distance transform exceeds a calculated threshold