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Wavelet Applications in Segmentation of Handwriting in Archival Documents

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Wavelet Analysis and Its Applications (WAA 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2251))

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Abstract

The National Archives of Singapore keeps a large number of double-sided handwritten archival documents. Over long periods of storage, ink sipped through the pages of these documents, resulting in interfering images of handwriting coming from the back of the page. This paper addresses this problem of segmenting handwriting from both sides of a document by means of a wavelet approach. We first match both sides of a document page such that the interfering strokes are mapped with the corresponding strokes originating from the reverse side. This allows the identification of the foreground and interfering strokes. A wavelet reconstruction process then iteratively enhances the foreground strokes and smears the interfering strokes so as to strengthen the discriminating capability of an improved Canny edge detector against the interfering strokes. Experimental results confirm the validity of the wavelet approach.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing, National University of Singapore, 117543, Kent Ridge, Singapore

    Chew Lim Tan, Ruini Cao & Peiyi Shen

Authors
  1. Chew Lim Tan
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  2. Ruini Cao
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  3. Peiyi Shen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Yuan Y. Tang , Pong C. Yuen  & Chun-hung Li ,  & 

  2. Department of Mathematics, Washington University, Cupples I, Campus Box 1146, 63130, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Victor Wickerhauser

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Tan, C.L., Cao, R., Shen, P. (2001). Wavelet Applications in Segmentation of Handwriting in Archival Documents. In: Tang, Y.Y., Yuen, P.C., Li, Ch., Wickerhauser, V. (eds) Wavelet Analysis and Its Applications. WAA 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2251. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45333-4_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45333-4_23

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43034-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45333-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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