From raster to vectors: Extracting visual information from line drawings. (English) Zbl 0926.68139
Summary: Vectorization of raster line images is a relatively mature subject in the document analysis and recognition field, but it is far from being perfect as yet. We survey the methods and algorithms developed to-date for the vectorization of document images, and classify them into six categories: Hough transform-based, thinning-based, contour-based, run-graph-based, mesh-pattern-based, and sparse-pixel-based. The purpose of the survey is to provide researchers with a comprehensive overview of this technique, to enable a judicious decision while selecting a vectorization algorithm for a system under development or a newly developed vectorization algorithm.
MSC:
68U05 | Computer graphics; computational geometry (digital and algorithmic aspects) |