Image processing method, image processing apparatus, image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus, and recording medium

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a storage section for storing a plurality of type identifiers each of which contains one or a plurality of image identifiers each for identifying each of a plurality of reference images and thereby identifies a type of a document;
• and
• a controller capable of performing operations of:
• determining whether each of a plurality of obtained document images is similar to a reference image;
• when a document image is determined as being similar to a reference image, selecting an image identifier that identifies said reference image, from among a plurality of image identifiers;
• identifying a type identifier that contains the selected image identifier;
• and
• classifying document images each similar to a reference image, for each identified type identifier.

A recording medium storing thereon a computer program executable to perform the steps of:

• determining whether each of a plurality of inputted document images is similar to any one of reference images;
• when the document image is determined as being similar to a reference image, selecting an image identifier that identifies said reference image from among a plurality of image identifiers each for identifying a reference image;
• identifying a type identifier that contains the selected image identifier, from among a plurality of type identifiers that contains one or a plurality of image identifiers and identifies a type of a document;
• and
• classifying document images each similar to a reference image, for each identified type identifier.