Systems and methods for automatically extracting data from electronic documents containing multiple layout features

In a document analysis system that receives and processes jobs from a plurality of users, in which each job may contain multiple electronic documents, to classify each document into a corresponding document category and to extract data from the electronic documents, a method of automatically extracting data from each received electronic document containing a plurality of layout features through progressive refinement, the method comprising:

• analyzing each document to automatically extract images and text features wherein each document includes at least two features that are related to each other, and wherein said analyzing compares extracted features with a first search space of candidate features to try and recognize the extracted features;
• if one of the at least two related features is not recognized and at least one feature is recognized, selecting a second search space of candidate features in response thereto and in response to predefined rules about the relationship between the two features;
• and
• comparing the unrecognized feature with said selected second search space.