Method and system for locating the amount field on a document

A method for locating an amount field on a document comprising the steps of:

• creating a black and white image of the entire document and counting the number of black pels in each horizontal line of that document;
• locating horizontal segments on the document which include more black pels in each line that contain more than a preset threshold number of black pels;
• counting the black pels in vertical sections of each located horizontal segment of the document including more than a threshold number of black pels, whereby rectangular areas including a substantial number of black pels are identified;
• creating a signature for each such rectangular area wherein each character is determined to be one type of character selected from the list of hand print character, machine print character, vertical bar and decimal point prior to identifying each character;
• using the signature of each block to identify a block which is likely to be an amount field;
• and
• using only the block identified as likely to be the amount field for a further recognition step on the block identified as the amount field.