Method for compressing and decompressing forms by means of very large symbol matching

Method for compressing, for storing or transmitting, information contained in filled-in forms by separate handling of empty forms and of information written into them, characterized by the steps of:

• pre-scanning the empty forms, digitalizing data obtained by pre-scanning the empty forms, and storing the digitized representations relating to each of the empty forms in a computer memory to create a forms library;
• scanning an original, filled-in form to be compressed, digitizing data obtained from scanning the filled-in form, identifying a particular one of said empty forms in said forms library and retrieving a digital representation thereof;
• using dimensionality reduction to determine registration information relating to relative position of the filled-in information with respect to the competed form;
• registering said original filled-in form with said empty form;
• subtracting said retrieved representation of the empty form from said digital representation of the scanned filled-in form, a difference being the digital representation of the filled-in information, and
• compressing the digital representation of the filled-in information.

Method for compressing, for storing or transmitting, and reproducing information contained in filled-in forms by separate handling of corresponding empty forms and of information written into them, characterized by the steps of:

• (a) storing digitized representations of empty forms in a computer memory to create a forms library;
• (b) scanning an original, filed in form to be compressed;
• (c) digitizing data obtained from said filled-in form;
• (d) identifying the particular one of said empty forms in said forms library and retrieving the digital representation thereof;
• (e) subtracting said retrieved digital representation of the empty form from said digital representation of the scanned filled-in form, to generate a difference which is a digital representation of the filled-in information, and
• (f) compressing the digital representation of the filled-in information.

Method for compressing, for storing, or transmitting, information contained in filled-in forms by separate handling of corresponding empty forms and of information written into them, characterized by the steps of:

• pre-scanning the empty forms, digitizing data obtained from pre-scanning the empty forms, and storing a digitized representations relating to each of the empty forms in a computer memory to create a forms library;
• scanning an original, filled-in form to be compressed, digitizing data obtained from scanning the filled in form;
• identifying a particular one of said empty forms in said forms library and retrieving the digital representation thereof;
• determining registration information relating to a relative position of the filled-in information with respect to a completed form;
• partitioning the scanned filled-in form into small segments;
• estimating, for each segment, optimum shifts to be performed in x and y directions;
• placing each segment of said original filled-in form at an appropriate area of an output image array using the shift information previously established, so that a complete, shifted image is obtained when placements for all segments have been completed;
• subtracting said retrieved representation of the empty form from said digital representation of the scanned filled-in form, a difference being the digital representation of the filled information, and
• compressing the digital representation of the filed in information.