Image processing apparatus and method

An image processing apparatus for extracting an image area from an image in which image areas having different components are mixed, comprising:

• a reduction unit adapted to generate a reduced image from an inputted image;
• a first extractor adapted to extract an image area from the reduced image;
• a calculator adapted to calculate a position of the image area, extracted by said first extractor, on the inputted image;
• a second extractor adapted to extract an image area from the inputted image based on the calculated position;
• a detector adapted to detect an image area, which is omitted by said reduction unit, based on the calculated position and the image area extracted by said second extractor;
• and
• a unification unit adapted to unify the image area extracted by said second extractor and the detected image area.

A computer program product storing a computer-readable medium comprising computer program code, which executes an image processing method for extracting an image area from an image in which image areas having different components are mixed, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

• generating a reduced image from an inputted image;
• extracting an image area from the reduced image;
• calculating a position of the image area, extracted in said first extracting step, on the inputted image;
• extracting an image area from the inputted image based on the calculated position;
• detecting an image area, which is omitted in said generating step, based on the calculated position and the image area extracted in said second extracting step;
• and
• unifying the image area extracted in said second extracting step and the detected image area.