Method of determining usability of a document image and an apparatus therefor

A method of processing a document, the method comprising:

• scanning a document to capture pixel data which is representative of an image of the document;
• calculating a first count of pixels associated with a corner of the document image;
• calculating a second count of pixels associated with the corner of the document image;
• determining if the corner of the document image is missing based upon the first count of pixels associated with the corner of the document image;
• and
• if the corner in the document image is determined to be missing, determining if the missing corner is the result of a fold based upon the second count of pixels associated with the corner of the document image.

An apparatus comprising:

• means scanning a document to capture digitized image data which is representative of an image of the document;
• means for calculating a first value based upon a first image data portion which is representative of at least a portion of a corner of the document image;
• means for calculating a second value based upon a second image data portion which is representative of at least a portion of the corner of the document image;
• means for comparing the first calculated value with a first predetermined threshold value to determine if the corner of the document image is missing;
• and
• means for comparing the second calculated value with a second predetermined threshold value to determine if a missing corner of the document image is the result of a fold after the corner is determined to be missing based upon the comparison of the first calculated value with the first predetermined threshold value.

An apparatus comprising:

• means for scanning a document to capture pixel data which is representative of an image of the document;
• means for calculating a first count of pixels associated with a corner of the document image;
• means for calculating a second count of pixels associated with the corner of the document image;
• means for determining if the corner of the document image is missing based upon the first count of pixels associated with the corner of the document image;
• and
• means for, if the corner in the document image is determined to be missing, determining if the missing corner is the result of a fold based upon the second count of pixels associated with the corner of the document image.