Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for capturing a signature for use in a document

An electronic device, comprising:

• a camera operative to capture an image of a signature provided on a substrate;
• display circuitry operative to provide a portion of the captured image in a display window;
• and
• control circuitry configured to:
• process the captured image to create a black and white image of the signature;
• identify a position of a reference line provided on the display window relative to the captured image;
• identify a reference row of pixels corresponding to the captured reference line;
• successively select each row of pixels above the identified reference row of pixels;
• identify a first row of the successively selected rows of pixels that comprises a sequence of pixels as an upper boundary for the signature above the reference line;
• identify a lower boundary for the signature below the reference line;
• and
• generate a vector representation of the black portions of the image between the upper boundary and the lower boundary, wherein the vector representation corresponds to the signature.

A method for digitizing a signature, the method comprising:

• capturing a color image of a signature while the signature is positioned relative to the displayed reference line;
• processing the captured image to generate a black and white image corresponding to the captured image;
• identifying a reference line for aligning the signature;
• identifying a central row of pixels in the captured image corresponding to the reference line;
• identifying a top boundary as a closest row of pixels above the central row of pixels that comprises a consecutive sequence of white pixels of at least a threshold length, and for which a threshold number of additional rows comprise a consecutive sequence of white pixels;
• and
• applying a raster-to-vector process to the portion of the black and white image in regions adjacent to the reference line to generate a representation of the signature.

A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising computer program logic recorded thereon wherein the computer program logic is configured to:

• capture an image of a signature, wherein the signature is aligned with a reference line associated with the image;
• identify a central row of pixels in the captured image corresponding to the reference line;
• identify a top boundary for the signature above the central row of pixels, wherein the top boundary comprises a first row of the image having a first consecutive amount of light portions;
• identify a bottom boundary for the signature below the central row of pixels, wherein the bottom boundary comprises a second row of the image having a second consecutive amount of light portions, and wherein the reference line is positioned between the top boundary and the bottom boundary, wherein the first and second amounts of light portions are greater than a light portion threshold;
• and
• apply a vectorization process to portions of the captured image that are between the top boundary and the bottom boundary to create a representation of the signature.