Abstract. Text/graphics separation aims at segmenting the document into two layers: a layer assumed to contain text and a layer containing graphical objects. In this paper, we present a consolidation of a method proposed by Fletcher and Kasturi, with a number of improvements to make it more suitable for graphics-rich documents. We discuss the right choice of thresholds for this method, and their stability. We also propose a post-processing step for retrieving text components touching the graphics, through local segmentation of the distance skeleton.

In this paper, we present a complete system for the analysis of architectural drawings, with the aim of reconstructing in 3D the represented buildings. We successively describe the graphics recognition algorithms used for image processing and feature extraction, the 2D modeling step, which includes symbol recognition and converts the drawing into a description in terms of basic architectural entities, and a proposed 3D modeling process which matches reconstructed floors. The system also includes a powerful and flexible user interface.

In this paper, we discuss the elements to be taken into account when choosing one's vectorization method. The paper is extensively based on our own implementations and tests, and concentrates on methods designed to have few, if any, parameters. ¢ This work is partly funded by France Telecom CNET. £ Now with Business Objects, Paris.

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