IMAGE ENCODING APPARATUS

An image encoding apparatus and technique in which raster scanned data is processed so that the characters represented thereby are thinned into a series of strokes. These strokes represent the shape of the characters, either their centre lines or their outlines. The modified bit pattern representing these strokes is then processed in a line follower which detects contiguous bits and determines whether contiguous bits conform to a predetermined constraint. A series of segments are produced representing the tracked strokes. Each segment is coded by shape and the position of its end point. The image is thus encoded as a series of segments in a segment list.