User interface high-lighter function to provide directed input for image processing

A user interface high-lighter function for scanner software that allows a user to automatically select a portion or several disjoint portions of text within a region of text in a preview scan of a document. When activated, the high-lighter function causes the normal mouse cursor to be replaced with a high-lighter icon (214) having an active edge (244). Using the mouse, the active edge (244) of the high-lighter icon (214) is moved across a desired portion of text, and background pixels traversed are displayed in a different color. The traversed pixels are then used as input for an image processing routine. Text regions are generated from the traversed pixels. The beginning and ending of lines not high-lighted are cropped. A polygonal bounding box (416, 418, 420) is then displayed around the selected text. An un-highlight mode can be activated to reduce the selected text. An optimized re-scan of the selected text can now be performed.