Zone-Estimation for Multiple Lines of Handwriting using Approximating Spline Functions

This paper presents an alternative approach to the segmentation of a page of unconstrained handwritten cursive script into lines and the estimation of the zoning information of handwriting. Approximating spline functions are used to describe complete lines of writing, iteratively providing more precise information about the location of the zones. The method is capable of dealing with various distortions at page and line level including rotated or overlapping lines of script, curved baselines, changing height of the middle zone and ascenders and descenders of varying length (ref. Fig. 1 for a typical example). Tests performed on 50 pages of handwriting have shown this approach to be superior to alternative methods.