Text Removal Using Wavelet Transform and Morphological Operations

An Approach for the Removal of Text and Ink Artifacts from Historical Watermark Images

Bachelor thesis (2024)

Authors

D. Banta Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Contributors

M. Skrodzki Computer Graphics and Visualisation - EEMCS (mentor)
Jorge Martinez (mentor)
C. Lofi Web Information Systems - EEMCS (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
More Info
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Published Date

21-06-2024

Language

English

Reuse Rights

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Abstract

Watermarks have an essential role in identifying the origins and age of specific documents. However, this is often a laborious process. One of the main issues in automatic watermark segmentation is the presence of text that obstructs it, making it difficult to properly reconstruct a watermark. Image processing and machine learning techniques face limitations, requiring time, training of data, or manual parameter selection. This research introduces a new method using wavelets transform to locate and remove text from a watermarked image, while preserving the underlying watermark. This method manages to outperform classic image processing techniques for the case when text is thicker than the watermark outline.