Automatic Extraction of Data from 2-D Plots in Documents

Two-dimensional (2-D) plots in digital documents contain important information. Often, the results of scientific experiments and performance of businesses are summarized using plots. Although 2-D plots are easily understood by human users, current search engines rarely utilize the information contained in the plots to enhance the results returned in response to queries posed by endusers. We propose an automated algorithm for extracting information from line curves in 2-D plots. The extracted information can be stored in a database and indexed to answer end-user queries and enhance search results. We have collected 2-D plot images from a variety of resources and tested our extraction algorithms. Experimental evaluation has demonstrated that our method can produce results suitable for real world use.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ICDAR
• Authors: Xiaonan Lu, James Ze Wang, Prasenjit Mitra, C. Lee Giles
• Keywords: 2-d Plot, 2-D Plot Images, Current Search Engines, Document Analysis, ICDAR 2007