convert image to text

I am interested in developing an online utility that will enable users
to
copy and past any image (or upload any image on the internet) to the
online utility, which will then convert the image to text.


The user may "convert image to text" and copy and paste the text
displayed into any word document, or send the text displayed to the
recipient's email address or can download the text file as a zipped
text file that will be presented to the user as a small zipped text
file icon.


The user can also enter a passcode for the text file. This will
scramble the text according to a calculation. The recipient of the text

file will then need to go to the online utility, paste in the text, and

press "convert to image" to see the original image that the sender had
converted into text.


If a password was set at the time of production then it will be
required before the image can be restored from the text.


The utility could be sold as a browser add-on or as a downloadable
utility which will enable any image on the internet to be converted to
text simply by right-clicking on it and selecting "convert to text"
from the context menu.


The image on our website is 500 x 375 pixels @ 145 kb. The same image
converted to a string of characters (representing paletted colours
between 0 -256) can be saved as a zipped text file of less than 2 kb
with no loss in quality when the file is converted back to an
image.


Would anyone wish to promote this utility?


John Aidiniantz
AMW Security Ltd
www.amw1.com/image-converter

re: convert image to text

Socrates wrote:
<snip>[color=blue]
> The image on our website is 500 x 375 pixels @ 145 kb. The same image
> converted to a string of characters (representing paletted colours
> between 0 -256) can be saved as a zipped text file of less than 2 kb
> with no loss in quality when the file is converted back to an
> image.[/color]

If the idea is original, indeed very great. But, if I'm right,
there is similar stuff. BTW, instead of promoting it as a service over
the 'net, why not promote the file format?

--
<?php echo 'Just another PHP saint'; ?>
Email: rrjanbiah-at-Y!com Blog: http://rajeshanbiah.blogspot.com/

re: convert image to text

"R. Rajesh Jeba Anbiah" <ng4rrjanbiah@rediffmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140023730.185487.297400@g14g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...[color=blue]
> Socrates wrote:
> <snip>[color=green]
>> The image on our website is 500 x 375 pixels @ 145 kb. The same image
>> converted to a string of characters (representing paletted colours
>> between 0 -256) can be saved as a zipped text file of less than 2 kb
>> with no loss in quality when the file is converted back to an
>> image.[/color]
>
> If the idea is original, indeed very great. But, if I'm right,
> there is similar stuff. BTW, instead of promoting it as a service over
> the 'net, why not promote the file format?[/color]

The file format is called an 8-bit bitmap, surely...
[color=blue]
> --
> <?php echo 'Just another PHP saint'; ?>
> Email: rrjanbiah-at-Y!com Blog: http://rajeshanbiah.blogspot.com/
>[/color]

re: convert image to text

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 06:43:33 -0800, Socrates wrote:
[color=blue]
> I am interested in developing an online utility that will enable users
> to
> copy and past any image (or upload any image on the internet) to the
> online utility, which will then convert the image to text.
>
>
> The user may "convert image to text" and copy and paste the text
> displayed into any word document, or send the text displayed to the
> recipient's email address or can download the text file as a zipped
> text file that will be presented to the user as a small zipped text
> file icon.
>
>
> The user can also enter a passcode for the text file. This will
> scramble the text according to a calculation. The recipient of the text
>
> file will then need to go to the online utility, paste in the text, and
>
> press "convert to image" to see the original image that the sender had
> converted into text.
>
>
> If a password was set at the time of production then it will be
> required before the image can be restored from the text.
>
>
> The utility could be sold as a browser add-on or as a downloadable
> utility which will enable any image on the internet to be converted to
> text simply by right-clicking on it and selecting "convert to text"
> from the context menu.
>
>
> The image on our website is 500 x 375 pixels @ 145 kb. The same image
> converted to a string of characters (representing paletted colours
> between 0 -256) can be saved as a zipped text file of less than 2 kb
> with no loss in quality when the file is converted back to an
> image.
>
>
> Would anyone wish to promote this utility?
>
>
> John Aidiniantz
> AMW Security Ltd
> www.amw1.com/image-converter[/color]

Not me.

Seeing as images are about as compressed as they can be, I rather doubt
that this will work. And converting a 32bit image into a 256 colour one
will certainly cause a degradation in quality.

Also, all images are converted into ascii when mailed anyway, so it's
nothing really new, is it?

re: convert image to text

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 06:43:33 -0800, Socrates wrote:[color=blue]
> The image on our website is 500 x 375 pixels @ 145 kb. The same image
> converted to a string of characters (representing paletted colours between
> 0 -256) can be saved as a zipped text file of less than 2 kb with no loss
> in quality when the file is converted back to an image.[/color]

You are selling yourself short! Use a better compressor than zip.
Whatever magic encoding you use (and I use the word "magic" deliberately)
produces lots of repeated strings so the bzip2 utility can take your 110K
text encoded image and compress it to just 228 bytes (yes 228). Imagine
that, a 183K palleted image compressed to 228 bytes entirely without loss
of data. [Actually, zip compressed it to 892 so I don't know where your
2K comed from -- maybe you thought <1K would look suspicious?]

When is the CACM paper comming out? ;-)

--
Ben.

re: convert image to text

On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 06:17:27 +1300, Steve wrote:
[color=blue]
> Seeing as images are about as compressed as they can be, I rather doubt
> that this will work.[/color]

:)
[color=blue]
> And converting a 32bit image into a 256 colour one
> will certainly cause a degradation in quality.[/color]

You are too harsh!! I can't see any reason why whatever they do could not
work on colour separations. If so a 500x375 32bit image (732K) should
compress to ~4 x 228 = 912 bytes without loss. Stunning, surely? ;-)

--
Ben.