New and improved deskew algorithm

The deskew problem:

Scanned documents many times need to be straightened out after scanning for re-printing and OCR processes. The current rotation routines introduce shifting in the middle of characters at small skew angles. This shift -- often just one pixel wide -- produces a visible curvature in characters which leads to a wavy text line appearance.

The new, fine-tuned routine addresses this problem.

Characters are handled differently at small angles on B&W images  from other page elements (lines, images, etc...) made possible by ELAN GMK's page decomposition technology.  After detecting the needed angle, text entities are separated from the rest of the page. The background is turned and the characters are placed on the page using an optimized process. This method eliminates the wavy text line appearance.

The new routine is currently incorporated in the latest release of the Precise Page Positioning(tm) software, and will be propagated to all ELAN GMK imaging modules, including the new multi-layer page separation modules.