IMAGE PROCESSOR FOR ENCODING IMAGE DATA

In an image processor, a decider decides based on image data of pixels included in a block whether the block has character attribute of non-character attribute, a first encoder encodes the image data with block truncation coding, and a second encoder encodes the image data which have been encoded by the first encoder. For a block of character attribute, the binarized data binarized by the binarizer are encoded by the first and second encoders. For a block of non-character attribute, the image data are encoded by the first and second encoders without binarization. In a different image processor, it is decide whether image data of pixels in an area consisting of a plurality of blocks are all character, all ground or mixture of character and ground. Then, an encoder encodes the image data in each block differently according to the decision.