GENERATE-AND-TEST METHOD FOR COLUMN SEGMENTATION

A system, method, and computer program product for segmenting a document are disclosed. The method considers a zone of a document, such as a page frame or other zone which is a predetermined ratio thereof, and while there are remaining elements in the zone, iteratively tests different segmentations of the zone into n candidate columns, and computes a width of a gutter for each n-candidate. Assuming that the gutter width computed meets a threshold test, which may be based on the arrangement of the elements in the columns, and the candidate columns for the n-candidate each contain at least a threshold number of elements, elements are assigned to respective ones of n segmented columns within which they are located. For example, line elements are arranged in blocks of text within the columns, enabling a reading order for sequences of text, such as complete sentences and paragraphs, to be computed.