# Segmentation

Segmentation is the process of differentiating character pixels from background pixels and then separating character pixels into discrete symbols. An OCRMax tool performs segmentation as the first step in identifying characters in a string. Segmentation produces a set of segmented character images - individual regions that contain a single character to be identified.

The OCRMax tool supports a host of parameters that dictate how the characters are separated from the background and then from each other, and these parameters must be set considering a set of factors such as how closely the characters appear next to each other, the type of font used, the quality of the images, and so on.

The default settings for segmentation parameters are often insufficient to accurately distinguish every individual character, as shown in the following example:

The tool supports an autotuning mechanism that attempts to determine the correct segmentation parameters automatically based on the expected characters in the current image, or you can assume full control of the segmentation parameters as needed to make segmentation successful.

Regardless of how the tool acquires the best settings for segmentation parameters, the tool must be able to perform segmentation accurately, as shown:

See the topic Choosing Segmentation Parameters for details on choosing segmentation parameters.