The present invention provides an image processing apparatus capable of
retrieving a specific pattern from an image at a high speed in an image
recognizing processing. The apparatus creates a map image having pixels
correspond to block regions of the image by one to one when retrieving a
specific pattern from the image. Then, the apparatus labels each pixel of
the map image based on feature of each block region of the image, detects
a predetermined pattern specifying a region on the map image, specifies a
block region on the original image corresponding to a position of the
detected predetermined pattern on the map image, and retrieves the
specific pattern in the specified block region.
