PURPOSE: To discriminate accurately between a dot image area and a character image area and to obtain a faithful reproduced image by discriminating different image areas accurately and performing proper image processing corresponding to an image tone.

CONSTITUTION: Image information read by a scanner is divided into several blocks by a discrimination part 1 and density differences between aimed picture elements and adjacent picture elements are calculated, block by block. Those density differences are compared with a specific threshold value to obtain binary-coded data, and the total S of binary-coded data obtained in each block is calculated. The respective blocks are identified as a photographic half-tone area when S is less than T1, a character line image area when S is larger than T1 and less than T2, and a dot image area when S is larger than T2. One of outputs of a halftone processing part 2, line image processing part 3, and dot image processing part 4 is selected by a multiplexer 5 and outputted.