1. A method of processing a skin print image, and particularly a fingerprint image, which image exists as a gray-level image, characterized in that the gray-level image is convolved in the direction of two axes (x, y) by generalized gradient filters, the generalized gradients obtained in this way are normalized, the normalized, generalized gradients are each convolved with generalized gradient filters and the sum of the two results of the convolution of the normalized, generalized gradients is converted to binary form.