1. A method for segmenting words from a textual line image, the method comprising the steps of: extracting features from the textual line image using a featurization component; calculating breaks using the extracted features; using a classifier for classifying each of the breaks into classes, the classes including an inter-word break class and an inter-character break class, and for determining probabilities that classified breaks are members of the classes; and segmenting words from the textual line image using the breaks and probabilities.