1. A method comprising: receiving a query string; generating a plurality of computer-generated images based on the query string with a computer typographic font, each of the plurality of computer-generated images being generated by varying the computer typographic font, the font variations having been identified based on a precision for retrieving word images which match at least one selected query string; training a model based on the plurality of computer-generated images; scoring candidate handwritten word images of a collection of handwritten word images using the trained model; and based on the scores, identifying a subset of the word images.