29. The method of claim 15, wherein the value of each numerical coefficient of comparison C.sub.j is based on a pixel by pixel comparison between each pixel of pixel version s.sub.i and each pixel of pixel image I.sub.j under comparison.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the V.times.L comparisons are numerical coefficients of comparison, the value of which indicates the degree of pixel similarity between the pixel version within a symbol class S.sub.i and the pixel image I.sub.j under comparison Cij.