18. A computer implemented processing system comprising: a synthesizer which synthesizes a plurality of computer-generated images based on a received 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; a model which is trained on features extracted from the plurality of computer-generated images; and a scoring component which scores candidate handwritten word images of a collection of candidate handwritten word images against the model and, based on the scores, identifies a subset of the handwritten word images.
18. A computer implemented processing system comprising: a synthesizer which synthesizes a plurality of computer-generated images based on a received 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; a model which is trained on features extracted from the plurality of computer-generated images; and a scoring component which scores candidate handwritten word images of a collection of candidate handwritten word images against the model and, based on the scores, identifies a subset of the handwritten word images. 22. The processing system of claim 18 , wherein the model comprises a semi-continuous hidden Markov model which includes a background model trained on sample handwritten word images prior to receipt of a query string.