3. A method according to claim 1 and further including preparing for a search by displaying a selected group of converted characters to be used as a search word, concurrently displaying the image of the group from which the characters were converted, and conducting the search with the image.
3. A method according to claim 1 and further including preparing for a search by displaying a selected group of converted characters to be used as a search word, concurrently displaying the image of the group from which the characters were converted, and conducting the search with the image. 15. A method according to claim 3 wherein the step of storing patterns of images of ambiguous characters includes storing the pattern of the image of each group of characters containing an ambiguous character.