Cropping

I get better accuracy now, when I try to classify my test data. However, I noticed that after my "cropping" tool, the test data can get pretty deformed. For example, take a look at a before and after sequence:

Before:


After:


I decreased the dimensionality of the test data by a lot. The new test data characters are 32 by 32 pixels. Before this, it was 120 by 123 pixels. This reduction in dimensionality really brought down the running time of classification. I think that I need to tweak my cropping tool though.

Cropping tool = bad. Exhibit A:
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When I change it that only 2% of the pixels can be all white (instead of 5%), then the cut out changes to:


Now, the same test set looks like this: