There is provided a method for creating a geometric hash tree in a document processing system having a memory. A plurality of images are stored in the memory and organized in a database. Each image includes curve groups wherein each curve group is corresponded with a feature set. The method for creating a geometric hash tree includes the steps of: (1) associating a list of basis triples with an affine coordinate set, the basis triples and the affine coordinate set both varying as a function of the images and their corresponding curve groups; (2) storing both the affine coordinate set and the list of basis triples in the memory; (3) quantizing the affine coordinate set into a plurality of subsets; (4) assigning an order to the plurality of subsets; and (5) creating a geometric hash tree with the quantized affine coordinate set using the order from (4) such that the geometric hash tree is more compact in size than a conventional geometric hash table.