A system and method facilitating document image compression utilizing a mask separating a foreground of a document image from a background is provided. The invention includes a pixel energy analyzer adapted to partition regions into a foreground and background. The invention further provides for a merge region component adapted to attempt to merge regions if the merged region would not exceed a threshold energy. Merged regions are partitioned into a new foreground and new background. Thereafter, a mask storage component stores the partitioning information in a binary mask.