A method and apparatus for encoding an image is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises identifying initial pixels within a spatially defined sub-section, the initial pixels at least a defined number of pixels each comprising a first color; identifying background pixels, the background pixels comprising the first color and in a first defined spatial proximity to the initial pixels; identifying text pixels, the text pixels contrasting the first color and in a second defined spatial proximity to the background pixels; identifying picture pixels as all pixels other than the background pixels and the text pixels; generating a background encoding comprising (i) spatial locations of the background pixels and (ii) a lossless encoding of the first color; generating a text encoding identifying a spatial location and a lossless color encoding of each of the text pixels; and generating a picture encoding comprising a lossy encoding of the picture pixels.