1. A method of preprocessing an image for optical character recognition (OCR), wherein the image comprises Arabic text and non-text items, the method comprising: determining a plurality of components associated with at least one of the Arabic text and the non-text items, wherein a component comprises a set of connected pixels; calculating a first set of characteristic parameters associated with the plurality of components; and merging the plurality of components based on the first set of characteristic parameters to form at least one of at least one sub-word and at least one word.