1. An image processing apparatus for generating an electronic document from an image comprising: an identification unit configured to identify character areas in the image; a character recognition unit configured to perform a character recognition process on the identified character areas; a counting unit configured to count the number of characters in each of the identified character areas; a selection unit configured to select, from among column arrangements allowed by specifications of the electronic document, a column arrangement that arranges the greatest number of characters by using the number of characters in each of the identified character areas; and a generation unit configured to generate the electronic document based on the selected column arrangement and a result of the character recognition process.