Abstract: An image reading apparatus reads out images from above a document table on which a document is placed face up, wherein the apparatus detects pixels which compose a letter lying into a shadow of a finger in a finger area from a finger boundary, by starting at letter-brightness pixels on the finger boundary, and repeatedly linking the letter-brightness pixels with letter-brightness pixels in close to the above-detected letter-brightness pixels, thereby the apparatus erases an area other than the pixels composing the letter out of the finger area. This construction makes it possible to precisely erase an image of the finger area in the image erasure operation for the finger area, and besides prevent the letter image lying into the shadow of the finger in the finger area from being erased.