An annular window-shaped structuring element is provided for image processing to remove speckles from a scanned image. The window-shaped structuring element is composed of two differently sized squares sharing the same geometric center-point. The pixel to be analyzed with the structuring element is at the center-point. The structuring element is used in a method to remove speckles from binary, grayscale, and/or color images by first eroding the image, detecting speckles relative to other pixels in the image, and removing declared speckles. The method may additionally include a halftoning module to protect halftone images.