An automatic learning method for the automatic learning of the forms of appearance of objects in images in the form of object features from training images for using the learned object features in an image processing system comprises determining a feature contribution by a training image to object features by weighted summation of training image features by means of linear filter operations, applied to the feature image, by using a weight image obtained at least from an annotation image and a classification image. This allows faster learning processes and also the learning of a greater variance of forms of appearance of objects and backgrounds, which increases the robustness of the system in its application to untrained images.