JP2002209088A - Image edit device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image edit device that lays out images so that they can easily be compared with each other in the case of laying out the images. SOLUTION: An image display means in the image edit device displays received images on its screen side by side. When an area designation means is used to designated areas for the displayed images, the image edit device magnifies reduces the images on the basis of the designated areas and allows the image display means to display the resulting images on its screen side by side. The images are magnified/reduced to have a size by which the designated areas are compared with each other and the images after the magnification/ reduction are displayed on the screen side by side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image editing apparatus for displaying a plurality of images side by side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Displaying a plurality of images side by side is effective for selecting an image to be printed, an image to be stored, and an image to be processed. For example, APS camera index prints are used for this purpose. Conventionally, for image editing, images are imported from scanners, memory cards, optical disks, etc., multiple images are automatically laid out on the screen, browse images, select stored images, select images to print It has been proposed to do so. In addition, in such an image editing apparatus, when laying out an image of a film having a magnetic recording unit, an arrangement in which the vertical and horizontal arrangement is automatically determined from the vertical and horizontal information recorded in the magnetic recording unit and the layout is also proposed. Have been.

[0003]

In the conventional image layout, a predetermined number of images having a predetermined size are laid out on one screen for displaying a list of a plurality of images. In order to compare various images in a plurality of images as a whole, it is not possible to compare unless a part to be compared is confirmed. The part to be compared is, for example, a facial expression of a person. However, when the photographic images are displayed vertically and horizontally on a single screen, the images are portraits. For example, when a portion to be focused on is a human face, the photographic images are photographed according to the photographed position according to the magnification of photographing. People vary in size. Depending on the composition of the photograph (such as a group photograph or a photograph with a long shooting distance), the part to be focused on (in this case, the facial expression) may be too small to be visually recognized. If the part to be compared cannot be confirmed, the invisible image is selected, and the invisible image is enlarged and confirmed until it can be visually recognized one by one.

An object of the present invention is to lay out a plurality of images so that the images can be easily compared when displayed.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image editing apparatus comprising: image input means for inputting an image; image display means for displaying a plurality of images input by the image input means;
The image processing apparatus includes: an area designating unit that designates an area in a plurality of images displayed on the image display unit; and a layout unit that scales the image based on the area designated by the area designating unit and arranges the image on the screen display unit. The magnification of the displayed plurality of images is adjusted so that the designated area can be compared with each other, and the images after the magnification are displayed side by side on the screen. For example, the layout means scales the image so that the areas specified by the area specifying means have the same size. The image editing method according to the present invention displays a plurality of input images on a screen, specifies an area in the displayed plurality of images, scales the image based on the specified area, and displays the image on a screen. Display side by side.

A computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention includes a step of inputting an image, a step of displaying a plurality of input images on a screen, and a step of designating an area in the displayed plurality of images. And scaling the image based on the designated area and arranging the image on a screen.

[0007] A program according to the present invention includes a step of inputting an image, a step of displaying a plurality of input images on a screen, a step of specifying an area in the displayed plurality of images, Scaling the image based on the region and arranging the image on the screen.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system of an image editing apparatus configured as an integrated input / output device. CP
The apparatus main body 1 including a U, a memory, and the like includes a prints loading section (image input means) 3 for loading a film or print and reading an image, and a cards loading section (image reading means for loading a memory card or a flexible disk and reading image data). An image input unit) 4, a disk loading unit (image input unit) 5 for loading an optical disk or a compact disk (CD) or the like to read image data, a print output unit 6 for outputting an image, and a mouse as an instruction device (area designation) Means 7, and is connected to the monitor (image display means) 2.

FIG. 2 shows an image editing apparatus system configured as a separate type of input / output device. The apparatus main body 1 'includes a card loading section 4 and a disk loading section 5, and is connected to a monitor 2, image input means 3' such as a scanner, a printer 6 'for outputting an image, and a mouse 7 as a pointing device. You.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit block in the apparatus main body 1. The overall control unit 11 controls the entire apparatus. The interface 12 inputs image data from the prints loading unit 3, the cards loading unit 4, and the disk loading unit 5.
The first memory 13 temporarily stores the image data from the interface 12. The image signal processing unit (layout means) 14 performs processing for displaying and printing the image data stored in the first memory 13 on the monitor 2. The second memory 15 stores the image signal processing unit 14
The image data subjected to the signal processing is stored on the monitor 2 for display and printout. The second memory 15 is usually constituted by a buffer memory, and the image data is laid out and stored. The address controller 16 has a first
The addresses of the memory 13 and the second memory 15 of
In particular, the address of the designated area image is determined for the second memory 15. The superimpose unit 17 uses the monitor 2
Display the border of the specified area at the top. ROM (storage means) 18
Stores a template (region pattern) for designating a region and a composite pattern (layout pattern).
The area specifying section (area specifying means) 19 outputs the address of the area specified by the mouse 7. Further, the hard disk device 20 records various programs described later. The overall control unit 11 is mainly configured by a CPU, and controls the entire device based on a program of the hard disk device 20.

In the image editing apparatus, in a multi-screen display in which a plurality of images are laid out on the monitor 2, a user compares the images and selects an image to be stored and an image to be printed. As a point when comparing,
When the facial expression of a human face is taken up, depending on how the photograph is taken, it is difficult to compare the image because the image appears large or small within the angle of view of the image. Therefore, in order to make it easy to compare a plurality of images, an area (attention area) to be compared by the user is specified in each image in advance. Then, based on the designated area, the image is scaled to such a size that a plurality of designated areas can be compared. For example, a plurality of designated areas are displayed at the same size. Alternatively, only a small, hard-to-see image may be enlarged to a predetermined size. In addition, a small and difficult-to-view image may be enlarged to a predetermined size, and a large image may be reduced only when it is larger than necessary. By automatically laying out in this way, when comparing a plurality of images to be laid out, the designated area to be compared has a size that is easy to see and easy to compare.

An image of the image layout processing will be described with reference to FIGS. In this example, three images 23
a, 23b and 23c are laid out. FIG. 4 shows three images 23a, 23b, and 23 on the screen of the monitor 2.
The situation where c is arranged side by side is shown. Here, for each image, the designated areas 24a, 24b, 24
This shows the situation where c has been set. For example, the leftmost specified area 24a among the three specified areas is set as a reference specified area. When the process is started, the length of the designated area 24a in the vertical direction (y-axis direction) is obtained and set to the reference length. As the processing proceeds, the designated area 24 with respect to the designated area 24a
The ratio between the sizes of b and 24c is determined, and the magnification of the images 23b and 23c is determined according to the ratio. FIG. 5 shows an image obtained by scaling the images 23b and 23c in accordance with the obtained scaling factor. Here, the image 2 including the reference designated area 24a
The size of 3a is unchanged, and the images 23b and 23c are 23
b ′ and 23c ′. In this example, the designated areas 24a, 24b ', 24c' after processing are all unified to the same size. Although not shown, the size of the image 23c does not change based on the designated area 24c.
Is reduced and the image 23b is enlarged. Also in this case, each designated area is unified to the same size.

Next, a modification will be described. FIG. 6 shows the image 2
This is an example in which the other images 23b and 23c are scaled (enlarged) based on the designated area 24a of 3a. When the image is enlarged, the image spreads to the position shown by the broken line, but the area displayed on the screen is only the angle of view 29 before the magnification is changed. Here, the designated areas 24b 'and 24 which have been
The addresses are controlled so that c ′ is located at the center of the angle of view 29, and three images are arranged. Based on the addresses of the four corners of the angle of view 29, the images in the area other than the angle of view 29 are not displayed. I do.

FIG. 7 shows the processing from image reading to printing by the overall control unit 11. When the processing is started, the recording media (film, print, memory card, flexible disk,
An image is read from an optical disk or a compact disk (step S1). In image reading, all images recorded on the recording medium may be read at once, or one image at a time, or the user may arbitrarily select an image to be read. Good. The plurality of read images 23 are displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 in a multi-screen (Step S2). FIG. 8 shows an example of multi-screen display. The number of images to be displayed on one screen is a number that can be displayed on the screen in such a size that the contents of the image can be confirmed. For example, in FIG.
Is displayed.

Next, when automatically laying out a plurality of images 23, the user specifies a region to be compared (step S3, see FIG. 10). FIG. 9 shows a situation where a designated area (a frame is indicated by a broken line) 24 is designated. In the lower part of the screen of the monitor 2, a plurality of templates 21 and an arrow 22 used for specifying an area are displayed. Next, in accordance with the specification of the area to be compared, the image is scaled and laid out in consideration of the specified area, and displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 (step S4, see FIG. 11). When an image to be printed is selected from the screen, the selected image is printed by the print output unit 6 (Step S5). Regarding the print size, printing can be performed with paper settings for the original image size regardless of the image scaling.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a subroutine of the area designation processing (FIG. 7, step S3). When the process is started, the user first selects an input method (step S31). That is, it is determined whether to use a frame (template) stored in the apparatus in advance or to specify an arbitrary shape by manual operation using the mouse 7.

When selecting an input method using a template, a desired shape is selected (dragged) from a plurality of templates 21 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) displayed at the lower portion of the screen of the monitor 2 using the mouse 7. In the state where the mouse 7 is clicked, a desired image 23 is selected from the images in which the multi-screen is displayed on the screen of the monitor 2, and the desired image 23 is selected.
3 is moved to the area to be compared, clicked and arranged (dropped) (steps S32, S3)
3). When the designation of the area 24 to be compared is completed, the address of the designated area 24 is stored, and then the designated area 2
4 is displayed by the super pause unit 17 (steps S34 and S35), for example, the display of the frame line 24 by a dotted line or the like as shown in FIG. The storage of the area address is, for example, 4 in the case of the rectangular template 21.
This is performed by storing the addresses of the corners, and in the case of a circle, storing the addresses above the frame line 24 of the template 21.

The size of the display 24 of the area frame displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 can be arbitrarily changed (magnification). That is,
When the user gives an instruction to change the magnification, the size of the display 24 of the area frame displayed by the superimposing unit 17 is changed, and the address of the designated area is rearranged and displayed again using the address controller 16. (Steps S36, S
37). In the scaling method, the user clicks the frame line 24 of the area frame displayed on the image with the mouse 7 and specifies the size with the mouse 7 in a state where a bidirectional arrow 25 is displayed as shown in FIG. Can be moved. If there is no scaling operation, and a desired next image 23 is designated (NO in step S313), the above-described region designation operation is repeated for that image.

On the other hand, when an area is designated by manual operation, an arrow 22 displayed on the lower portion of the monitor screen is displayed.
Is clicked with the mouse 7, and when the mouse 7 is clicked again in an area where the desired position 23 on the screen of the monitor 2 is to be designated, the clicked position on the image 23 is stored as the start point address of the area (steps S38 and S3).
9). When the start point is determined, movement (drag) and placement (drop) are performed while the mouse 7 is being clicked, an area to be compared is specified, and the position where the click is released is stored as the end point address of the area (step S310, S31
1) The designated area frame is displayed 24 by the superimposing unit 17 (step S312). Then, for the next image 23, the above-described operation of specifying the area is repeated.

For all desired plurality of images 23,
The above operation is repeated until the designation of the area to be compared is completed, and when the designation is completed (YE in step S313).
S), the area designation processing ends. Here, when it is necessary to specify an area for six or more images 23, that is, when the number of images recorded on the recording medium is large, the next six images are similarly displayed on the monitor 2 screen in a multi-screen manner. And
Specify the area.

FIG. 11 shows a scaling process (FIG. 7, step S
The flowchart of the subroutine of 4) is shown. When the processing is started, a selection of a designated area serving as a reference for determining a size for displaying an area to be compared is received (step S41). An image including the selected designated area is a reference image (frame). Next, the address of the area selected as a reference is read, and the coordinates of the corners of the area are respectively (x1, y
1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3), (x4, y
In the case of 4), the length obtained from y2-y1 is set as the reference length. Although it may be obtained in either the x-axis (horizontal) direction or the y-axis (vertical) direction, the y-axis direction is used here. Also x
By obtaining both the axis length / y-axis length and using the longer one as a reference, a larger image can be confirmed.

Next, the variable K indicating the number of the image in the multi-screen display is set to 1, and the address of the designated area of the K-th frame is read (step S44). From the read address, the length in the y-coordinate direction indicating the size of the designated area is determined, the ratio to the reference length is determined, and set as the magnification (step S45). The image of the K-th frame is scaled according to the scaling factor (step S46), and the K-th frame is displayed so as not to overlap the image of the surrounding frame (step S47). Here, the addresses of the four corners of the scaled image and the four
Each image area is determined from the corner address and the layout is made so as not to overlap. In this way, the images of the scaled piece and the other pieces are laid out again. If the scaling of all the displayed images has not been completed (step S
48, NO), and 1 is added to the variable K (step S4).
9), the above-described scaling and display are repeated a predetermined number of times (step S)
48, S49).

[0023]

According to the present invention, an area to be compared (attention area) is specified in advance on a display screen on which a plurality of images are laid out, and the image is scaled based on the specified area. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

Fig. 1 System configured as an integrated input / output device

FIG. 2 A system configured as a separate type of input / output device

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram in the system main body.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a plurality of images to be subjected to automatic layout.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the concept of automatic layout processing of a plurality of images.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the concept of an automatic layout process according to a modified example.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of main processing from image reading to printing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example of a multi-screen display.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of specifying an area.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a subroutine of an area designation process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a subroutine of a scaling process.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 monitor, 11 overall control unit, 12 input interface, 14 image signal processing unit, 16
Address controller, 17 Superimpose part, 19 Area designation part.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B050 AA09 BA15 EA12 EA19 EA20 FA02 FA09 FA13 FA17 5C076 AA13 AA17 AA19 AA21 AA22 CA02 CB02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image input means for inputting an image, an image display means for displaying a plurality of images input by the image input means, and an area designating means for specifying an area in the plurality of images displayed on the image display means An image editing apparatus, comprising: a layout unit that scales the image based on an area specified by the area specifying unit and arranges the image on a screen display unit. 2. The image editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the layout unit scales the image so that the areas specified by the area specifying unit have the same size. 3. An image in which a plurality of input images are displayed on a screen, an area is specified in the plurality of displayed images, the image is scaled based on the specified area, and displayed on the screen. Editing method. 4. A step of inputting an image, a step of displaying a plurality of input images on a screen, a step of specifying an area in the displayed plurality of images, and a step of specifying the area based on the specified area. And a computer-readable recording medium recording a program comprising the steps of: 5. A step of inputting an image, a step of displaying a plurality of input images on a screen, a step of specifying an area in the displayed plurality of images, and a step of specifying the area based on the specified area. For causing a computer to execute the steps of scaling and arranging images.