JP2005204207A - Image processing apparatus, image processing program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the image quality of a multi-value image as a processing target image while ensuring the visibility of pixels of a specific attribute portion even when there is a region (specific attribute portion) having a specific attribute such as a character or a ruled line. Significantly reduce the file size without significantly reducing it.
SOLUTION: A multi-value image and a binary image based on the multi-value image are prepared (S1, S2), a pixel of a specific attribute portion is specified based on the binary image (S3), and the presence / absence of such a specific attribute portion is determined. Accordingly, the pixels other than the specific attribute portion are replaced with white pixels (S4), and the connected components of black pixels are extracted from the binary image in which the pixels other than the specific attribute portion are replaced with white pixels, and the sizes of the connected components are classified. Then, after generating a binary image in which the too large and too small ones are further replaced with white pixels (S5), an image of the specific attribute portion consisting of the determined color is generated (S7, S8), and the specific attribute portion A multi-valued image in which pixels are filled with a background color is generated (S6), and each is encoded (S9) to form a file (S10).
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, and a storage medium that can greatly reduce the file size without significantly reducing the image quality of a multi-value image that is a processing target image.

  In general, since a color image has a large file size, it takes a lot of time to communicate the color image, and a large storage area is required to store the color image. Therefore, a technique for reducing the file size without reducing the image quality of the color image as much as possible is required for communication of the color image and storage of the color image.

  Currently, a method of compressing an image by performing JPEG compression or the like is widespread. This JPEG compression is an excellent method for compressing natural images such as photographs, but is not very suitable for compressing document images containing characters. Specifically, a specific noise called mosquito noise is generated in a portion where an abrupt color change occurs such as an edge portion of a character. In addition, the compression efficiency is not so good for an image such as a document image in which abrupt color changes occur. Although it is possible to forcibly improve the compression rate, in this case, the edge portion of the character is crushed and the visibility of the character is greatly reduced.

  Therefore, a method as shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, a processing target image is divided into blocks having a predetermined size, and each block is classified into a gradation portion and a character portion. Two-dimensional discrete cosine transform is performed on the gradation part and encoding is performed using a quantization table, and the character part is composed of only a luminance signal and an identification color code and is compressed and encoded. . According to such a method, since the gradation portion has little color change, a compression method using discrete cosine transform such as JPEG compression functions effectively, and another method is used for the character portion. It is possible to balance the compression rate and image quality at a high level.

Japanese Patent No. 3095804

  However, according to the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the character part and the gradation part are distinguished on a block basis, the character and gradation part may be mixed inside the block depending on the size of the block. . In such a case, the image quality of either the character or the gradation portion is deteriorated in the block. Although it is conceivable to make the block smaller, if the block is made smaller, the information for determining whether it is a character part or a gradation part is reduced, so the possibility of a determination error increases and the accuracy is reduced.

  In the present invention, even when there is a region having a specific attribute such as a character or a ruled line (specific attribute portion), the image quality of a multi-valued image that is a processing target image is ensured with respect to the pixels of the specific attribute portion. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, and a storage medium that can greatly reduce the file size without significantly reducing the image quality.

  An image processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a multi-value image acquisition unit that acquires a multi-value image as a processing target image, and a binary image acquisition unit that acquires a binary image generated based on the processing target image. Specific attribute portion extracting means for extracting a specific attribute portion that is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image; and white pixel replacement means for replacing pixels other than the specific attribute portion with white pixels in the binary image; The connected components of black pixels are extracted from the binary image in which the pixels other than the specific attribute portion are replaced with white pixels by the white pixel replacing means, and the sizes of the connected components are classified. Connected component size examining means for replacing with white pixels, specific attribute part erasure image generating means for generating a multi-valued image in which pixels of the specific attribute part are filled with a background color, and specification for determining the color of the specific attribute part Sex part color determining means, specific attribute pixel image generating means for generating an image of the specific attribute part having the color determined by the specific attribute part color determining means, the specific attribute part erasing image generating means, and the specific attribute pixel Image encoding means for compressing and encoding each of the plurality of images generated by the image generation means, and summary file creation means for collecting the compression encoded images into one file.

  Accordingly, a multi-valued image to be processed (original image) and a binary image based on the multi-valued image are prepared, and a pixel in a region (specific attribute portion) having a specific attribute such as a character region based on the binary image. In accordance with the presence / absence of such a specific attribute portion, a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel, and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel from a binary image connected component. Are extracted, and the size of the connected component is classified, and an image of a specific attribute portion composed of colors determined after generation of a binary image in which a pixel that is too large or too small is further replaced with a white pixel is generated. A multi-valued image in which the pixels are filled with a background color is generated, and each is encoded and filed. This eliminates fluctuations in pixel values in areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute sections), and is a compression technique that does not have very good compression efficiency for images with large fluctuations in pixel values, such as JPEG compression. However, it is possible to improve the compression efficiency and improve the compression efficiency by significantly reducing the number of colors in areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute part). Therefore, even if there is an area (specific attribute part) with specific attributes such as characters and ruled lines, the multi-value that becomes the processing target image while ensuring the visibility of the pixels in the specific attribute part The file size can be greatly reduced without significantly reducing the image quality.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the specific attribute portion color determining unit includes an image dividing unit that divides an image into fixed regions, and an area unit divided by the image dividing unit. Color determining means for determining a color.

  Therefore, for example, by dividing an image into mesh shapes and determining colors in units of meshes, it becomes possible to generate an image having an intermediate character between pixel units and connected component units, so halftone characters Even when the image is expressed by dither, it is possible to improve the compression efficiency, and it is possible to generate an image that does not disturb the user even when the determination of which color is wrong.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the color determination means includes a plurality of color determination means, and the connected component size classifying means by the connected component size examining means. Accordingly, the color of the specific attribute portion is determined by selectively using one of the color determination means.

  Therefore, for example, if the connected component is small in size, it is not very noticeable even if the color is wrong. In this case, if coloring is performed in units of connected components, the compression efficiency will be higher than if they are all colored in units of mesh. Therefore, the image quality and the processing time can be balanced.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the color determining unit includes a plurality of color determining units, and the specific attribute unit and the specific attribute The color of the specific attribute portion is determined by switching the color determining means between a case where a plurality of pixel units are located at a boundary portion of a portion other than the portion and a case where a plurality of pixel units are located within the specific attribute portion.

  Therefore, for example, when a plurality of pixel units are located in the specific attribute portion, an average value of pixel values inside the mesh is obtained, a representative color closest to the average value is selected, and a plurality of pixel units are located at the boundary portion Chooses the pixel with the lowest brightness among the pixels in the mesh that make up the connected component, and chooses the representative color closest to it, so that the color of the edge of the character is mixed with the background color. It becomes possible to suppress such decrease.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the specific attribute portion extraction unit includes a specific attribute portion that is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image. At the time of extraction, the resolution of the processing target image is converted.

  Therefore, for example, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is low, the extraction accuracy can be improved by extracting the specific attribute portion using a pseudo-high-resolution image. Conversely, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is very high, the processing time can be shortened by extracting the specific attribute portion using the reduced resolution image.

  A computer-readable image processing program according to a sixth aspect of the invention acquires a multi-valued image acquisition function for acquiring a multi-valued image as a processing target image and a binary image generated based on the processing target image. A binary image acquisition function, a specific attribute portion extraction function for extracting a specific attribute portion that is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image, and pixels other than the specific attribute portion in the binary image as white pixels A white pixel replacement function to be replaced, and a black pixel connected component is extracted from a binary image in which pixels other than the specific attribute portion are replaced with a white pixel by the white pixel replacement function, and the size of the connected component is classified to be too large. A connected component size examination function that replaces a pixel that is too small with a white pixel, and a specific attribute part erased image generation function that generates a multi-valued image in which the pixels of the specific attribute part are filled with a background color; A specific attribute part color determining function for determining a color of the specific attribute part, a specific attribute pixel image generating function for generating an image of the specific attribute part having a color determined by the specific attribute part color determining function, and the specific attribute An image encoding function for compressing and encoding each of a plurality of images generated by the partial erase image generation function and the specific attribute pixel image generation function, and a summary file creation function for combining the compression encoded images into one file. Let the computer run.

  Accordingly, a multi-valued image to be processed (original image) and a binary image based on the multi-valued image are prepared, and a pixel in a region (specific attribute portion) having a specific attribute such as a character region based on the binary image. In accordance with the presence / absence of such a specific attribute portion, a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel, and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel from a binary image connected component. Are extracted, and the size of the connected component is classified, and an image of a specific attribute portion composed of colors determined after generation of a binary image in which a pixel that is too large or too small is further replaced with a white pixel is generated. A multi-valued image in which the pixels are filled with a background color is generated, and each is encoded and filed. This eliminates fluctuations in pixel values in areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute sections), and is a compression technique that does not have very good compression efficiency for images with large fluctuations in pixel values, such as JPEG compression. However, it is possible to improve the compression efficiency and improve the compression efficiency by significantly reducing the number of colors in areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute part). Therefore, even if there is an area (specific attribute part) with specific attributes such as characters and ruled lines, the multi-value that becomes the processing target image while ensuring the visibility of the pixels in the specific attribute part The file size can be greatly reduced without significantly reducing the image quality.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to the sixth aspect, the specific attribute portion color determination function includes an image division function for dividing an image into a predetermined area, and the image division function. The computer is caused to execute a color determination function for determining a color in units of regions divided by.

  Therefore, for example, by dividing an image into mesh shapes and determining colors in units of meshes, it becomes possible to generate an image having an intermediate character between pixel units and connected component units, so halftone characters Even when the image is expressed by dither, it is possible to improve the compression efficiency, and it is possible to generate an image that does not disturb the user even when the determination of which color is wrong.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the computer-readable image processing program according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the color determination function has a plurality of color determination functions, and the connected component size examination function The color of the specific attribute portion is determined by selectively using one of the color determination functions according to the size classification of the connected component.

  Therefore, for example, if the connected component is small in size, it is not very noticeable even if the color is wrong. In this case, if coloring is performed in units of connected components, the compression efficiency will be higher than if they are all colored in units of mesh. Therefore, the image quality and the processing time can be balanced.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the color determination function has a plurality of color determination functions, and the identification The function of determining colors is switched between a case where a plurality of pixel units are located at a boundary between the attribute portion and a portion other than the specific attribute portion and a case where a plurality of pixel units are located within the specific attribute portion. Determine the color.

  Therefore, for example, when a plurality of pixel units are located in the specific attribute portion, an average value of pixel values inside the mesh is obtained, a representative color closest to the average value is selected, and a plurality of pixel units are located at the boundary portion Chooses the pixel with the lowest brightness among the pixels in the mesh that make up the connected component, and chooses the representative color closest to it, so that the color of the edge of the character is mixed with the background color. It becomes possible to suppress such decrease.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, the specific attribute portion extraction function is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image. When the specific attribute portion is extracted, the resolution of the processing target image is converted.

  Therefore, for example, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is low, the extraction accuracy can be improved by extracting the specific attribute portion using a pseudo-high-resolution image. Conversely, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is very high, the processing time can be shortened by extracting the specific attribute portion using the reduced resolution image.

  A storage medium according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention stores the computer-readable image processing program according to any one of the sixth to tenth aspects.

  Accordingly, the same effect as the invention according to any one of claims 6 to 10 can be obtained.

  According to the image processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, a multi-value image to be processed (original image) and a binary image based on the multi-value image are prepared, and a specific area such as a character area is specified based on the binary image. A pixel in a region (specific attribute portion) having an attribute is specified, and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel according to the presence or absence of such a specific attribute portion, and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is a white pixel Extract the connected components of black pixels from the binary image replaced with, classify the sizes of the connected components, and specify the color determined after generating a binary image that replaces too large and too small with white pixels An area with a specific attribute such as a character area by generating an attribute part image and generating a multi-valued image in which the pixels of the specific attribute part are filled with a background color and encoding each file (Specific attribute part) Even if the compression method is not very good for images with large fluctuations in pixel values, such as JPEG compression, the compression efficiency can be improved, and certain character areas, etc. Areas with attributes (specific attribute part) can improve compression efficiency by greatly reducing the number of colors, so areas with specific attributes such as characters and ruled lines (specific attribute part) Even in some cases, it is possible to significantly reduce the file size without degrading the image quality of the multi-value image as the processing target image while ensuring the visibility of the pixels of the specific attribute portion.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the specific attribute portion color determining unit includes an image dividing unit that divides the image into fixed regions, and a region divided by the image dividing unit. Color determination means that determines colors in units, for example, by dividing an image into meshes and determining colors in units of meshes, thereby generating an image having an intermediate character between pixel units and connected component units Therefore, even if halftone characters are expressed in dither, the compression efficiency will be good, and an image that will not be disturbing even if the judgment of which color it belongs to is generated can do.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the color determining unit has a plurality of color determining units, and the connected component size is determined by the connected component size examining unit. By selectively using one of the color determination means according to the size classification, the color of the specific attribute portion is determined so that, for example, a connected component having a small size is not so noticeable even if the color is wrong. Therefore, in this case, if coloring is performed in units of connected components, the compression efficiency is higher than in the case of coloring all in units of mesh, and there is not much deterioration in image quality, so that a balance between image quality and processing time can be achieved.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the color determination unit includes a plurality of color determination units, and the specific attribute section and the The color of the specific attribute portion is determined by switching the color determining means between a case where a plurality of pixel units are located at a boundary portion of a portion other than the specific attribute portion and a case where a plurality of pixel units are located within the specific attribute portion. For example, when a plurality of pixel units are located in the specific attribute part, an average value of pixel values inside the mesh is obtained, a representative color closest to the average value is selected, and a plurality of pixel units are located at the boundary part. If you do this, select the pixel with the lowest brightness among the pixels in the mesh that make up the connected component, and select the representative color closest to this, so that the color of the edge of the character is the background color. To suppress the reduction Can.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the specific attribute portion extraction means is a specific attribute that is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image. When extracting a part, by converting the resolution of the processing target image, for example, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is low, the specific attribute part is set using a pseudo-high-resolution image. If extraction is performed, extraction accuracy can be increased. Conversely, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is very high, the processing time can be shortened by extracting the specific attribute portion using the reduced resolution image.

  According to the image processing program readable by the computer of the sixth aspect of the invention, a multi-value image to be processed (original image) and a binary image based on the multi-value image are prepared, and based on the binary image, for example, A pixel in a region (specific attribute portion) having a specific attribute such as a character region is specified, and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel according to the presence or absence of such a specific attribute portion, and a specific attribute portion After extracting the connected components of the black pixels from the binary image in which the other pixels are replaced with white pixels, classifying the sizes of the connected components, and generating a binary image in which those that are too large and too small are further replaced with white pixels Generate a specific attribute part image with the determined color, generate a multi-valued image with the pixels of the specific attribute part filled with the background color, encode each of them into a file, and specify the character area, etc. of The pixel value fluctuation of the characteristic area (specific attribute part) is eliminated, and the compression efficiency is good even for the compression method that the compression efficiency is not so good for the image whose pixel value fluctuation is large like JPEG compression. In addition, it is possible to improve the compression efficiency of areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute section) by greatly reducing the number of colors, so it is possible to specify characters, ruled lines, etc. Even if there is an area with a specific attribute (specific attribute part), the pixel of the specific attribute part can be viewed without sacrificing the image quality of the multi-valued image to be processed while ensuring its visibility. Size reduction can be performed.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to the sixth aspect, the specific attribute portion color determination function includes an image division function for dividing an image into a predetermined area, and the image division function. A color determination function that determines a color in units of regions divided by the division function is executed by a computer, for example, by dividing an image into mesh shapes and determining colors in units of meshes, whereby pixel units and connected component units Since an image with an intermediate character can be generated, even if halftone characters are expressed in dither, the compression efficiency is good and it is wrong to determine which color it belongs to In addition, it is possible to generate an image that does not disturb the user.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to the sixth or seventh aspect, the color determination function has a plurality of color determination functions, and the connected component size By selectively using one of the color determination functions according to the size classification of the connected component by the examination function, the color of the specific attribute portion is determined. If you make a mistake, it will not be very noticeable.In this case, if you color by connected component unit, the compression efficiency will be higher than if you colored everything by mesh unit, and the image quality will not deteriorate so much. Can take.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the color determination function has a plurality of color determination functions. The color determination function is switched between the specific attribute portion and a portion other than the specific attribute portion when the plurality of pixel units are located and when the plurality of pixel units are located within the specific attribute portion. By determining the color of the attribute part, for example, when a plurality of pixel units are located in the specific attribute part, the average value of the pixel values inside the mesh is obtained, the representative color closest to this average value is selected, and the boundary part is selected. When multiple pixel units are located, select the pixel with the lowest brightness among the pixels that are in the mesh and make up the connected component, and select the representative color closest to this, so that the edge of the character The color of the part is It is possible to suppress the reduction miscible with the scenery.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable image processing program according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, the specific attribute portion extraction function has a specific attribute from the processing target image. When extracting the specific attribute portion that is a region, by converting the resolution of the processing target image, for example, if the processing target image (original image) has a low resolution, a pseudo-high resolution image is obtained. If the specific attribute part is extracted by using it, the extraction accuracy can be improved. Conversely, when the resolution of the processing target image (original image) is very high, the processing time can be shortened by extracting the specific attribute portion using the reduced resolution image.

  According to the storage medium of the invention described in claim 11, the computer-readable image processing program according to any one of claims 6 to 10 is stored, so that the computer program according to any one of claims 6 to 10 is stored. The same effects as the invention can be obtained.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 1 is a computer such as a PC, and performs various operations and centrally controls each unit of the image processing apparatus 1 and various ROMs ( A memory 3 including a read only memory (RAM) and a random access memory (RAM) is connected by a bus 4.

  A bus 4 includes a magnetic storage device 5 such as a hard disk, an input device 6 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display device 7, and a storage medium reader 9 that reads a storage medium 8 such as an optical disk via a predetermined interface. An image reading apparatus 10 that reads an image is connected, and a predetermined communication interface 12 that communicates with the network 11 is connected. As the storage medium 8, various media such as an optical disc such as a CD and a DVD, a magneto-optical disc, and an FD can be used. As the storage medium reading device 9, specifically, an optical disk drive device, a magneto-optical disk drive device, an FDD device, or the like is used according to the type of the storage medium 8.

  The image processing apparatus 1 reads the image processing program 13 for executing the program of the present invention from the storage medium 8 for executing the storage medium of the present invention, and installs it in the magnetic storage device 5. These programs may be downloaded and installed via the network 11 such as the Internet. With this installation, the image processing apparatus 1 is in a state in which predetermined processing described later can be executed. Note that the image processing program 13 may operate on a predetermined OS.

  In the present embodiment, by using the image processing program 13, the multi-valued image as the processing target image (original image) can be significantly reduced without sacrificing the character visibility. Here, the outline of the process of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the schematic flowchart of FIG. 2 showing the outline of the process and the conceptual diagram of the process shown in FIG.

  First, a multi-valued image to be processed as shown in FIG. 3A is acquired using an image reading device 10 such as an image scanner (step S1). Then, by binarizing such a multi-valued image, a binary image as shown in FIG. 3B is generated (step S2). Thereafter, an area (specific attribute portion) having a specific attribute such as a character area is extracted (step S3).

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3C, white pixel processing is performed to replace pixels having no specific attribute (pixels other than the specific attribute portion) in the binary image with white pixels so that only characters are left (step S4). ). That is, black pixels other than characters are deleted from the binary image. With this process, the position of the character can be known in pixel units. Further, connected components of black pixels are extracted from the binary image from which black pixels other than characters are deleted, and those that are too large and too small are further deleted (step S5). This is because a connected component that is too small is not likely to be a character such as noise, and the compression efficiency decreases if the binary image is used as it is. That is, the position of the character can be known in units of pixels through steps S4 and S5.

  On the other hand, a multi-value image is an image in which an area having a specific attribute such as a character area (specific attribute portion) is filled with a background color, and has a specific attribute such as a character area as shown in FIG. An image from which the region (specific attribute portion) has been deleted is generated (step S6).

  In the subsequent step S7, the color of the specific attribute portion is determined. Specifically, all the pixel colors of the color image at the position of the black pixel constituting the specific attribute portion are obtained, and several frequently used colors are selected from this data as representative colors. Then, it is determined for each pixel or for each connected component which representative color the pixel constituting the character is closest to.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3E, an image is generated in which the pixel having the specific attribute has a color determined for each pixel or each connected component (step S8). A multi-valued image having only a limited color may be used, or a binary image may be provided for each color. Here, a binary image is provided for each color.

  Then, a compressed image is generated from the image obtained by deleting the specific attribute pixel generated in step S6 and the image including only the specific attribute pixel generated in step S8 (step S9). For example, if the former is JPEG compression and the latter is MMR compression, the file size is effectively reduced.

  After this, a format (for example, PDF) that allows the background image (image with the specific attribute portion deleted) and the character image (image consisting only of the specific attribute pixel) to be superimposed and displayed while maintaining the same positional relationship as the original image. (Step S10).

  With the above processing, the generated image file can be compressed with a large file size without deteriorating the visibility. The reason is as follows. JPEG compression is not very efficient for images with large pixel value fluctuations. However, if the character part is erased by the method described here, the pixel value fluctuations in the character part are eliminated, and the efficiency is improved. Moreover, since the number of colors of the character portion is greatly reduced, this also improves the compression efficiency.

  Details of the processing procedure will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 showing a functional block diagram of functions realized by the image processing apparatus 1 based on the image processing program 13.

1. Acquire a multi-value image as a processing target image and a binary image based on the multi-value image. The multi-value image acquisition unit 21 and the binary image acquisition unit 22 acquire a multi-value image and a binary image (steps S1 and S2). It is assumed that the binary image is generated based on the multi-value image. As a binarization method, a fixed threshold value may be used. For example, a pixel brighter than the threshold value may be a white pixel, and a dark pixel may be a black pixel. The binary image and the multi-value image may have different resolutions. For example, after a binary image is generated by the above-described method, the resolution of the multi-valued image may be reduced by performing a thinning process, and this may be acquired as a multi-value image to be processed. Furthermore, the binary image generation may be performed by another device and the generated image file may be acquired.

2. Acquire character region The specific attribute portion extraction unit 24 obtains the position where the character exists on the image (step S3). It may be acquired from a multi-valued image or a binary image. In the case of obtaining from a multi-valued image, a character region extraction technique that has already been disclosed may be used, such as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-288589, and in the case of obtaining from a binary image, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-20092. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that pixels constituting a character are acquired as pixels having specific attributes based on a binary image.

3. Replace non-character with white pixel The white pixel replacing means 25 replaces a pixel other than the character area (a pixel other than the specific attribute portion) with a white pixel in the binary image (step S4).

4). Examining Connected Components The connected component size examining means 28 extracts the connected components of black pixels from the binary image from which characters other than the characters are erased, and further erases those that are too large and too small (step S5). This is because a connected component that is too small is not likely to be a character such as noise, and the compression efficiency decreases if the binary image is used as it is. Also, it is technically difficult to specify a character area, and a correct character area is not always extracted. For this reason, if the original image has a figure area or a photo area, the possibility of erroneously setting it as a character cannot be discarded. Connected components that are too large are likely to be other than these characters. Also, if the large connected component is actually a character, it will be mistakenly classified as background in this process, but it is large enough to be read from the human eye.

5). 2. Characterless multi-value image generation The specific attribute portion erasure image generation means 23 performs the above-described processing The character portion of the multi-valued image corresponding to the remaining black pixel portion is filled with the background color to create a multi-value image without characters (step S6).

6). Determination of the color of the specific attribute portion The color of the specific attribute portion is determined by the specific attribute portion color determination means 26 (step S7). All the pixel colors of the color image at the position of the black pixel constituting the character are obtained, and several frequently used colors are selected from this data as representative colors. Then, it is determined for each pixel or for each connected component which representative color the pixel constituting the character is closest to.

7). Generate Color Image The specific attribute pixel image generation means 27 generates an image in which the pixel having the specific attribute has a color determined for each pixel or for each connected component (step S8). A multi-valued image having only a limited color may be used, or a binary image may be provided for each color. Here, a binary image is provided for each color.

8). Image Encoding The image encoding means 29 encodes the multi-valued image without characters and the subtractive color image constituting the characters to compress the size (step S9). Of these, multi-valued images without characters are highly irreversibly compressed by JPEG or the like, assuming that there is no important information already. If the resolution is reduced and then compressed, the size is further reduced. The reduced color image is reversibly compressed. In the case of a binary image, PNG compression or the like, such as PNG compression or MMR compression, may be used in the case of a quaternary or 16-valued image.

9. Summary File Generation The summary file creation means 30 gathers the compressed images into one file (step S10). If the files are formatted so that they can be displayed in a superimposed manner, the visibility of the character portion does not deteriorate, and the background can be reproduced to a certain degree and a color image with a small file size can be obtained.

  Here, a multi-value image to be a processing target image (original image) and a binary image based on the multi-value image are prepared, and an area (specific attribute portion) having a specific attribute such as a character area based on the binary image is prepared. A pixel is specified, and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel and a pixel other than the specific attribute portion is replaced with a white pixel in accordance with the presence / absence of such a specific attribute portion. Extract the components, classify the sizes of the connected components, and generate an image of the specific attribute part consisting of the color determined after generating the binary image in which the too large and too small ones are further replaced with white pixels. A multi-valued image in which a part of pixels are filled with a background color is generated, and each is encoded and filed. This eliminates fluctuations in pixel values in areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute sections), and is a compression technique that does not have very good compression efficiency for images with large fluctuations in pixel values, such as JPEG compression. However, it is possible to improve the compression efficiency and improve the compression efficiency by significantly reducing the number of colors in areas with specific attributes such as character areas (specific attribute part). Therefore, even if there is an area (specific attribute part) with specific attributes such as characters and ruled lines, the multi-value that becomes the processing target image while ensuring the visibility of the pixels in the specific attribute part The file size can be greatly reduced without significantly reducing the image quality.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those shown in the above embodiment are indicated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is also omitted. In the present embodiment, processing for further improving the image quality and the compression rate is added.

As described in the first embodiment, the specific attribute pixel image generation means 27 determines the color in pixel units or connected component units (step S8), but has the following drawbacks. doing.
(1) When coloring is performed in units of pixels, when halftone characters are expressed in dither, the pixel color varies in very fine units. In this case, the generated character image has many fine noise points, and the compression efficiency is lowered.
(2) When coloring is performed in units of connected components, an unobtrusive image can be obtained if the determination as to which color it belongs to is incorrect. Even if the color is wrong on a pixel basis, there is no significant effect on the human eye, but the connected component is so large that it will stand out if you make a mistake.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, an image having an intermediate character between (1) and (2) can be generated by dividing the image into meshes and determining colors in units of meshes. The size of the mesh should be inconspicuous. Here, 2 × 2 pixels are assumed.

  In addition, since the connected component with a small size is not so conspicuous even if the color is wrong, in this case, if colored in the connected component unit, the compression efficiency will be higher than coloring everything in the mesh unit, There is not much degradation of image quality.

  This will be described in detail below. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of added processing. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 is a detailed description of the processing in the specific attribute portion color determination (step S7) and the specific attribute portion image generation (step S8) in FIG.

  First, in step S21, the representative color of the character part is calculated.

  Here, details of calculating the representative color of the character portion will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart showing an example of a representative color calculation method. A pixel value at a position on the multi-value image corresponding to the black pixel of the binary image is obtained, and a histogram of pixel values is generated (step S51). For example, the RGB space may be equally divided into 4 × 4 × 4 blocks, where the pixel of interest applies in the block, and 1 may be added to the frequency value of the corresponding space.

  A block having a high frequency is obtained, the frequency is regarded as a high priority, and a priority is assigned from the frequency value (step S52). These blocks are called “representative color candidate blocks”.

  It examines in order from the block with the highest priority, and determines whether or not the block is achromatic (step S53). If the RGB representative value of the block (such as the RGB median value of the block) is almost the same value, it is an achromatic color.

  If it is not an achromatic color (N of step S53), it will move to examination of the block with the next priority (step S57).

  If it is an achromatic color (Y in step S53), it is examined how many achromatic colors have been found in the top candidates so far (step S54). If the achromatic color has reached a predetermined value (referred to here as the predetermined number 1), the corresponding block is excluded from the representative color candidates (step S56), and if not, 1 is added to the achromatic color number. Then, the following processing is performed (step S55).

  Steps S52 to S56 are repeated until all representative color candidate blocks have been examined (step S57).

  Among the representative color candidate blocks remaining without being excluded, the second predetermined number from the higher priority is output as the representative color (step S58).

  In the subsequent step S22, a binary image having a representative color and a “transparent” pixel value is generated for each representative color of the character portion calculated in step S21. All initial pixel values are set to “transparent”.

  Next, connected component information is acquired at step S23. This connected component is a connected component of pixels constituting a character. Then, in step S24, the size of the connected component is examined. If the connected component is smaller than the predetermined size (N in step S24), the process proceeds to step S25, and which representative color should be colored in units of connected components. To decide. Specifically, the average pixel value of the original image at the position of the pixel constituting the connected component is obtained, the distance between this and the representative color is calculated, and the closest representative color is selected.

  Next, the pixels constituting the connected component are written in the binary image having the representative color selected in step S25 as the pixel value (step S26), and the connected component information that has been written in the binary image is deleted (step S27). ).

  On the other hand, when the connected component exceeds a predetermined size (Y in step S24), the process returns to step S23 to acquire another connected component information.

  The processes in steps S23 to S27 are repeated until all connected component information is examined (Y in step S28).

  When examination of all connected component information is completed (Y in step S28), the original image is divided into meshes (step S29). Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the entire image is divided into 2 × 2 pixels.

  Next, each mesh region is examined in turn.

  First, it is examined whether or not the target mesh area is on a connected component that can be regarded as a character (step S30). If it is not on the connected component (N in step S30), it means that there is no character in that area, so the next mesh is examined. If it is on the connected component (Y in step S30), it means that there is a character in the corresponding mesh area.

  Subsequently, it is examined whether or not the mesh region is at the boundary portion (end portion) of the connected component (step S31). As shown in FIG. 8, if the entire mesh is included in the pixels constituting the connected component, it is determined that there is no boundary.

  If it is determined that it is not at the boundary (inside) (N in Step S31), the average value of the pixel values inside the mesh is obtained, and the representative color closest to this average value is selected (Step S32).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that it is at the boundary (not inside) (Y in step S31), the pixel having the lowest brightness among the pixels that are inside the mesh and constitute the connected component is selected, and the closest representative to this is selected. A color is selected (step S33). As described above, the reason why the average value is not used for the boundary portion is that the background color is often mixed with the pixel value in the vicinity of the boundary, and if the average is taken, the background color has a strong influence. This is because if the influence of the background color is strong, it is likely to be determined to be closest to the representative color that is closer to the background color than the actual character color, and it becomes unnatural when reproduced as a character image.

  The pixels constituting the connected component in the mesh are written in the binary image having the selected representative color as the pixel color (step S34). As shown in FIG. 8, the shape of the mesh is not written as it is, but only the pixel portion constituting the connected component in the mesh is written, so the resolution is not lowered.

  The processes in steps S30 to S34 are repeated until all the meshes are examined (Y in step S35).

Thus, in the present embodiment, there are a plurality of color determination methods. Summary,
(1) Method of determining in connected component units (2) Method of determining in block units (use average color for representative color selection)
(3) Method of determining in block units (use darkest color for representative color selection)
It is. By switching between these in some cases and using them in combination, it is possible to balance image quality and processing time.

  In each embodiment, when extracting an area having a specific attribute such as a character area (specific attribute portion) in step S3, if the resolution of the original image is low, the resolution is increased in a pseudo manner. An image may be used. As a result, the accuracy may increase when the specific attribute area is searched. On the contrary, when the resolution of the original image is very high, use of a reduced resolution image leads to a reduction in processing time.

It is a block diagram which shows the electrical connection of the image processing apparatus of 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic flowchart which shows the outline | summary of a process. It is a conceptual diagram of a process. It is a functional block diagram of an image processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the added process of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic flowchart which shows an example of the representative color calculation method. An example of dividing an original image is shown, (a) is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the entire image is divided into mesh regions, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between connected components and mesh regions. It is explanatory drawing which shows the positional relationship of a connection component and a mesh area | region.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing apparatus 8 Storage medium 21 Multi-value image acquisition means 22 Binary image acquisition means 24 Specific attribute part extraction means 25 White pixel replacement means 23 Specific attribute part deletion image generation means 26 Specific attribute part color determination means 27 Specific attribute pixel image Generation means 28 Connected component size examination means 29 Image encoding means 30 Summary file creation means

Claims (11)

Multi-value image acquisition means for acquiring a multi-value image as a processing target image;
Binary image acquisition means for acquiring a binary image generated based on the processing target image;
A specific attribute part extracting means for extracting a specific attribute part that is an area having a specific attribute from the processing target image;
White pixel replacement means for replacing pixels other than the specific attribute portion with white pixels in the binary image;
The connected components of black pixels are extracted from the binary image in which the pixels other than the specific attribute portion are replaced with white pixels by the white pixel replacing means, and the sizes of the connected components are classified. Connected component size examination means to replace with pixels,
Specific attribute part erasure image generation means for generating a multi-value image in which pixels of the specific attribute part are filled with a background color;
Specific attribute part color determining means for determining the color of the specific attribute part;
Specific attribute pixel image generation means for generating an image of the specific attribute portion comprising the color determined by the specific attribute portion color determination means;
Image encoding means for compressing and encoding each of the plurality of images generated by the specific attribute portion erasure image generating means and the specific attribute pixel image generating means;
A summary file creation means for grouping compressed and encoded images into one file;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The specific attribute portion color determining unit includes an image dividing unit that divides an image into fixed regions, and a color determining unit that determines a color for each region divided by the image dividing unit.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The color determination means includes a plurality of color determination means, and the specific attribute section selectively uses any one of the color determination means according to the size classification of the connected component by the connected component size examination means. Determine the color of the
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The color determination means includes a plurality of color determination means, and a plurality of pixel units are located at a boundary portion between the specific attribute portion and a portion other than the specific attribute portion, and a plurality of color determination portions are included in the specific attribute portion. When the pixel unit is located, the color determination means is switched to determine the color of the specific attribute portion.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The specific attribute portion extraction means converts the resolution of the processing target image when extracting a specific attribute portion that is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. A multi-value image acquisition function for acquiring a multi-value image as a processing target image;
A binary image acquisition function for acquiring a binary image generated based on the processing target image;
A specific attribute part extraction function for extracting a specific attribute part that is an area having a specific attribute from the processing target image;
A white pixel replacement function for replacing pixels other than the specific attribute portion with white pixels in the binary image;
The connected components of black pixels are extracted from the binary image in which the pixels other than the specific attribute portion are replaced with white pixels by the white pixel replacement function, and the sizes of the connected components are classified. Connected component size examination function to replace with pixels,
A specific attribute part erasure image generation function for generating a multi-value image in which pixels of the specific attribute part are filled with a background color;
A specific attribute part color determination function for determining the color of the specific attribute part;
A specific attribute pixel image generation function for generating an image of the specific attribute portion having a color determined by the specific attribute portion color determination function;
An image encoding function for compressing and encoding each of the plurality of images generated by the specific attribute portion erasure image generation function and the specific attribute pixel image generation function;
A summary file creation function to combine compressed and encoded images into one file;
A computer-readable image processing program for causing a computer to execute the above. The specific attribute portion color determination function causes a computer to execute an image division function that divides an image into fixed regions and a color determination function that determines colors in units of regions divided by the image division function.
7. A computer-readable image processing program according to claim 6. The color determination function has a plurality of color determination functions, and selectively uses one of the color determination functions according to the size classification of the connected component by the connected component size examination function. Determine the color of the
8. A computer-readable image processing program according to claim 6 or 7. The color determination function has a plurality of color determination functions, and a plurality of pixel units are located at a boundary portion between the specific attribute portion and a portion other than the specific attribute portion, and a plurality of color determination functions are included in the specific attribute portion. When the pixel unit is located, the color determination function is switched to determine the color of the specific attribute portion.
9. A computer-readable image processing program according to any one of claims 6 to 8. The specific attribute portion extraction function converts the resolution of the processing target image when extracting a specific attribute portion that is a region having a specific attribute from the processing target image.
A computer-readable image processing program according to any one of claims 6 to 9. A storage medium storing a computer-readable image processing program according to any one of claims 6 to 10.

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