JP2007174270A - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, storage medium, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an output result excellent in visibility by performing image processing on a page including an image area where visibility is lowered when an original image is read and image processing is performed.
[Solution]
MFP 100 reduces and outputs image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages within one page. In this case, it is determined whether there is a page with low visibility in the plurality of image data reduced to one page output by the data processing device 115. Then, when it is determined that there is a page area with low visibility, the scaled image processing is performed on the image data of the page area.

Description

  The present invention relates to image processing in an image processing apparatus that outputs image data for a plurality of pages read from a document read from the document.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image output device, for example, a printing apparatus or a digital copying machine, a device equipped with a so-called Nin1 function for laying out and outputting a plurality of pages into one page has been put into practical use. This function is widely used as an effective function that can contribute to saving paper resources, ink materials, and toner materials.

  In this case, if the paper size of each page is A4, if 4 pages are laid out as 1 page, the image data is simply printed as 1/4 size image data. Therefore, as a matter of course, the objects, characters, images, graphics and the like on each page are reduced by image processing.

  As a result, even if it is an original size, even a readable character becomes a very small size character, which makes it difficult to see. For this reason, the user sometimes selects a designated page printing function on the operation screen again and prints the corresponding page of any page that has been layout-printed.

  In addition, in the case of reduction / enlargement / bookbinding printing settings, etc., there is a problem that it is not known how to print, so paper may be wasted due to trial printing or printing failure. .

In order to solve this problem, the following Patent Document 1 has an image arrangement setting unit that can know an accurate arrangement of image information before printing and an image arrangement display unit that displays an output image. It is disclosed that the user decides whether to print in the state.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-10000

  However, in the prior art, when the reduced print setting including the Nin1 printing as described above is performed, it is inevitable that a complicated figure or the like is reduced and hard to see.

  In addition, in order to print difficult-to-see parts in an easy-to-see manner, troublesome operations such as separately reading a document or resetting print settings are forced on the user, and convenience is impaired. In addition, it is extremely uneconomical as a result of forcing the user over the printing cost burden.

  Furthermore, the above problems are not limited to the reduced layout process. For example, when there are a plurality of block areas for each object in the same size page, for example, table data and image data are arranged. If the image data is such that characters smaller than necessary are printed in the table, the visibility of the table data area may be significantly reduced.

  Therefore, depending on the configuration and arrangement of the objects in the image of the original sheet to be read, there are problems similar to those in the reduced layout.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform image processing on a page including an image area whose visibility is reduced when a document image is read and image processing is performed. It is to provide a mechanism for obtaining an output result with excellent visibility.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.

An image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
Determining means for determining whether or not a page area having low visibility exists in a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output;
An image processing unit that performs image processing on image data of the page area when the determination unit determines that there is a page area with low visibility;
It is characterized by having.

An image processing apparatus for outputting each image data read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
A determination means for determining whether or not a page with low visibility exists in the output image data;
An image processing unit that performs image processing on image data of the page with low visibility when the determination unit determines that there is a page with low visibility;
It is characterized by having.

Furthermore, an image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
Display means for displaying a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output;
Instruction means for instructing a page area having low visibility from the plurality of image data displayed on the display means;
Image processing means for performing image processing on image data of a page area having low visibility instructed by the instruction means;
It is characterized by having.

An image processing apparatus that outputs image data read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
Display means for displaying image data to be output;
Instruction means for instructing a page with low visibility from the image data displayed on the display means;
A determination means for determining whether or not a page with low visibility exists in the output image data;
An image processing unit that performs image processing on image data of the page with low visibility when the determination unit determines that there is a page with low visibility;
It is characterized by having.

  The image processing method of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.

An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
A determination step of determining whether or not a page region having low visibility exists in a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output;
An image processing step of performing image processing on the image data of the page area when it is determined by the determining step that there is a page area having low visibility;
It is characterized by having.

An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for outputting each image data read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
A determination step of determining whether there is a page with low visibility in the image data to be output;
An image processing step of performing image processing on the image data of the page with low visibility when it is determined in the determination step that there is a page with low visibility;
It is characterized by having.

Furthermore, an image processing method in an image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
A display step of displaying a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output on a display means;
An instruction step for indicating a page area having low visibility from the plurality of image data displayed on the display means;
An image processing step for performing image processing on the image data of the page area with low visibility instructed by the instruction step;
It is characterized by having.

An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for outputting image data read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
Display means for displaying image data to be output on the display means;
An instruction step for instructing a page with low visibility from the image data displayed on the display means;
A determination step of determining whether there is a page with low visibility in the image data to be output;
An image processing step of performing image processing on the image data of the page with low visibility when it is determined in the determination step that there is a page with low visibility;
It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, when a document image is read and image processing is performed, an output result excellent in visibility can be obtained by performing image processing on a page including an image region where the visibility is reduced.

  In addition, you can set the reduced layout output to enlarge and output parts that are difficult to see due to the reduction of complex figures, so you do not have to read the original separately or reset the output settings, saving time be able to.

  In addition, since only the necessary parts can be enlarged, it is possible to contribute to paper saving without troublesome operations.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image processing system to which the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention can be applied. This image processing system is realized in an environment where the office 10 and the office 20 are connected by the Internet 104. In the present embodiment, an example of a system capable of communicating between the office 10 and the office 20 via the Internet 104 via the Internet 104 will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the present embodiment. For example, the present embodiment can also be applied to a local system in which a client PC and a printing apparatus can communicate via a predetermined bidirectional interface.

  In FIG. 1, an MFP 100 and a management PC 101 that controls the MFP 100 are communicably connected to a LAN 107 constructed in the office 10 using a predetermined protocol. Further, a client PC (external storage means) 102, a document management server 106, a database 105, and a proxy server 103 are connected to a LAN 107 constructed in the office 10 so as to be communicable with a predetermined protocol.

  The LAN 107 and the LAN 108 in the office 20 are connected to the Internet 104 via the proxy server 13.

  In this embodiment, the MFP 100 is in charge of an image reading unit of a paper document and a part of image processing for the read image signal, and the image signal is input to the management PC 101 using the LAN 109.

  The management PC is a normal PC and includes an image storage unit, an image processing unit, a display unit, and an input unit. A part of the management PC is integrated with the MFP 100.

  The client PC 102, management PC 101, and document management server 106 include the following hardware resources. For example, a controller unit including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like is provided, a keyboard and a pointing device are provided as input devices, and a display device and the like are provided as output devices. In addition, as a software resource, an operating system is provided for executing functional processing. In addition, the client PC includes a hard disk as an external storage device, and performs various data processing by executing various installed applications.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of MFP 100 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, an image reading unit 110 including an auto document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) irradiates a bundle or one original image with a light source (not shown). Then, the reflected light is imaged on the solid-state image pickup device by using a lens as a reflection image of the original, and a raster-like image reading signal (image signal) is obtained from the solid-state image pickup device as image information having a density of 600 DPI.

  In the normal copying function, this image signal is processed into a recording signal by the data processing device 115. In the case of copying every plural number, the recording data for one page is temporarily stored in the storage device 111 and then sequentially output to the recording device 112. Then, an image is formed on the paper.

  On the other hand, print data such as PDL output from the client PC 102 is received from the LAN 107 via the network IF 114. The received print data is converted into raster data that can be recorded by the data processing device 115 and then formed as a recorded image on paper by the recording device.

  An operator's instruction to the MFP 100 is performed from a key operation unit provided in the MFP and an input device 113 including a keyboard and a mouse that are input to the management PC. These series of operations are performed by a control unit (not shown) in the data processing device 115. It is controlled by.

  On the other hand, the status display of the operation input and the display of the image data being processed are performed on the display device 116.

  The storage device 111 is also controlled by the management PC, and data exchange and control between the MFP 100 and the management PC 101 are performed using the network IF 117 and the directly connected LAN 109.

  Note that the data processing apparatus 115 analyzes the print conditions set for the print data for a multi-page configuration received from the client PC 102 via the network interface (network I / F) 114 or the like. When the analysis result specifies Nin1 printing or the like for laying out a plurality of pages into one page, the data processing apparatus detects the page detected by the enlarged print page detection process described later, or the user Enlarge the specified page. However, the enlarged printing process includes a case of printing with the original paper size and a case of printing with a paper size different from the designated paper size. Further, the paper type may be changed together with the paper size, and control may be performed so that printing is performed on a recording medium fed from a specific paper feeding unit.

  The MFP 100 according to the present embodiment also has a Nin1 output function for outputting a plurality of image data obtained by reading an image of each original sheet fed from the ADF included in the image reading unit 110 to one sheet. Yes.

  Similarly to the above, when Nin1 printing or the like is designated when the copy function is selected, the page detected by the enlarged print page detection process described later or the page designated by the user is enlarged. . However, the enlarged printing process includes a case of printing with the original paper size and a case of printing with a paper size different from the designated paper size.

  The data processing device 115 includes a controller unit 2000, and includes a CPU 2001, a ROM 2002, and a RAM 2003.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the image reading unit (scanner) 110 and the recording apparatus (printer) 112 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a hardware configuration of the image reading unit 110 and the recording device 112 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the image reading unit 110 and the recording device 112 are shown as an example of being configured integrally as shown in FIG. 3, but the image reading unit 110 and the recording device 112 are separable, It may be configured to be connected by a predetermined interface cable.

  In FIG. 3, the image reading unit 110 includes a document feeding unit 250, and the document feeding unit 250 feeds documents one by one from the top onto the platen glass 211 one by one. Each time the reading operation of each document is completed, the document is discharged from the platen glass 211 to a discharge tray (not shown).

  When the document is fed onto the platen glass 211, the image reading unit 110 turns on the lamp 212 and starts moving the moving unit 213. The scanning of the original on the platen glass 211 is performed by the movement of the moving unit 213.

  During this scanning, the reflected light from the document is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as “CCD”) 218 via each mirror 214, 215, 216 and lens 217, and an image on the document is on the imaging surface of the CCD 218. Is imaged.

  The CCD 218 converts an image formed on the imaging surface into an electrical signal, and the electrical signal is input to a control device (not shown) after being subjected to predetermined processing.

  The moving unit 213 may be provided with a pouring mode for reading an image of a fed document sheet while the moving unit 213 moves to a predetermined position and is fixed. Further, it may be configured such that images on both sides of the original sheet can be read by inverting the original sheet via the conveyance path.

  The recording device 112 includes a laser driver 321, and the laser driver 321 drives the laser emission unit 322 based on image data input from the control device. As a result, laser light corresponding to the image data is emitted from the laser light emitting unit 322, and this laser light is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 323 while being scanned.

  An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 323 by the irradiated laser light, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image by the toner supplied from the developing device 324. In synchronization with the irradiation timing of the laser light, recording paper is fed from the cassettes 311C and 312 between the photosensitive drum 323 and the transfer unit 325 via the conveyance path, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 323 is transferred to the transfer unit 325. Is transferred onto the recording paper fed.

  In this embodiment, a case where a monochrome recording apparatus is provided will be described. However, a recording apparatus that records an image in color may be used.

  In that case, a quadruple tandem type recording apparatus in which a plurality of photosensitive drums are arranged and images of each color are superimposed may be used, or a developing device corresponding to each color image is rotated on the intermediate transfer member one by one. A recording device that stacks the developer may be used. Further, the present invention can be applied even if the recording method is an ink jet method.

  The recording paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is sent to a fixing roller pair (heating roller and pressure roller) 326 via a conveyance belt, and the fixing roller pair 326 records the toner image on the recording paper by heat-pressing the recording paper. Fix on paper.

  The recording paper that has passed through the fixing roller pair 326 is discharged to the paper discharge unit 330 by the paper discharge roller pair 327. The paper discharge unit 330 includes a sheet processing apparatus that can perform post-processing such as sorting and stapling.

  When the double-sided recording mode is set by the input device 113, the recording paper is transported to the paper discharge roller pair 327, the rotation direction of the paper discharge roller pair 327 is reversed, and the paper feed transport is performed by the flapper 328. Guide to road 339.

  Then, the recording paper guided to the refeed conveyance path 339 is fed again between the photosensitive drum 323 and the transfer unit 325 at the timing described above, and the toner image is transferred to the back surface of the recording paper.

  4 is a plan view showing the configuration of the display device 116 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the display device 116 is provided with a key that functions as the operation unit 2012.

  In FIG. 4, the LCD display unit 2013 has a structure in which a touch panel sheet is pasted on the LCD. Then, the operation screen of the copying machine 1001 is displayed, and when the key displayed on the screen is pressed, the position information is transmitted to the CPU 2001 of the controller unit 2000 shown in FIG.

  A start key 2014 is used when starting a document image reading operation. A green and red two-color LED 2018 is provided at the center of the start key 2014, and indicates whether or not the start key 2014 can be used depending on the color. A stop key 2015 is operated to stop an operation in operation. The ID key 2016 is used when inputting the user ID of the user. A reset key 2017 is used when initializing settings from the operation unit 2012.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen displayed on the operation unit 2012 illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, a copy tab 901, a transmission / FAX tab 902, a box tab 903, a browser tab 904, and a right arrow key 905 for selecting various functions are formed on the upper part of the operation screen of the operation unit 2012. Is displayed.

  Note that the screen shown in FIG. 5 represents an initial screen of the copy function when the touch key of the copy tab 901 is pressed.

  Here, the display relating to the copy function is performed in the area 906, and the status to be displayed by the copy function is displayed in the area where “ready to copy” is displayed from above the area 906. In the area below it, the magnification, the selected paper feed stage, and the set number are displayed.

  In addition, as a touch key for setting the operation mode of the copy function, the left arrow key corresponding to the same size, magnification, paper selection, sorter, double-sided, interrupt, character, thinning for density adjustment, corresponding to the darkening The right arrow key is placed. An automatic key for automatically adjusting the density is displayed, and an operation mode designation screen that cannot be displayed on the initial screen is displayed hierarchically in the area 906 by pressing the application mode button 909. It has become.

  A display area 907 is an area for displaying the status of the copying machine 1001, for example, an alarm message such as a jam, or a status message indicating that PDL printing is being performed when PDL printing is being performed. It is an area.

  A system status / cancel touch key 908 is displayed in the display area 907. When the system status / cancel touch key 908 is pressed, a screen for displaying device information of the copier 1001 or a screen for displaying the print job status (not shown). Display). On this screen, it is possible to cancel the job.

  When a transmission / FAX tab 902 is pressed, a setting screen for sending an image read by the copying machine 1001 to a device on the LAN 1006 by E-mail or FTP transmission, or by facsimile transmission using the public line 1008 (FIG. 6) is displayed.

  On the other hand, when a box tab 903 is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. 5, a box acquisition function screen is displayed.

  Specifically, an image read on the copying machine 1001 is stored in a box area in the HDD 2004, image data stored in the box area is designated and printed, or transmitted to a device on the LAN 1006. A setting screen (not shown) is displayed.

  When the controller unit 2000 is equipped with five or more functions, a right arrow key 905 is displayed on the right side of the four function tabs 901 to 904 of copy, transmission / fax, box, and browser. When the right arrow key 905 is pressed, a screen for another function is displayed.

  Hereinafter, functions and operations of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described.

  In this embodiment, when the user performs the reduced layout of the image data of the document input by the scanner in the Nin1 mode, detection is performed by selecting a specific page or specifying a page to be enlarged and output by image processing. In this example, the page is enlarged and output.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an application mode screen displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG. This screen is an example in which the application mode screen is displayed from the application mode button 909 shown in FIG. 5, and a reduced layout 4 in 1 is set. The number of pages laid out on one page can be selected from 2, 4, 6, 8 and the like.

  When a document bundle is prepared in the scanner 2070 and the start key 2014 shown in FIG. 4 is pressed, the scanner 2070 reads a document image of each page by conveying a document sheet separated and fed from the document bundle to a reading position. .

  It should be noted that the original mentioned here may already be reduced-printed. At that time, the reduced print setting may not be set. Although the details of the read document are omitted, the controller unit 2000 generates the XML-based SVG file shown in FIG. 7 on the RAM 2003, and stores this SVG file in a specific memory area on the RAM 2003. To do.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the SVG file generated by the data processing apparatus 115 illustrated in FIG.

  Then, the text portion, the drawing portion, the photo portion, and the like in the read document are set as objects, and the drawing portion is vectorized by image processing by the controller unit 2000 so that the size of the drawing can be changed. Details of the vectorization process will be described later.

  When the original is read, the controller unit 2000 lays out the image data of the read original as set. Then, an image profile is created for the laid out image data (or the read image data).

The image profile mentioned here represents the characteristics of image data.

  Next, the image profile created by the controller unit 2000 is compared with the reference data using specific reference data for determining image data with low visibility.

  The image profile determined to be low in visibility by the controller unit 2000 is displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 in the form shown in FIG. 8 on the LCD display unit 2013, and an instruction from the user is given. wait. Here, the instruction is selected image data, which is low-visibility image data, and separately from layout output, designates a page for outputting the page in the paper size set for the page. That is.

  Note that if the paper size is output, it is output as an image at the same magnification. However, since the Nin1 output page is output with a reduced size compared to the original paper size, the output is enlarged as compared with the Nin1 output result. .

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a first print magnification change-image selection screen displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG. This screen is displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 under the control of the controller unit 2000. This screen is displayed when an image determined to have reduced visibility is detected in a layout image specified by image processing to be described later.

  In FIG. 8, the user looks at the print preview displayed under the control of the controller unit 2000. Then, an image (701 shown in FIG. 8) determined to have low visibility is selected, and when the user directly instructs on the LCD display unit 2013 and then presses an OK button 703, the controller unit 2000 controls the LCD display unit. A magnification input screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed in 2013. Reference numeral 703 denotes an OK button, and reference numeral 704 denotes a print start instruction button.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing an example of a print magnification change designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG.

  The magnification setting screen shown in FIG. 9 includes fixed magnification setting units 803 and 804 for selecting a magnification at a fixed magnification, and a magnification setting unit 805 for outputting an image selected at an arbitrary magnification. That is, the magnification setting unit 805 performs a zoom setting function, and also has an XY independent scaling function as an optional function.

  An automatic scaling key 806 is a key for setting a magnification that is automatically calculated when, for example, a selected paper size is designated with respect to the document size of the page to be laid out.

  When the user inputs a desired magnification from the magnification input screen and presses an OK button 802, a screen for designating a printing method is displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing an example of a second print magnification change-printing method designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG. This screen display is displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG. 10 under the control of the controller unit 2000.

  The user determines how to print the image portion determined to have low visibility on the printing method designation screen shown in FIG. 10 by, for example, one of two methods.

  In the present embodiment, the printing method 901-1 “prints an image with low visibility as it is” or the printing method 904-1 “prints a message referring to another print on the image portion with low visibility”. An example of such a method is shown.

  The print setting can be set for each page or can be common to all pages.

  In this screen, when one of the printing methods 901-1 and 904-1 is selected and the OK button 903B is pressed, the setting for one low-visibility image selected by the user is completed. When the cancel button 902B is instructed, the screen display is switched to the previous display screen.

  After the user presses the OK button on the printing method setting screen, the image selection screen (see FIG. 8) is displayed again, and the process of waiting for the user's instruction is repeated.

  When the image selection screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed again, “when a screen similar to the image selection screen that was initially displayed” is displayed and “an image profile is created again to determine an image with low visibility. And a case where a print preview of an image determined to have low visibility is displayed ”.

  When the cancel button 702 shown in FIG. 8 is pressed, the image selection screen shown in FIG. 8 is closed and printing is stopped. Further, when the setting cancel button 801 shown in FIG. 9 or the cancel button 902B shown in FIG. 10 is pressed, the display returns to the image selection screen shown in FIG.

  Further, when the magnification change processing for an image with low visibility is finished and printing is performed, printing is started when the user presses the print button 704 shown in FIG.

  In the following, a detailed description will be given of a process of vectorizing the drawing portion in the image data read from the document by the MFP 100 to enable the drawing to be resized by image processing by the CPU of the management PC 101.

  Next, an overview of the entire image processing according to the present invention will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. Although the case where the process for determining whether the image is low visibility in the present embodiment is performed by a data processing apparatus different from the MFP 100 will be described, of course, the configuration is executed by the controller unit 2000 of the MFP 100. Well. Further, it may be realized by executing an image processing program stored in an external device connected locally to the controller unit 2000 of the MFP 100.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, (120)-(136) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  First, the image information input process is started (120), the image reading unit 110 of the MFP 100 is operated to scan one original in a raster pattern, and the image information input process 120 obtains a 600 DPI-8-bit image signal.

  The digitized image signal is preprocessed by the data processing device 115 and stored in the storage device 111 as image data for one page.

  Next, block selection (BS) processing, which will be described in detail later, is started (121), and the CPU of the management PC 101 executes an image processing program. As a result, the image data stored in the MFP 100 is acquired, and first, the area is separated into a character / line drawing portion and a halftone image portion.

  The character part is further segmented into blocks, which are grouped as a block in a paragraph, or separated into tables and figures composed of lines.

  On the other hand, an image portion expressed in halftone is divided into independent objects for each so-called block, such as an image portion of a block separated into rectangles, a background portion, and the like.

  Next, a two-dimensional barcode recorded as additional information in the document image or an object corresponding to the URL is detected, and the URL is character-recognized by OCR, or if it is a two-dimensional barcode, the mark is decoded (122). ).

  Next, pointer information in the storage device in which the original electronic file of the document is stored is detected (123). The storage device may be a storage resource on the network as will be described later.

  As other means for adding pointer information, there are a so-called digital watermark method that is not directly visualized, such as a method of embedding information in the space between characters and a method of embedding in a halftone image.

  If it is determined that the pointer information has been detected, the process branches to step (125) to determine whether the original electronic file has been retrieved from the address indicated by the pointer.

  In the present embodiment, the original electronic file is stored in the hard disk in the client PC 102 shown in FIG. The original electronic file may be stored in the database 105 in the document management server 106 connected to the office 10 or the LAN of the office 20. Further, the original electronic file is stored in one of the storage devices 111 included in the MFP 100 itself.

  Therefore, the management PC 101 searches these storage devices according to the address information obtained in step (123).

  If it is determined in step (125) that the original electronic file cannot be retrieved, the process proceeds to step (126). Alternatively, if it is determined that the file is an image file represented by PDF or tiff, the process proceeds to step (126). Alternatively, if it is determined that the pointer information itself does not exist, the process proceeds to step (126). If it is determined in step (125) that the electronic file has been retrieved, the process proceeds to step (133).

  Step (126) is a so-called document search processing routine. Here, in step (122), a word is extracted from the result of OCR performed on each character block and a full text search is performed, or a so-called layout search is performed from the array of each object and the attribute of each object.

  If it is determined as a result of this layout search that an electronic file with a high degree of similarity has been searched, a thumbnail or the like is displayed (127).

  When the operator needs to be selected from a plurality of files, the file is specified by the operator's input operation.

  If the candidate is one file, the process automatically proceeds from step (128) to step (134) to notify the storage address.

  If it is determined in step (128) that the electronic file has not been searched by the search process, or if the electronic file has been searched but is a so-called image file represented by PDF or tiff, the process branches to step (129). . If it is determined that the electronic file has been retrieved by the retrieval process, the process proceeds to step (134).

  In step (129), image data is converted into vector data, which is converted to an electronic file close to the original electronic file. Details of the vectorization process will be described later.

  Specifically, for the character block that has been OCR in step (122), the font data that is visually faithful to the character obtained by further recognizing the character size, style, and font and scanning the document. Convert to.

  On the other hand, outline processing is applied to tables and graphic blocks composed of lines.

  The image block is processed as an individual JPEG file as image data.

  These vectorization processes are performed for each object, and further, layout information of each object is stored, converted into, for example, rtf (130), and stored as an electronic file in a storage device (131).

  Next, in step (132), index information for search is first generated and added to the search index file so that the vectorized document image can be directly searched as an electronic file when the same processing is performed thereafter. To do.

  Next, the process proceeds to step (133). When the electronic file can be identified from the pointer information in step (125), the storage address of the electronic file is notified to the operator. Alternatively, when the electronic file can be specified by the search process, or further converted into an electronic file by vectorization, the storage address of the electronic file is notified to the operator.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the process desired by the operator is recording (134). If it is determined that the recording process is selected by the user, pointer information is added to the file as image data (135). If it is determined that the recording process has not been selected by the user, the process proceeds to step (136).

  If the electronic file can be specified by the search process, the process branches from step (128) to step (134) in order to directly specify the electronic file. When notifying the storage address to the operator and recording it on the current sheet, pointer information is similarly added to the electronic file.

  Next, using the obtained electronic file itself, for example, processing, accumulation, transmission, and recording of a document are performed (136), and this processing is terminated.

  These processes reduce the amount of information, increase the storage efficiency, shorten the transmission time, and are very advantageous as high-quality data when recorded and displayed compared to the case of using image data.

  The details of the processing of each specific step shown in FIG. 11 will be described below.

  First, the block selection process shown in step (121) shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

<Block selection processing>
FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining block selection processing in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 12A shows an example of an original sheet input from the image reading unit 110, which includes a text 12-1, a table 12-2, images 12-3 and 12-4, and a graphic 12-6.

  (B) of FIG. 12 shows the boundary of the block-divided area by BS processing of (A), and shows rectangles of different line types. In the table, text may be included.

  In this embodiment, the block selection process recognizes image data of one page read by the image reading unit 110 shown in FIG. 12A as a block for each object as shown in FIG. . Then, each block is determined as an attribute such as character / drawing / photo / line / table, and is divided into areas having different attributes.

  A specific example of the block selection process will be described below.

  First, the input image for the document shown in FIG. 12A is binarized into black and white, and contour tracing is performed to extract a block of pixels surrounded by a black pixel contour.

  At this time, for the black pixel block having a large area, the white line block is extracted by tracing the outline of the white pixel inside, and the white pixel block having a predetermined area or more is recursively extracted. A black pixel block is extracted.

  In addition, the process of performing contour line tracing for white pixels inside and extracting a lump of white pixels is a known image processing.

  The black pixel blocks obtained in this way are classified by size and shape, and are classified into regions having different attributes.

  For example, a pixel having an aspect ratio close to 1 and having a constant size is recognized as a pixel block corresponding to a character. Further, a portion where adjacent characters can be grouped with good alignment is recognized as a character region.

  In addition, a flat pixel block is defined as a line region, and a black pixel block that contains a square white pixel block that is not less than a certain size in a well-aligned manner is a table region, and an area in which irregular pixel blocks are scattered. It recognizes a picture area and a pixel block of any other shape as a picture area.

  FIG. 13 shows block information for each block obtained by the block selection process in this way.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a block information table BTAB, which is a block selection result for the document shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, block information is managed as a table corresponding to each of the blocks BL1 to BL6 shown in FIG. The total number of blocks is an example of “6”.

  The block information for each of the blocks BL1 to BL6 is used as information for vectorization or search described below.

<Detection of pointer information>
Next, the OCR / OMR process for extracting the storage location of the file shown in step (122) shown in FIG. 11 from the image information will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 and the original sheet example shown in FIG. .

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of a second data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, (300)-(308) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document sheet read by the image reading unit 110 illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 15, reference numeral 310 denotes a document, which includes character blocks 312 and 313, an image block 314, and a two-dimensional barcode 311.

  In this example, the two-dimensional barcode (QR code symbol) 311 added to the document image is decoded and a data character string is output.

  First, an image representing the original 310 stored in a page memory (secured in the RAM 2003) in the data processing device 115 is scanned by a CPU (not shown). Then, the position of the predetermined two-dimensional barcode 311 is detected from the result of the block selection process described above (300).

  The QR code position detection pattern is composed of the same position detection element patterns arranged in three of the four corners of the symbol.

  Next, the format information adjacent to the position detection pattern is restored, and the error correction level and mask pattern applied to the symbol are obtained (301). After the symbol model number is determined (302), the mask process is canceled by performing an XOR operation on the coding area bit pattern using the mask pattern obtained from the format information (303).

  The symbol character is read in accordance with the arrangement rule corresponding to the model, and the message data and the error correction code word are restored (304).

  Then, whether or not there is an error is detected on the restored code (305), and if it is determined that an error has been detected, the process branches to step (306) and is corrected. If it is determined that no error has been detected, the process branches to step (307).

  Then, the data code word is divided into segments based on the mode indicator and the character number indicator from the error-corrected data (step 307).

  Finally, the data character is decoded based on the specification mode, the result is output (308), and this process is terminated.

  Note that the data incorporated in the two-dimensional barcode represents the address information of the corresponding file, and is composed of path information including, for example, a file server name and a file name. Alternatively, it consists of a URL to the corresponding file.

  In the present embodiment, the document 310 provided with pointer information using a two-dimensional barcode has been described.

  However, when pointer information is directly recorded as a character string, a block of the character string according to a predetermined rule is detected by the previous block selection process, and each character of the character string indicating the pointer information is recognized. The address information of the original file can be obtained directly.

  Further, the character block 312 of the original 310 shown in FIG. 15 or the character string of the character block 313 is modulated such that the space between adjacent characters is difficult to visually recognize, and information is embedded in the character space. However, pointer information can be added as digital watermark information.

  The so-called watermark information can be obtained by detecting pointer intervals when performing character recognition processing described later. It is also possible to add pointer information as a digital watermark into an image block 314 that is a natural image.

<File search by pointer information>
Next, the search processing of the original electronic file stored in the storage device from the pointer information shown in step (125) and step (128) shown in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a third data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, (400)-(408) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  First, a file server is specified based on the address included in the pointer information acquired by the above-described processing (400). Here, the file server refers to the client PC 102, the document management server 106 including the database 105, and the MFP 100 itself including the storage device 111. Here, the address is URL or path information including a server name and a file name.

  When the file server can be specified in this way, the address is transferred to the file server (401).

  When the file server receives the address, the file server searches the storage device for the corresponding original electronic file (402).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the corresponding original electronic file exists (403). If the corresponding original electronic file does not exist, the MFP 100 is notified accordingly.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step (403) that the corresponding file exists in the file server, the file address is notified as described in FIG. 11 (step (133) shown in FIG. 11). If the process desired by the user is acquisition of image file data, the image file data is transferred to the MFP 100 (408), and the process ends.

<File search process>
Next, the details of the file search process shown in step (126) shown in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a fourth data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. This process is a detailed procedure of the file search process shown in step (126) shown in FIG. In addition, (510)-(526) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  Further, as described above, the process of step (126) described above is performed when pointer information does not exist in the input document (input file) in step (124). Alternatively, it is performed when there is pointer information but no electronic file is found. Alternatively, it is performed when the electronic file is an image file.

  Here, it is assumed that each block and input file extracted as a result of step (122) include the information (block information and input file information) shown in FIG.

  Further, as information contents, attributes, coordinate positions, width and height sizes, and presence / absence of OCR information are given as examples. Attributes are classified into characters, lines, photographs, pictures, tables and others. In addition, for the sake of simple explanation, the blocks are named as block BL1, block BL2, block BL3, block BL4, block BL5, block BL6 in ascending order of the coordinates X, that is, (eg, X1 <X2 <X3 <X4X5 <X6). Is attached.

  The total number of blocks is the total number of blocks in the input file. In the example shown in FIG. 17, the total number of blocks is “6” as shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an example of processing for performing layout search of a file similar to an input file from the database using these pieces of information will be described. Here, it is assumed that the database file includes the same table information as in FIG. The search process sequentially compares the input file and the file in the database. In step comparison described later, ΔN corresponds to an error in the total number of blocks in the input file. ΔW corresponds to an error in the block width of the input file. ΔH corresponds to an error in the height of block information of the input file.

  N is the total number of blocks in the database file. W is the block width of the database file. h is the block height of the database file.

  N indicates the total number of blocks in the input file, W indicates the block width of the input file, and H indicates the block height of the input file.

  First, in step (510), initial values of memory areas relating to similarity and the like to be described later are initialized. Next, in step (511), the total number of blocks is compared (N−ΔN <n <N + ΔN), and it is determined whether or not this comparison is true. If it is determined that this comparison is true, the attribute of the block information in the file is further sequentially compared (512). If it is determined that the attributes match, the attribute similarity is updated (513). Here, if it is determined that the attributes do not match, the process branches to step (521).

  Next, it is determined by size comparison whether W−ΔW <w <W + ΔW and whether H−ΔH <h <H + ΔH is true (514). If it is determined that it is not true, the process proceeds to step (521).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (514) that it is true, the size similarity between the input file and the database file is updated (515).

  Next, it is determined whether there is OCR information in the input file and the database file (516). If it is determined that there is no OCR information, the process branches to step (521).

  Next, the character codes of the respective OCR information are compared (517), and the OCR similarity rate is updated (518).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the attribute similarity ratio and the OCR similarity ratio have been updated for all blocks of the input file (519). If it is determined that the process has not been completed, the process branches to step (520). If N ≦ n, the process proceeds to the next block of the input file. If N> n, the process proceeds to the next block of the database file. Proceed with the process.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (519) that all blocks have been completed, the overall similarity is calculated based on the attribute similarity, size similarity, and OCR similarity calculated and updated respectively (522). ).

  In addition, about the calculation method of each similarity rate, since a well-known technique is used, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Next, it is determined whether the total similarity is higher than a preset threshold Th (523). If it is determined that the value is not high, the process proceeds to step (526), the next file in the database is accessed, and the process returns to step (510).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (523) that the overall similarity is higher than a preset threshold Th, the file is stored as a similarity candidate (524).

  Next, it is determined whether or not all files in the database have been searched (525). If it is determined that the process has not been completed, the process proceeds to step (526). If it is determined that the process has been completed, the process ends.

  Although not shown, the position information XY may be compared at the time of size comparison in step (514).

  As described above, the search results show that the similarity is higher than the threshold value Th and the database file saved as a candidate in step (524) is displayed as a thumbnail (127). If the operator needs to be selected from a plurality of files, the file is specified by the operator's input operation.

<Vectorization processing>
If it is determined that the original electronic file does not exist in the storage device of the file server, the image data shown in FIG. 12 is vectorized for each block in step (129) shown in FIG.

  Next, the vectorization shown in step (129) shown in FIG. 11 will be described in detail.

  First, character recognition processing is performed on each character for a character block.

"Character recognition"
The character recognition unit recognizes an image cut out in character units using a pattern matching method, and obtains a corresponding character code.

  This recognition process recognizes the character type with the closest distance by comparing the observed feature vector obtained by converting the feature obtained from the character image into a numerical sequence of several tens of dimensions and the dictionary feature vector obtained for each character type in advance. The resulting process.

  There are various known methods for extracting feature vectors. For example, there is a method characterized by dividing a character into meshes, and using a mesh number-dimensional vector obtained by counting character lines in each mesh as line elements according to directions.

  When character recognition is performed on the character area extracted by the block selection process in step (121) shown in FIG. 11, first, horizontal writing and vertical writing are determined for the corresponding area. Then, a line is cut out in a corresponding direction, and then a character is cut out to obtain a character image.

  Note that horizontal / vertical writing is determined by taking horizontal / vertical projections of the pixel values in the corresponding area. If the horizontal projection variance is large, the horizontal writing area is determined. If the vertical projection variance is large, the vertical writing area is determined. That's fine.

  For horizontal writing, character strings and characters are decomposed by cutting out lines using horizontal projection, and then cutting out characters from the vertical projection of the cut lines. For vertically written character areas, horizontal and vertical may be reversed. At this time, the character size can be detected.

"Font recognition"
Multiple character feature vectors used for character recognition are prepared for the character shape type, that is, font type, and the font type is output along with the character code when matching. I can do it.

"Vectorization of characters"
Using the character code and font information obtained by the character recognition and font recognition, the character portion information is converted into vector data using outline data prepared in advance. When the original document is color, the color of each character is extracted from the color image and recorded together with vector data.

  Through the above processing, image information belonging to a character block can be converted into vector data that is almost faithful in shape, size, and color.

"Vectorization of non-character parts"
In the block selection process shown in step (121) shown in FIG. 11, the outline of the pixel block extracted therein is converted into vector data for the area designated as a drawing, line, or table area. Specifically, a point sequence of pixels forming an outline is divided by points regarded as corners, and each section is approximated by a partial straight line or curve.

  Hereinafter, vectorization of portions other than characters will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 are diagrams for explaining vectorization processing of portions other than characters in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, hereinafter, the corner is a point at which the curvature is a maximum, and the point at which the curvature is at a maximum is, as shown in FIG. When a string is drawn between k and Pi + k, the distance between the string and Pi is obtained as a maximum.

  Furthermore, let R be the chord length / arc length between Pi−k and Pi + k, and a point where the value of R is equal to or less than a threshold value can be regarded as a corner. Each section after being divided by the corners can be vectorized by using a least square method for a straight line and a curve using a cubic spline function.

  Further, when the target has an inner contour, it is similarly approximated by a partial straight line or a curve using the point sequence of the white pixel contour extracted by block selection.

  As described above, the outline of a figure having an arbitrary shape can be vectorized by using the contour line approximation. If the original document is in color, the figure color is extracted from the color image and recorded together with vector data.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 19, when an outer contour and an inner contour or another outer contour are close to each other in a certain section, two contour lines can be combined and expressed as a line having a thickness. .

  Specifically, when a line is drawn from each point Pi of a certain contour to a point Qi that is the shortest distance on another contour, and each distance PQi is on average less than or equal to a certain length, the interval of interest has a midpoint PQi as a point sequence Approximate with a straight line or a curve, and the thickness is the average value of PQi. A table ruled line that is a line or a set of lines can be efficiently expressed as a set of lines having the above-described thickness.

  The vectorization using the character recognition processing for the character block has been described above. As a result of the character recognition processing, the character having the closest distance from the dictionary is used as the recognition result. However, when this distance is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the character does not necessarily match the original character, and is often erroneously recognized as a character having a similar shape.

  Therefore, in the present invention, such characters are handled in the same way as general line drawings as described above, and the characters are outlined.

  In other words, a character that is erroneously recognized by the conventional character recognition processing is not vectorized into an erroneous character, and can be vectorized by an outline that is visually faithful to image data.

  In the present embodiment, the block determined to be a photograph cannot be vectorized, and therefore remains as image data.

<Figure recognition>
A process of grouping the vectorized dividing lines for each graphic object after vectorizing the outline of the figure of an arbitrary shape as described above will be described.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a fifth data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment. This example corresponds to a processing procedure until vector data is grouped for each graphic object. In addition, (700)-(702) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  First, the start point and end point of each vector data generated by the vectorization process described above are calculated (700). Next, a graphic element is detected using the start point and end point information of each vector (701).

  Note that the detection of a graphic element means detecting a closed graphic formed by a dividing line. In detection, the detection is performed by applying the principle that each vector constituting the closed shape has vectors connected to both ends thereof.

  Next, other graphic elements or dividing lines existing in the graphic element are grouped to form one graphic object (702), and the process is terminated.

  If there is no other graphic element or dividing line in the graphic element, the graphic element is set as a graphic object.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a sixth data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a processing example for detecting a graphic element. In addition, (710)-(712) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  First, unnecessary vectors not connected to both ends are removed from the vector data generated by the vectorization process described above, and a closed graphic component vector is extracted (710). Next, from the closed figure constituent vectors, the starting point of the vector is used as a starting point, and the vectors are sequentially followed in the clockwise direction. The process is repeated until the start point is returned, and all the passed vectors are grouped as a closed graphic constituting one graphic element (711).

  In addition, all closed graphic constituent vectors inside the closed graphic are also grouped. Further, the same processing is repeated with the starting point of a vector not yet grouped as a starting point.

  Finally, among the unnecessary vectors removed in step (710), those joined to the vector grouped as a closed figure in 711 are detected and grouped as one figure element (712), and the process is terminated. To do.

  As described above, the graphic block can be handled as an individual graphic object that can be reused individually.

<Conversion to application data>
By the way, in step (121) shown in FIG. 11, the image data for one page is subjected to block selection processing, and the result of vectorization processing in step (129) is converted into a file in an intermediate data format as shown in FIG. Has been. Such a data format is called a document analysis output format (DAOF).

  FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the structure of intermediate data processed by the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a data structure example of DAOF.

  In FIG. 22, reference numeral 791 denotes a header, which holds information relating to document image data to be processed.

  The layout description data portion 792 holds the attribute information of each block recognized for each attribute of TEXT (character), TITLE (title), CAPTION (caption), and LINEART (line drawing) in the document image data and the rectangular address information thereof. To do.

  Similarly, attribute information of each block recognized for each attribute such as EPICTURE (natural image), FRAME (frame), and TABLE (table) in the document image data and the rectangular address information thereof are held.

  The character recognition description data portion 793 holds character recognition results obtained by character recognition of TEXT blocks such as TEXT, TITLE, and CAPTION.

  The table description data portion 794 stores details of the structure of the TABLE block. The image description data portion 795 cuts out image data of blocks such as PICTURE and LINEART from the document image data and holds them.

  Such a DAOF is not only used as intermediate data but may be stored as a file itself. In this file state, it is not possible to reuse individual objects in a so-called general document creation application. I can't.

  Therefore, the process of converting DAOF to application data in step (130) shown in FIG. 11 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a seventh data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is an example of processing for converting DAOF to application data. In addition, (8000)-(8003) show each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  First, in step (8000), DAOF data is input. In step (8002), a document structure tree that is the source of application data is generated. Next, in step (8003), based on the document structure tree, actual data in the DAOF is flowed to generate actual application data, and the process ends.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an eighth data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This process is a detailed procedure of the document structure tree generation process in step (8002) shown in FIG. Note that (8100) to (8105) indicate each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining a document structure tree in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 25A shows the actual page configuration, and FIG. 25B shows the document structure tree.

  As a basic rule of overall control, the flow of processing shifts from a micro block (single block) to a macro block (an aggregate of blocks). Hereinafter, the block refers to the micro block and the entire macro block.

  First, in step (8100), regrouping is performed on a block basis based on the vertical relationship. Immediately after the start, judgment is made in units of micro blocks. Here, the relevance can be defined by the fact that the distance is close and the block width (height in the horizontal direction) is substantially the same. Information such as distance, width, and height is extracted with reference to GAOF.

  As a result of the grouping process in step (8100), T3, T4, and T5 shown in FIG. 25A constitute one group V1, and T6 and T7 are first generated as a group in the same hierarchy. .

  Next, in step (8102), the presence / absence of a vertical separator is checked. For example, the separator is physically an object having a line attribute in the DAOF. Also, logically, it is an element that explicitly divides a block in the application. If a separator is detected here, it is subdivided at the same level.

  Next, in step (8102), it is determined using the group length whether or not there are no more divisions. If the group length in the vertical direction is the page height, the document structure tree generation ends.

  In the case of the example shown in FIG. 25, since there is no separator and the group height is not the page height, the process proceeds to step (8103).

  Then, in step (8103), regrouping is performed on a block basis based on the relevance in the horizontal direction. Here too, the first time immediately after the start is determined in units of microblocks. The definition of the relevance and the determination information is the same as in the vertical direction.

  In the case of the example shown in FIG. 25, H1 is generated for T1 and T2, and H2 is generated for V1 and V2, as a group in the same hierarchy one above V1 and V2.

  Next, in step (8104), the presence / absence of a horizontal separator is checked.

  In the example shown in FIG. 25A, since S1 exists, this is registered in the tree, and a hierarchy of H1, S1, and H2 is generated.

  Next, in step (8105), it is determined using the group length whether or not there are no more divisions.

  Here, when it is determined that the horizontal group length is the page width, the document structure tree generation ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (8105) that the group length in the horizontal direction is not the page width, the process returns to step (8100), and the relevance check in the vertical direction is repeated again at the next higher level.

  In the case of the example shown in FIG. 25, since the division width is the page width, the process ends here, and finally V0 of the highest hierarchy representing the entire page is added to the document structure tree.

  After the document structure tree is completed, application data is generated in step (8003) shown in FIG. 23 based on the information.

  Specifically, the example shown in FIG. 25 is as follows.

  That is, since there are two blocks T1 and T2 in the horizontal direction, H1 has two columns, and after T1 internal information (refer to DAOF, text of character recognition result, image, etc.) is output, the column is changed and the internal of T2 Information is output, and then S1 is output.

  Since H2 has two groups V1 and V2 in the horizontal direction, it outputs as 2 columns, V1 outputs its internal information in the order of T3, T4, T5, then changes the column and outputs internal information of T2, T7 of V2 To do. As described above, conversion processing to application data can be performed.

<Addition of pointer information>
Next, the pointer information adding process will be described in step (135) shown in FIG.

  When the document to be processed is specified by the search process, or when the original file can be reproduced by vectorization, when the document is recorded, pointer information is added at the time of recording on paper. . Thus, the original file data can be easily acquired when various processes are performed again using this document.

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a ninth data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment. This example is a detailed procedure of the pointer information adding process in step (135) shown in FIG. In addition, (900)-(906) shows each step. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, a processing example in which a data character string as pointer information is encoded by a two-dimensional barcode (QR code symbol: JIS X0510) 311 and added to an image will be described.

  The data to be incorporated in the two-dimensional barcode represents the address information of the corresponding file, and is composed of path information including a file server name and a file name, for example. Alternatively, the URL includes a URL to the corresponding file, a file ID managed in the database 105 in which the corresponding file is stored, or a storage device included in the MFP 100 itself.

  First, an input data string is analyzed in order to identify different characters to be encoded (900). Further, an error detection and error correction level is selected, and a minimum model number that can accommodate input data is selected.

  Next, the input data string is converted into a predetermined bit string, and an indicator indicating a data mode (numeric, alphanumeric, 8-bit byte, kanji, etc.) and a termination pattern are added as necessary. Further, it is converted into a predetermined bit code word (901).

  At this time, in order to perform error correction, the code word string is divided into a predetermined number of blocks according to the model number and the error correction level, an error correction code word is generated for each block, and is added after the data code word string (902). ).

  Next, in step (902), the obtained data code words of the respective blocks are connected, and the error correction code word of each block and, if necessary, the remainder code word are followed (903).

  Next, the code word module is arranged in the matrix together with the position detection pattern, separation pattern, timing pattern, alignment pattern, and the like (step 904).

  Further, an optimal mask pattern is selected for the symbol coding region, and the mask processing pattern is converted into a module obtained in step 904 by XOR operation (905).

  Finally, format information and model number information are generated in the module obtained in step (905), a two-dimensional code symbol is completed (906), and this process ends.

  The above-described two-dimensional barcode with address information incorporated is, for example, in a predetermined location on raster data when an electronic file is formed as print data from a client PC 102 on a recording device 112 as a recorded image on paper. In addition, an image is formed. Specifically, the image data is converted into raster data that can be recorded in the data processing device 115 and added to a predetermined location on the raster data to form an image.

  Here, the user who has distributed the image-formed paper can read the storage location of the original electronic file from the pointer information in step 123 described above by reading it with the image reading unit 110.

  As a means for adding additional information for the same purpose, a method generally called a digital watermark can be applied in addition to the two-dimensional barcode described in the present embodiment.

  For example, a method of adding pointer information directly to a document as a character string, a method of embedding information by modulating a character string in a document, particularly a character-to-character interval, a method of embedding in a halftone image in a document, etc. A method called watermarking can be applied.

[Second Embodiment]
<Other processing related to file access rights>
Some document files handled by the user should be restricted from being reused by a third party.

  The first embodiment has been described on the premise that all the files stored in the file server can be freely accessed, and the entire file or a part of the objects can be reused.

  Therefore, another embodiment of the case in which when a file is searched from pointer information in the first embodiment, the access right is restricted for the file identified as a result of the search will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a tenth data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This process is a detailed procedure of the document structure tree generation process in step (8002) shown in FIG. In addition, (400)-(408) shows each step. Also, the same step numbers are assigned to the same steps as those shown in FIG. Each step is realized by loading a control program stored in the CPU of the management PC 101 shown in FIG.

  Further, steps (401) to (403) are the same as the steps shown in FIG.

  If the file is searched and specified in step (403), the file server checks the access right information of the file (404), and if it is determined that access is restricted, requests the MFP 100 to send a password. (405).

  The MFP 100 prompts the operator to input a password, and transmits the input password to the file server (406).

  Next, the file server determines whether or not the authentication is successful by checking and matching the transmitted password (407). If it is determined that the authentication is not successful, the process proceeds to step (405).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (407) that the authentication is successful, the file address is notified as shown in FIG. 11 (134). If the process desired by the user is acquisition of image file data, the file is transferred to the MFP (408), and this process ends.

  The authentication method for controlling the access right is not limited to the password method shown in steps (405) and (406). For example, biometric authentication and card widely used such as fingerprint authentication are widely used. All authentication means such as authentication by can be used.

  In this embodiment, the file is specified by the pointer information additionally given to the paper document. However, the file is obtained by so-called search processing shown in steps (126) to (128) shown in FIG. Similar control is possible even when specified.

  On the other hand, when the file cannot be specified from the file server, that is, the vectorization process described in steps (129) to (132) shown in FIG. 11 can be limited.

  In other words, when it is detected from the image information obtained by scanning a paper document that there is a restriction on the access right to the document, the vectorization process is performed only when the authentication is confirmed, thereby ensuring confidentiality. Limit the use of expensive documents.

[Third Embodiment]
<Other processing related to file identification>
In the first embodiment, the means for specifying the original file data from the image information obtained by scanning the document depends on the means according to the pointer information given in the document, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, depending on one of the search means according to each object information described in the document, both means may be used together in order to specify the original file more accurately.

  That is, even if the existence of the original file can be detected from the pointer information obtained from the document, the object information in the document is further used. For example, a layout search according to layout information and a full-text search using a character-recognized keyword are performed on the detected file, and when a high match is obtained, the detected file is formally specified as the original file .

  This is because, for example, if the lower part of the pointer information is ambiguous or cannot be corrected even by error correction, the file can be specified by narrowing down the search range, so it is faster and more accurate. Can be identified.

[Fourth Embodiment]
<Other processing of vectorization>
In the previous embodiment, if the original file cannot be specified by the search means, the vectorization process is performed on the entire image. For example, in the case of a general document, not all objects in a document are newly created, and some objects may be created by diverting from other files.

  For example, as a background object (wallpaper), several patterns are prepared in advance by a document creation application, and it is normal to select and use them.

  Therefore, such an object is likely to exist in other document files in the document file database, and is likely to exist as reusable vector data.

  Therefore, from such a background, another embodiment of the vectorization process of step (129) shown in FIG. 11 has the following aspects.

  For example, for each object divided into individual objects in the block selection process, a file including a part of the matching object in the database is searched for each object. Then, vector data is acquired for each object that matches each object from the file.

  Accordingly, it is not necessary to vectorize the entire document, vectorization can be performed at a higher speed, and image quality deterioration due to vectorization can be prevented.

  On the other hand, when the original file can be specified as PDF by the search processing in steps (126) to (128) shown in FIG. 11, the PDF adds a character code that has already been recognized for the character object of the document. You may have as.

  When vectorizing such a PDF file, if the character code file is used, character recognition processing in the vectorization processing after 129 can be omitted. In other words, the vectorization process can be performed at a higher speed.

[Fifth Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the case where an image with low visibility is detected by image processing and an image to be enlarged and printed is specified has been described.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the user determines whether or not the visibility is low from the thumbnail images that are read and displayed in the layout, and the thumbnail image displayed by the user is partially displayed at a magnification specified by the user. This is an example of enlarging and outputting the layout.

  FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing an example of a third print magnification change-printing method designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG.

  The screen shown in FIG. 28 corresponds to a state in which a reduced layout is set, a document is read, all images are laid out as set and displayed on the display device 116 under the control of the controller unit 2000, and a user instruction is waited for. To do.

  In FIG. 28, reference numeral 1301 denotes a selected image. For the selected image, for example, the user scrolls the thumbnails TN1 to TNN in a 4-in-1 layout format, and the user selects from among the thumbnails TN1 to TNN corresponding to each page.

  1302 is a cancel button, 1303 is an OK button, and 1304 is a print button.

  FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This process is a detailed procedure of the document structure tree generation process in step (8002) shown in FIG. In addition, (400)-(408) shows each step. Also, the same step numbers are assigned to the same steps as those shown in FIG.

  In the screen display state shown in FIG. 28, a reduced layout is set, and after reading a document, all images are laid out as set and displayed on the screen, and a user instruction is awaited.

  The user views the screen of the display device 116, determines that the visibility is low, selects an image 1301 from the displayed thumbnails (1401), and presses an OK button 1303.

  Next, the magnification of an image with low visibility selected by the user is increased by a certain value (1402), and it is determined whether the currently set magnification is acceptable (1403).

  Specifically, this determination is performed by using a criterion for determining an image with low visibility and a case where the image is displayed at a magnification set at the current time and the user visually determines it. The case where it is determined that the magnification image is not an image with low visibility is considered.

  If it is determined in step (1403) that the current magnification is acceptable, the magnification change is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (1403) that the current magnification is not good, the process returns to step (1402), and the magnification is increased again by a certain value. This process is repeated until an appropriate magnification is obtained.

  It should be noted that by allowing the user to specify a certain value, the enlarged image may be confirmed continuously or stepwise with the user's favorite magnification fluctuation.

  As a result, compared to the first embodiment, an image with low visibility selected by the user is partially enlarged at a magnification specified by the user and output in a layout, so that the selected visibility among the laid out images is low. It is possible to respond flexibly to the request to enlarge and output only the image. Therefore, user convenience is improved.

[Sixth Embodiment]
In the fifth embodiment, a case has been described in which a selected image is enlarged on the same page and a part of the selected low-visibility image is output.

  However, it may be determined whether to output as a separate page by enlarging an image with low visibility and determining whether it affects the image of another page laid out on the same page.

  FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second data processing procedure in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This process determines whether any page on which multiple pages are laid out is determined to have low visibility, even if the page is enlarged in the layout area. To do. Then, based on the determination result, it is an example of switching and controlling the process of enlarging the layout during layout processing and outputting the layout or setting a page with low visibility as another page. In addition, (1501)-(1505) shows each step. Each step is realized by the CPU 2001 shown in FIG. 2 loading the control program stored in the ROM 2002 into the RAM 2003 and executing it.

  First, an image with low visibility is selected from the page layout-displayed on the display device 116 of the MFP 100 (1501). Then, even if the selected image is enlarged to an image with low visibility, it is determined whether there is an influence on other images laid out on the same page (1502).

  If it is determined that there is no influence, the selected image is enlarged and printed in the same page (1505), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (1502) that there is an influence, it is determined whether or not the enlarged selected image fits within the same page if other images are reduced to a magnification that does not reduce the visibility (1503).

  In addition, you may comprise so that a user can designate the magnification | multiplying_factor when making another image into the magnification which does not become low visibility.

  If it is determined that the image can fit on the same page, the process proceeds to step (1505), the selected image is enlarged, and other images are reduced and printed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step (1503) that the image does not fit within the page, the selected image is printed as a separate print page, and the process ends.

  Note that when printing as a separate print page, it may be configured to select whether to print the low-visibility image portion of the original document as it is or to replace it with an image that refers to another print page. Good.

  Further, it may be configured such that the enlargement ratio is automatically set by designating a paper size different from the paper size to be output.

  Furthermore, when enlarging the character block, the entire enlargement ratio may be automatically set by designating a character size familiar to the user.

  Also, if you specify a character size that you are familiar with, and if the image protrudes from the specified paper size and is printed as a whole image, set the paper size to fit the image. Also good. Furthermore, if the maximum paper size does not fit, the character size may be reduced in stages, and control may be performed so as to obtain an enlarged output result that is as excellent in visibility as possible.

[Seventh Embodiment]
In the above embodiment, in the layout print setting, the case where the user switches from the layout result display to the mode setting for outputting a page with low visibility as another page has been described.

  However, in order to reduce the setting burden on the user, when performing print settings, control for automatically switching to a mode in which an image with low visibility is automatically enlarged may be executed.

  Then, an image profile is created when the mode is automatically switched to the automatic enlargement mode. Then, the low-visibility image determined using the image profile and the criterion for determining the low-visibility image is enlarged at a predetermined magnification (automatic scaling is used to match the output paper size) Etc.). And it is good also as a structure which finishes a print setting, without requiring a user's judgment.

[Eighth Embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment, when an image of a page with low visibility is selected, the layout page and the selected page with low visibility are continuously printed as separate pages.

  However, the user may want a print result of only a page with low visibility.

  Therefore, in the print magnification change-printing method designation screen, the user selects either “print all pages, print the selected image separately and print” or “print only the selected image”. You may comprise so that it can select.

  FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing an example of a third print magnification change-printing method designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit 2013 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 31, the controller unit 2000 sets a reduced layout, reads a document, lays out all images as set, and displays them on the display device 116 on the screen under the control of the controller unit 2000.

  Here, it waits for a user's instruction. When the user selects an image with low visibility from the images of a plurality of pages displayed in layout and determines the change magnification of the image, the third print magnification change-printing method designation screen shown in FIG. 31 is displayed on the controller. It is displayed on the display device 116 under the control of the unit 2000. Reference numeral 1602 denotes a cancel button.

  Here, when the user selects an image 1601 shown in FIG. 31 and selects an OK button 1603, output of print data is started while only the selected image is printed.

  This embodiment is effective when there is only a document with low visibility, such as a reduced-printed document, and it is desired to enlarge and print only the image. Further, useless layout printing is restricted, so that paper resources are saved and it is economical.

  In addition, you may comprise so that the arbitrary selection page of a layout page and the page of only the selected image may be printed continuously. This improves the convenience for the user.

  In the above-described embodiment, as an example of image output, a case where image data of a page laid out from the recording device 112 and image data of a page with low visibility are printed has been described.

  Of course, in addition to this, it is configured to transfer and output image data of a page with low visibility to a specified client PC or server device, or to transfer and store the image data on a storage device on a network. Also good.

  As a result, a page with low visibility is not output, but if the user only needs to check on the display screen on the client PC as necessary, the printing cost can be saved.

  Furthermore, when the display is confirmed, the user can set the printing conditions as necessary, so that the page with low visibility can be scaled or processed (like newly edited data). Output) or changing the output attribute. Here, it is preferable that the output attribute is monochrome or color, or is combined with other pages to perform duplex printing or printing in the toner saving mode.

  When the image data of the page with low visibility is transferred and output to a specified client PC or server device, it is converted into a predetermined electronic document format (for example, PDF) or an image file format (BMP → JPEG). ) May be changed and transferred.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the image processing apparatus has been described in which image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document having a plurality of pages is laid out in one page and output.

  However, an image processing apparatus that outputs each image data read from a document composed of a plurality of pages can be provided with the same effect by providing the following configuration.

  That is, the MFP 100 shown in FIG. 2 has a determination function for determining whether a page with low visibility exists in the image data output from the data processing apparatus 115. Further, when the data processing apparatus 115 of the MFP 100 shown in FIG. 2 determines that there is a page with low visibility by the determination function, the image processing function performs image processing on the image data of the page with low visibility. Have

  As a result, when an image data block composed of a plurality of objects exists in the same size original, the block area determined to be low in the visibility judgment is scaled to be slightly scaled on another page or the same page. And output a page with excellent visibility.

  In addition, an equivalent effect can be obtained by providing an image processing apparatus that outputs image data read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages with the following configuration.

  That is, the MFP 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a display device 116 that displays image data output from the data processing device 115 and an instruction function that instructs a page with low visibility from the image data displayed on the display device 116. In addition, a determination function is provided for determining whether there is a page with low visibility in the output image data. The image processing function further includes an image processing function for performing image processing on the image data of the page with low visibility when it is determined by the determination function that there is a page with low visibility.

[Ninth Embodiment]
The configuration of a data processing program that can be read by the information processing apparatus and image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory maps shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs readable by the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining a memory map of a storage medium for storing various data processing programs readable by the image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  Although not particularly illustrated, information for managing a program group stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, a program for installing various programs in the computer, and a program for decompressing when the program to be installed is compressed may be stored.

  The program shown in FIGS. 11, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, and 30 in this embodiment is installed from the outside. May be performed by a host computer. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, the storage medium storing the software program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system or apparatus. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Therefore, as long as it has the function of the program, the form of the program such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS is not limited.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD, etc. Can be used.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. Then, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server, an ftp server, and the like that allow a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer are also included in the claims of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition, the functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by executing the program code read by the computer. For example, based on an instruction of the program code, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing. Needless to say, the process includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

  Further, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. After that, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing. Needless to say.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.

  While various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to the specific descriptions in the present specification by those skilled in the art.

It is a figure which shows an example of the image processing system which can apply the image processing apparatus which shows 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the MFP illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a hardware configuration of an image reading unit and a recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a top view which shows the structure of the display apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen displayed on the operation part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the application mode screen displayed on the LCD display part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the SVG file which the data processor shown in FIG. 2 produces | generates. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first print magnification change-image selection screen displayed on the LCD display unit illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen illustrating an example of a print magnification change designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second print magnification change-printing method designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit illustrated in FIG. 4. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the block selection process in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block information table BTAB that is a block selection result for the document illustrated in FIG. 12. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 2nd data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document sheet read by the image reading unit illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 3rd data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 4th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the vectorization process of parts other than the character in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the vectorization process of parts other than the character in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 5th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 6th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of the intermediate data which the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment processes. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 7th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 8th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the document structure tree in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 9th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 10th data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing an example of a third print magnification change-printing method designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit shown in FIG. 4. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st data processing procedure in the image processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 2nd data processing procedure in the image processing apparatus in this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing an example of a third print magnification change-printing method designation screen displayed on the LCD display unit shown in FIG. 4. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read by the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read with the image processing apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

110 Image Reading Unit 111 Storage Device 112 Recording Device 113 Input Device 115 Data Processing Device 116 Display Device 2000 Controller Unit 2001 CPU
2002 ROM
2003 RAM

Claims (34)

An image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
Determining means for determining whether or not a page area having low visibility exists in a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output;
An image processing unit that performs image processing on image data of the page area when the determination unit determines that there is a page area with low visibility;
An image processing apparatus comprising: An image processing apparatus for outputting each image data read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
A determination means for determining whether or not a page with low visibility exists in the output image data;
An image processing unit that performs image processing on image data of the page with low visibility when the determination unit determines that there is a page with low visibility;
An image processing apparatus comprising: An image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
Display means for displaying a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output;
Instruction means for instructing a page area having low visibility from the plurality of image data displayed on the display means;
Image processing means for performing image processing on image data of a page area having low visibility instructed by the instruction means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: An image processing apparatus for outputting image data read from each original read from a multi-page original,
Display means for displaying image data to be output;
Instruction means for instructing a page with low visibility from the image data displayed on the display means;
A determination means for determining whether or not a page with low visibility exists in the output image data;
An image processing unit that performs image processing on image data of the page with low visibility when the determination unit determines that there is a page with low visibility;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The determination means determines the visibility by comparing a preset profile of a reference image for determining an image with low visibility and a calculated value calculated from an object extracted from image data with low visibility. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the profile includes the number of character points and image contrast.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit performs a scaling image process on the image data of the page with low visibility.   8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the magnification of the scaled image processing performed by the image processing means is set automatically or by a user.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit outputs a specific page that has undergone image processing and an original page that has not undergone image processing.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit is capable of switching between outputting a specific page that has undergone image processing and an original page that has not undergone image processing. .   5. The image processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit outputs image data in a plurality of pages as they are when outputting a specific page that has undergone image processing and an original page that has not undergone image processing. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The image processing means, when outputting the image-processed specific page and the non-image-processed original page, outputs it as a replacement page with comments generated in the image data area in the plurality of pages. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The determination unit includes an influence determination unit that determines whether each image data of another page of the same page is affected even if the magnification of the image data of the page with low visibility is changed,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit performs different types of image processing on image data of a page with low visibility based on a determination result of the influence level determination unit.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image processing unit outputs the image data of the page with low visibility as a separate page when the influence degree determination unit determines that there is an influence.   14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein when the influence degree determination means determines that there is no influence, the image processing means increases the magnification of the image data of the page with low visibility and outputs it. . If the determination means determines that the influence determination means has an influence, the image data of the page with low visibility is reduced by decreasing the magnification of the image data of other pages in the same page and increasing the magnification. Convergence judging means to judge whether it fits within,
When the image processing unit determines that the convergence determination unit has no influence, the image processing unit increases the magnification of the image data of the page with low visibility, and the convergence determination unit determines that there is an influence. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image data of the page with low visibility is output as a separate page. An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
A determination step of determining whether or not a page region having low visibility exists in a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output;
An image processing step of performing image processing on the image data of the page area when it is determined by the determining step that there is a page area having low visibility;
An image processing apparatus comprising: An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for outputting each image data read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
A determination step of determining whether there is a page with low visibility in the image data to be output;
An image processing step of performing image processing on the image data of the page with low visibility when it is determined in the determination step that there is a page with low visibility;
An image processing method comprising: An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for laying out and outputting image data for a plurality of pages read from each document read from a document consisting of a plurality of pages in one page,
A display step of displaying a plurality of image data laid out on one page to be output on a display means;
An instruction step for indicating a page area having low visibility from the plurality of image data displayed on the display means;
An image processing step for performing image processing on the image data of the page area with low visibility instructed by the instruction step;
An image processing method comprising: An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for outputting image data read from each original read from a multi-page original,
Display means for displaying image data to be output on the display means;
An instruction step for instructing a page with low visibility from the image data displayed on the display means;
A determination step of determining whether there is a page with low visibility in the image data to be output;
An image processing step of performing image processing on the image data of the page with low visibility when it is determined in the determination step that there is a page with low visibility;
An image processing method comprising:   The determination step determines visibility by comparing a preset profile of a reference image for determining an image with low visibility and a calculated value calculated from an object extracted from image data with low visibility. The image processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein:   The image processing method according to claim 21, wherein the profile includes the number of character points and image contrast.   The image processing method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the image processing step performs scaling image processing on image data of a page with low visibility.   24. The image processing method according to claim 23, wherein the magnification of the scaled image processing performed by the image processing step is set automatically or by a user.   21. The image processing method according to claim 17, wherein the image processing step outputs a specific page subjected to image processing and an original page subjected to non-image processing.   21. The image processing method according to claim 17, wherein the image processing step can switch between outputting a specific page subjected to image processing and an original page subjected to non-image processing. .   The image processing step outputs image data in a plurality of pages as they are when outputting a specific page subjected to image processing and an original page subjected to non-image processing. An image processing method according to claim 1.   In the image processing step, when outputting a specific page that has undergone image processing and an original page that has not been subjected to image processing, the image processing step outputs that page as a replacement page with comments generated in the image data area in the plurality of pages The image processing method according to claim 17, wherein the image processing method is characterized in that The determination step includes an influence degree determination step of determining whether each image data of another page of the same page is affected even if the magnification of the image data of the page with low visibility is changed,
The image processing method according to claim 17, wherein the image processing step performs image processing of a different mode on image data of a page with low visibility based on a determination result of the influence determination step.   30. The image processing method according to claim 29, wherein the image processing step outputs the image data of the page with low visibility as a separate page when the influence degree determination step determines that there is an influence.   30. The image processing method according to claim 29, wherein the image processing step outputs the image data of the page with low visibility by increasing the magnification when it is determined that the influence degree determination step has no influence. . If the determination step determines that the influence determination step has an effect, the image data of the other pages within the same page is reduced, and the magnification is increased. A convergence determination step for determining whether or not it fits within,
If the image processing step determines that the convergence determination step has no influence,
The image data of the page with low visibility is output with an increased magnification, and when the convergence determining step has an influence, the image data of the page with low visibility is output as a separate page. 30. The image processing method according to claim 29.   A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method according to claim 17. A program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method according to any one of claims 17 to 32.

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