JP2017062557A - Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress a reduction in reproducibility of a failure occurring in obfuscating a data file including document data and drawing instructions compared with a case where each of the drawing elements is replaced.SOLUTION: A print control device comprises: a page description language (PDL) analysis part 406 that sequentially extracts, from a data file including document data and a plurality of drawing instructions, drawing elements included in the drawing instructions; and an element reorganizing part 408 that adds an individual movement to drawing position information included in each of the drawing elements extracted by the PDL analysis part 406 so as to convert the drawing elements into drawing elements each having drawing position information different from the initial one.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and an image processing program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses that image data, character code, and graphics included in print data are different from the original image data, character code, and graphic for the purpose of reproducing the failure and preventing leakage of confidential information when a failure occurs. An image processing apparatus that replaces is disclosed.

JP 2007-334539 A

  When image processing such as drawing image generation and printing processing of data files including document data and drawing commands is performed, printing troubles such as command interpretation errors, graphic printing defects, and illegal character printing may occur. In that case, whether the cause is a printer driver, that is, an instruction generation system that converts graphic data into a drawing instruction sequence in vector data format and writes an image file, or creates a drawing image by interpreting the drawing instruction sequence (Raster Image Processing) It is necessary to specify the cause such as whether it is in the processing system or the communication path between the two.

  Failures and problems can be reproduced and analyzed by putting the same data that caused printing trouble in image processing into an analysis environment such as an image processing device or printing system. When a third party intervenes in the analysis, such as analysis in an analysis environment, the user is concerned about the possibility of leakage of confidential information such as personal information and trade secrets included in the data file.

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus in which when a data file including document data and a drawing command is obfuscated, a decrease in the reproducibility of a generated failure is less than in the case of replacing each drawing element. And an image processing program.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 is characterized in that an extraction unit that extracts a plurality of drawing elements from a data file including document data and a drawing command, and a plurality of extraction units extracted by the extraction unit. Moving means for moving the drawing element so that the relative drawing position of the drawing element is different from that before the movement.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, a raster format image included in the data file is extracted, and the extracted raster format image is replaced with a different image. It is characterized by that.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the second aspect, the replaced image is the same as the raster image before replacement, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, the color space, and each color component. It is characterized in that at least a part of attributes including the number of gradations and the compression format are made the same.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the plurality of character data included in the data file is extracted, and the movement amounts of the plurality of character data are different. And

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the moving means maintains the font information included in the character data when moving the character data. And

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, a plurality of line elements are extracted from a vector format image included in the data file, and the movement amounts of the plurality of line elements are extracted. Are different.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the moving means moves a drawing element that satisfies a predetermined condition. .

  The invention according to claim 8 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined condition is a drawing element located in a specific region designated by a user. .

  The invention according to claim 9 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined condition is a drawing element located outside a specific area designated by a user. .

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus is a drawing element to which attributes of a personal information such as a name, a telephone number, and a face photograph are given.

  The invention described in claim 11 is the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the moving means outputs a drawing command for drawing a drawing element that satisfies a predetermined condition. A drawing element that does not satisfy a predetermined condition is not output as a drawing command or is drawn without moving.

  In the image processing apparatus according to claim 11, when the image processing apparatus according to claim 11 includes a drawing element that is not output as a drawing command, a blank page is generated in the sample document file generated by the drawing command. Is characterized in that the blank page is deleted.

  The invention according to claim 13 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when the drawing element is outside the drawable range, the drawing element is outside the drawable range. The drawing element is moved so that the applied portion is directly outside the drawable range.

The invention of an image forming apparatus according to claim 14 is an extraction means for extracting a plurality of drawing elements from a data file including document data and a drawing command;
Moving means for moving the relative drawing positions of the plurality of drawing elements extracted by the extracting means to be different drawing positions from before the movement;
Output means for forming an image based on the data file;
It is characterized by providing.

The invention of the image processing program according to claim 15 is an extraction process for extracting a plurality of drawing elements from a data file including document data and a drawing command;
A movement process that moves so that a relative drawing position of the drawing elements extracted by the extraction process is different from the drawing position before the movement;
Is executed by a computer.

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, when obfuscating the data file including the document data and the drawing command, the reproducibility of the generated failure is compared with the case where each drawing element is replaced. It is possible to provide an image processing apparatus with a small decrease in image quality.

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus of the second aspect, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention of the first aspect, the data file including the raster format image is more difficult to read compared to the case where the image is not replaced. Can be

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus according to claim 3, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to claim 2, the raster format image is compared with the case of replacing the raster format image with an image having a different attribute. Decrease in the reproducibility of failures in data files containing images is reduced.

  According to the invention of the image processing device according to claim 4, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to claim 1, a data file including a plurality of character data is compared with a case where character data is not moved. Can be obfuscated.

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect obtained by the present invention according to the fourth aspect, the reproducibility of the problem or failure caused by the font type of the character data is maintained. be able to.

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus of the sixth aspect, in addition to the effect obtained by the present invention according to the first aspect, the data file including the vector format image is more difficult to read compared to the case where each line element is not moved. Can be

  According to the invention of the image processing device according to claim 7, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the drawing element for performing the movement process is selectively designated. Can do.

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus according to the eighth aspect, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to the seventh aspect, the drawing element can be moved for a specific region in the page.

  According to the invention of the image processing device according to claim 9, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to claim 7, it is possible not to perform the moving process only for the drawing elements in a specific region in the page. it can.

  According to the invention of the image processing apparatus according to claim 10, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to claim 7, the drawing element including personal information such as a name, a telephone number, and a face photograph is not moved. Can be obfuscated compared to.

  According to the invention of the image processing device according to claim 11, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to any one of claims 7 to 9, only specific information included in the data file is moved, Other information can remain or be deleted.

  According to the image processing apparatus of the twelfth aspect, in addition to the effect obtained by the present invention according to the eleventh aspect, when a blank page is generated by the movement of the drawing element, the blank page can be deleted. it can.

  According to the invention of the image processing device according to claim 13, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention according to claim 4, the reproducibility of problems and failures in the data file including the drawing elements that are outside the drawing range. Can be maintained.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the fourteenth aspect, when the data file including the document data and the drawing command is obfuscated, the reproducibility of the generated failure is compared with the case where each drawing element is replaced. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus in which the decrease in the image quality is small.

  According to the image processing program of the present invention, when the data file including the document data and the drawing command is obfuscated, the reproducibility of the generated failure is compared with the case where each drawing element is replaced. It is possible to provide an image processing program in which the decrease in image quality is small.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining processing for processing print document data by the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1A illustrates a document 1A before processing the print document data, and FIG. Shows an example of the document 1B after the processing of the print document data. FIG. 2 is an overall schematic diagram showing the image processing system. FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the print control apparatus. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the print control apparatus. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the PDL analysis processing in the PDL analysis unit. FIG. 6 shows an example of an element array unit that sequentially stores individual drawing elements acquired by the PDL analysis unit when no drawing elements are specified. FIG. 7 shows a state in which a plurality of different types of drawing elements are stored in the storage area of the element array unit by the processing by the PDL analysis unit. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the agitation movement process for each drawing element in the element reorganization unit. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the linear element agitation movement process by the element reorganization unit. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method for calculating the amount of stirring movement. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for calculating the amount of stirring movement in which each drawing element can move within a page of paper. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the curve element agitation movement process by the element reorganization unit. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the character element agitation movement process by the element reorganization unit. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the agitation movement process of the area painting element by the element reorganization unit. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the image element stirring and moving process by the element reorganization unit.

  First, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the outline of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining processing for processing print document data by the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1A illustrates a document 1A before processing the print document data, and FIG. Shows an example of the document 1B when the document after processing the print document data, that is, the sample document file after the drawing element agitation movement processing is printed.

  As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the print document data includes various types of drawing elements. That is, the document 1A before processing in FIG. 1A includes three types of elements: character (character string) data 2A, raster format image data 3A, and graphic object data 4A drawn in vector format. . These character (character string) data 2A, image data 3A, and graphic object data 4A may include personal information and trade secret information. Therefore, if print document data including such information is taken out for the purpose of failure analysis of print processing, confidential information may be leaked. Therefore, the image processing apparatus of the present invention processes the character string data 2A, image data 3A, and graphic object data 4A included in the print document data into an unreadable state as shown in FIG. Prevents confidential information contained in document data from leaking outside.

  Specifically, the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment performs stirring movement, that is, irregularly rearranging the character string data 2A included in the original image 1A of the print document data while maintaining the original character information (2B). ). The original character information includes, for example, a character font, a character size, a character code, and the like. The raster format image data 3A included in the original image 1A of the print document data is image data different from the image, but is replaced with a test image 3B having the same or similar attribute as the image data 3A. Move to a different position from the beginning. Further, the graphic object data 4B is generated by randomly moving the drawing positions of the line elements constituting the graphic object data 4A drawn in the vector format included in the original image 1A of the print document data for each line element. . As a result, the drawing position of each drawing element changes relatively.

  Next, the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an overall schematic diagram showing the image processing system 20. The image processing system 20 includes a terminal device 22, a print control device 24 as an image processing device of the present invention, a printing device 26 as an output means of the present invention, and a network 28. The terminal device 22 is connected to the print control device 24 via a network 28 such as a LAN or WAN. The print control device 24 is connected to the printing device 26. The print control device 24 may be directly connected to the terminal device 22. Furthermore, the print control device 24 may be built in the printing device 26 or may be configured to be included in the terminal device 22. In the following description, the print control device 24 is described as being configured separately from the terminal device 22 and the printing device 26.

  The terminal device 22 is a computer, and for example, character string data, raster format image data, and vector format graphic object data as described in FIG. 1A by an application program running on the computer. Create a print document containing When a user designates an output device such as the print control device 24 and executes a print instruction, an application program or a printer driver creates a print job composed of print document data in a page description language (hereinafter referred to as PDL) format. And output to the print control device 24 via the network 28. The print document data in the PDL format is, for example, a Postscript (registered trademark) file.

  Upon receiving a print job, the print control device 24 interprets PDL format print document data included therein, converts it into raster image format image data, and outputs it to the print device 26. The printing device 26 forms the image data received from the print control device 24 as an actual image on a recording medium such as a paper surface, that is, prints it.

  The internal configuration of the print control device 24 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the print control apparatus 24, and FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the print control apparatus 24.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the print control device 24 includes a CPU 241, a memory 242, a storage device 243, a communication interface (IF) 244, a user interface (UI) device 245, and an engine interface (IF) 246. Connected by a bus 247. The operation of each unit of the print control device 24 is realized as processing of each unit described in FIG. 4 by executing a program stored in the storage device 243 in a nonvolatile manner in the CPU 241.

  The communication interface 244 controls data transmission / reception between the print control device 24 and the network 28. The user interface device 245 is composed of a display device such as a liquid crystal panel and an input device such as a touch panel arranged on the surface thereof, and a user gives an operation instruction using the input device while visually recognizing information displayed on the display device. Input. The engine interface 246 controls data transmission / reception between the printing control device 24 and the printing device 26.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the print control device 24 includes a job receiving unit 401, a job holding unit 402, a job managing unit 403, a raster image creating unit 404, an error determining unit 405, a PDL analyzing unit 406, an element arranging unit 407, The element reorganization unit 408, the input operation unit 409, the display unit 410, and the output unit 411 are configured to perform operations.

  The job receiving unit 401 receives a print job including a data file in the PDL format from the terminal device 22 via the network 28 and stores it in the job holding unit 402. The job holding unit 402 stores the data file stored by the job receiving unit 401.

  The job management unit 403 stores the print job name in association with the user name, data file name, print job reception time, and job status, and retrieves the data file from the print job holding unit 402 to create a raster image. Part (RIP) 404. In addition, when an error report is received from the error determination unit 405 regarding a specific print job, an instruction to stop processing of the corresponding print job is output to the raster image creation unit 404, or a data file of the corresponding print job is output. The data is taken out from the job holding unit 402 and output to the PDL analysis unit 406.

  The raster image creation unit 404 interprets the PDL format document data included in the data file to generate a pixel unit raster image, and temporarily stores it in the memory 242 and the storage device 243, or in real time via the output unit 411. To the printer 26. The error determination unit 405 detects an error that has occurred in the raster image creation unit 404. In other words, when it is determined that the data file cannot be interpreted, or when the time required for interpretation of the data file exceeds a preset time, an error occurrence is output to the job management unit 403 and applicable. The job name is notified to the PDL analysis unit 406.

  The PDL analysis unit 406 acquires the data file of the print job in which an error has occurred from the job holding unit 402, analyzes the contents of the data file in the PDL format, and performs individual drawing based on the drawing command included in the data file The elements are sequentially extracted, and the individual drawing elements are sequentially transmitted to the element array unit 407. The element array unit 407 is a data storage area configured in a linear list or a queue format, and each drawing element extracted from the data file by the PDL analysis unit 406 is stored at the end of the storage area one by one. Then, the element reorganization unit 408 takes it out from the head of the linear list or queue.

  The element reorganization unit 408 takes out the drawing element from the element array unit 407, and adds the individual movement amount to the drawing position information included in the drawing element, whereby the drawing position information of the drawing element is different from the initial value. The drawing command for drawing the drawing element including the changed drawing position information is written out to the processed sample document file, and is stored in the memory 242 and the storage unit 243. I will remember it. The processed sample document file is also in the PDL format, like the original data file.

  The input operation unit 409 and the display unit 410 are realized by the above-described user interface device 245. The display unit 410 displays information related to the print job held in the job holding unit 402, and the user displays the information. A print execution instruction is input by selecting an arbitrary print job from the input operation unit 409, or an error output from the error determination unit 405 is displayed by the display unit 410, and the input operation unit 409 displays the error. An instruction to process the data file of the print job corresponding to this error is input.

  The output unit 411 outputs the raster image data created by the raster image creation unit 404 to the printing apparatus 26. Further, the output unit 411 outputs the processed sample document file created by the element reorganization unit 408 to the terminal device 22 or the like via the network 28. Alternatively, the processed sample document file may be re-output to the job receiving unit 401 as a processed print job.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, the PDL analysis unit 406 analyzes the contents of the data file of the print job in which an error has occurred, extracts individual drawing elements, and stores them in the element arrangement unit 407. The flow of processing will be described. FIG. 5 shows an example of the element array unit 407 that sequentially stores the individual drawing elements acquired by the PDL analysis unit 406 when no drawing elements are specified. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the PDL analysis processing in the PDL analysis unit 406. This processing is performed when the error determination unit 405 detects that an error has occurred in the raster image creation unit 404 or when the user uses the user interface 245. When the operation is instructed to execute the element re-editing process, the PDL analysis unit 406 executes the processing after acquiring the data file of the target print job from the job holding unit 402. FIG. 7 shows an example when a plurality of different types of drawing elements are stored in the element array unit 407 by the PDL analysis unit 406.

  First, the configuration of the element array unit 407 that stores drawing elements transmitted from the PDL analysis unit 406 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the element array unit 407 has a structure such as a linear list or a queue, and includes a plurality of storage areas 1 to n. Each drawing element transmitted by the PDL analysis unit 406 is input to the storage areas from the end and stored in the storage areas 1 to n. The respective drawing elements stored in the storage areas 1 to n are now referred to as drawing elements 1 to n. These drawing elements 1 to n are taken out from the head of the element array unit by the element reorganization unit 408. When the drawing element 1 stored in the first storage area 1 is taken out by the element reorganization unit 408, the drawing element 2 stored in the storage area 2 moves to the storage area 1 and similarly stored in the storage area 3 The drawn drawing element 3 moves to the storage area 2, and the drawing element n stored in the storage area n moves to the storage area (n-1).

  In step S601 of FIG. 6, the PDL analysis unit 406 determines whether or not the processing has been completed for all the words / phrases from the data file of the target print job. If the processing for all the words has been completed, the processing ends. If it is determined that the processing has not been completed for all the tokens, the process advances to step S602 to sequentially extract unprocessed drawing instruction tokens from the data file of the target job.

  In step S603, the PDL analysis unit 406 determines whether a drawing setting command is included in the drawn drawing instruction token. Here, the drawing setting command includes, for example, a line width designation command and a line type designation command. When it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes a drawing setting command, the process proceeds to step S604, and information corresponding to the content of the drawing setting command is added to the end of the element array unit 407 as a drawing setting element. The process returns to step S601.

  If it is determined in step S603 that the drawing instruction token extracted from the data file of the target print job does not include a drawing setting instruction, the process proceeds to step S605, and whether the extracted drawing instruction token includes a path stroke instruction. Determine whether or not. The path stroke command includes coordinate information of a line element such as a straight line or a curve constituting a vector-type graphic object, and a straight line drawing command or a curved drawing command. If it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes a path stroke command, the process proceeds to step S606, and information on each element constituting a straight line or a curve, that is, the information is decomposed into line elements and the information. Are added to the end of the element array unit 407 one by one as linear elements or curved elements. Thereafter, the process returns to step S601.

  If it is determined in step S605 that the drawing instruction token extracted from the data file of the target print job does not include a pass stroke command, the process proceeds to step S607, and whether or not the extracted drawing instruction token is a character string drawing command. Determine. The character string drawing command includes position coordinate information of the first character of the character string, font, character size, character string information, and the like. The PDL analysis unit 406 calculates a bounding box for each character based on the font, size, and character code of the character, and adds it to the end of the element array unit 407 as a character element for each character. Thereafter, the process returns to step S601.

  If it is determined in step S607 that the drawing instruction token extracted from the data file of the target print job does not include the character string drawing instruction, the process proceeds to step S609, and the extracted drawing instruction token includes the raster image drawing instruction. It is determined whether or not. If it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes a raster image drawing command, the process proceeds to step S610, and the corresponding image information is added to the end of the element array unit 407 as an image element. This image information includes the origin coordinates of the image, width, height, number of bits per pixel, number of color components per pixel, color space, file compression format, image data itself, image data storage location and file Name etc. are included. After the process of step S610, the process returns to step S601.

  If it is determined in step S609 that the drawing instruction token extracted from the target data file does not include the raster image drawing instruction, the process proceeds to step S611, and whether or not the extracted drawing instruction token includes a page discharge instruction. Determine. If it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes a page discharge command, the process proceeds to the process of step S612, and is added to the end of the element array unit 407 as a page discharge element corresponding to the content of the page discharge command. The process returns to S601.

  If it is determined in step S611 that the drawing instruction lexical extracted from the target data file does not include a page discharge command, the process proceeds to step S613, and it is determined whether the extracted drawing instruction lexical includes a color designation command. judge. If it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes a color designation command, the process advances to step S614 to create a corresponding color designation element and add it to the end of the element array unit 407. The color designation element includes information on the color space included in the color designation command and a color value in the color space. Thereafter, the process returns to step S601.

  If it is determined in step S613 that the drawing instruction lexical extracted from the target data file does not include a color designation command, the process proceeds to step S615 to determine whether the extracted drawing instruction lexical includes a page setting command. judge. If it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes a page setting command, the process advances to step S616 to create a page setting element corresponding to the content of the page setting command and add it to the end of the element array unit 407. To do. The page setting element includes, for example, information such as a paper size, a paper color, and the number of copies. Thereafter, the process returns to step S601.

  If it is determined in step S615 that the drawing instruction token extracted from the target data file does not include the page setting command, the process proceeds to step S617, and it is determined whether the extracted drawing instruction token includes an area filling command. judge. If it is determined that the extracted drawing instruction token includes an area filling command, the process proceeds to step S618.

  In the process of step S618, a line element that forms a path serving as the outline of the paint area, that is, area fill element type data composed of a straight line or a curve is generated, and the process proceeds to step S619. In step S619, a bounding box including a path element serving as a contour of the fill area is calculated, and information on the lower left coordinates and upper right coordinates of the bounding box is added to the fill element type data, and the process proceeds to step S620. In the process of step S620, the fill element type data including the path information and the bounding box information serving as the outline of the fill area is added to the end of the element array unit 407, and the process returns to the process of step S601.

  If it is determined that the drawing lexical command fetched from the target data file does not include the area filling command in the process of step S617, the process proceeds to the process of step S621 and includes an undefined or unsupported command. Is output to the output unit 411, and the process is terminated. Alternatively, an error message element that includes an undefined or unsupported instruction may be added to the end of the element array 407.

  FIG. 7 shows a state in which a plurality of different types of drawing elements 1 to 12 are stored in the storage areas 1 to 12 of the element arrangement unit 407 by the above-described processing by the PDL analysis unit 406. Among these, the storage area 1 stores “thickness 5 pt” which is the content of the line width designation command as the drawing element 1. In the storage area 2 to the storage area 5, the straight line elements 2 to 5 are stored as the drawing elements 2 to 5. Each straight line element includes a start point coordinate and an end point coordinate of the straight line. In the storage area 6, a curve element is stored as the drawing element 6. The curve element 6 includes a start point coordinate, an end point coordinate, a control point coordinate for designating a tangent at the start point of the curve, and a control point coordinate for designating a tangent at the end point of the curve, and these four control points are designated. Can draw a Bezier curve.

  In the storage area 7, character elements are stored as the drawing elements 7. This character element includes character drawing coordinates, character code, character size, and character font information. The character elements are decomposed into character units by the PDL analysis unit. The storage area 8 stores raster format image elements as the drawing elements 8. This image element includes the origin coordinates of the image, the magnification, the width and height of the image, the number of bits per pixel, the number of color components per pixel, the color space, the file compression format, the image data file name, or the image data When the file is acquired from another location, that is, from outside the print control device 24, information such as a storage location is included.

  In the storage area 9, a color designation element is stored as the drawing element 9. This specifies that the subsequent drawing elements are executed with the color specified here, and includes, for example, the color space and information on the specified color in the color space. In the storage area 10, a page discharge command is stored as the drawing element 10. Further, a page setting element is stored in the storage area 11 as the drawing element 11. The page setting element includes information on paper size, paper color, and number of copies. In the storage area 12, an area filling element is stored as the drawing element 12. This area fill element includes information such as the lower left and upper right position coordinates of the bounding box indicating the position of the entire area fill element, the start and end coordinates of each of the multiple paths that make up the outline of the area, and control points. It is.

  Next, the stirring movement process for each drawing element in the element reorganization unit 408 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the agitation movement process for each drawing element in the element reorganization unit 408. First, in step S801, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is empty. That is, if the head storage area of the element array unit 407 is empty, the process is terminated. If the head storage area of the element array part 407 is not empty, the process proceeds to step S802, and the process proceeds to step S802. A drawing element is extracted from the storage area 1. At this time, the element array unit 407 moves up the drawing elements stored in the second and subsequent storage areas, and stores them in the first and subsequent storage areas.

  In step S <b> 803, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element array unit 407 is a drawing setting element. Here, the drawing setting element includes line width setting information and line type setting information. If it is determined in step S803 that the drawing element is a drawing setting element, the process proceeds to step S804, a drawing setting command corresponding to the drawing setting element is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. If it is determined in step S803 that the drawing element is not a drawing setting element, the process proceeds to step S805.

  In the processing of step S805, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a linear element. If it is determined that the element is a straight line element, the process proceeds to step S806, where the element reorganization unit 408 changes the numerical value of the start point coordinate and the end point coordinate of the straight line element to be different from the current position, The straight line element drawing command including the processed position coordinates is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. The numerical value changing process will be described later. If it is determined in step S805 that the drawing element is not a straight line element, the process proceeds to step S807.

  In the process of step S807, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a curve element. If it is determined that the element is a curve element, the process proceeds to step S808, and the element reorganization unit 408 controls the start point coordinates and end point coordinates of the curve element and the control point coordinates specifying the tangent at the start point of the curve, the end point of the curve The numerical value of the control point coordinates for designating the tangent at is changed to a value different from the current position, and the curve element drawing command including the processed position coordinates is written to the sample document file, and the process of step S801 is performed. Return to. If it is determined in step S807 that the drawing element is not a curved element, the process proceeds to step S809.

  In the processing of step S809, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a page discharge element. If it is determined that it is a page discharge element, the process proceeds to step S810, a page discharge command corresponding to the contents of the page discharge element is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. If it is determined in step S809 that the drawing element is not a page discharge element, the process proceeds to step S811.

  In the process of step S811, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a character element. If it is determined to be a character element, the process proceeds to step S812, where the position coordinates of the character element are changed for each character so as to be different from the current position, and the position coordinates after the stirring movement process are changed. The character drawing command including it is written in the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. At this time, only the information on the position coordinates is changed by the element reorganization unit 408, and the information on the font and size of the character is not changed and is maintained. If it is determined in step S812 that the drawing element is not a character element, the process proceeds to step S813.

  In step S813, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a raster image element. If it is determined that the image element is in the raster format, the process proceeds to step S814, where the element reorganization unit 408 obtains a replacement image based on the information included in the image element and sets the position coordinates of the image to the current position. Is set to a different value, and the processed image rendering command is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. The replacement image has the same or similar attribute as the original image. Attributes that are the same or similar to the original image include, for example, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, the color space, the number of gradations for each color component, the compression format, and the like. This is a replacement image. This replacement image is obtained by the element reorganization unit 408 from the image file stored in the storage device 243, or from the location other than the print control device 24 such as the terminal device 22 or other external device via the network 28. It is acquired by specifying the number of pixels, the color space, the number of gradations for each color component, the compression format, and the like. Alternatively, the replacement image may be automatically generated in the print control device 24 with reference to attribute information such as the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, the color space, the number of gradations for each color component, and the compression format. good. If it is determined in step S813 that the drawing element is not an image element, the process proceeds to step S815.

  In step S815, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a color designation element. If it is determined that the element is a color designation element, the process proceeds to step S816, a color designation command corresponding to the content of the color designation element is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. If it is determined in step S815 that the drawing element is not a color designation element, the process proceeds to step S817.

  In the process of step S817, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is a page setting element. If it is determined that it is a page setting element, the process proceeds to step S818, a page setting command corresponding to the contents of the page setting element is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. If it is determined in step S817 that the drawing element is not a page setting element, the process proceeds to step S819.

  In step S819, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is an area painting element. If it is determined that it is an area painting element, the process proceeds to the process of step S820, and the position agitation movement process with respect to the area painting element, that is, the position of the area painting element is set to a position different from the current position. The paint area command including the processed position coordinates is written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S801. If it is determined in step S819 that the drawing element is not a region filling element, the process proceeds to step S821.

  In the processing of step S821, the element reorganization unit 408 gives an error if the drawing element extracted from the top storage area of the element arrangement unit 407 is undefined (unsupported) or is an error message element. The data is output to the display unit 410, and the process ends. Alternatively, an instruction for printing an error message may be written to the sample document file and reflected in the print result of the sample document file.

  Next, in the processing of step S806, the element reorganization unit 408 changes the numerical values of the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates of the linear element so as to be different from the current position, and the linear element including the changed position coordinates The process of writing the drawing command to the sample document file will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the agitation movement process of the linear elements by the element reorganization unit 408, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a calculation method of the agitation movement amount, and FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the calculation method of the amount of stirring movement which can be moved by.

In the process of step S901 in FIG. 9, the element reorganization unit 408 determines the bounding box, that is, the coordinates that are the outer frame of the figure to be operated, based on the start point coordinates and end point coordinates of the linear elements extracted from the element array unit 407. calculate. Specifically, the lower left coordinates (llx, ly) and upper right coordinates (urx, ury) of the bounding box are calculated from the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates of the linear element. For example, in FIG. 10, if the starting point coordinates of the linear element 1000A before stirring and moving are C ₀ and the end point coordinates are C ₁ , the lower left coordinates of the bounding box of the linear elements are (llx, lyy), and the upper right coordinates are (urx, ury). It becomes.

Next, in step S902, based on the position coordinates of the bounding box, the amount of movement of the linear element within the recording medium on which the image is actually formed, that is, the page of the sheet, is set as the amount of stirring movement (sx, sy). calculate. The amount of movement differs for each drawing element. A method for calculating the amount of stirring movement will be described later with reference to FIG. Next, in step S903, the amount of stirring movement is reflected in the first start point coordinates and end point coordinates of the linear element. For example, in the case of the linear element in FIG. 10, the start point coordinates C ₀ ′ of the linear element 1000B after the agitation movement are (llx + sx, ly + sy), and the end point coordinates C ₁ ′ are (urx + sx, ury + sy). Thereafter, a drawing command for drawing a straight line between the start point coordinate and the end point coordinate of the straight line element after the stirring movement is written in the sample document file, and the process is ended.

  A method of calculating the stirring movement amount (sx, sy) in which the linear element can move in step S902 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in step S1101 in FIG. 11, the lower left coordinates (llx, lyy) and upper right coordinates (urx, ury) of the bounding box are received as arguments. In step S1102, a random number nx in a range of 0 <nx <page width− (urx−llx) is generated. That is, a random number having a smaller value than (page width−bounding box width) is generated. Similarly, in step 1103, a random number ny in the range of 0 <ny <page height− (urly−ly) is generated. That is, a random number having a value smaller than (the height of the page−the height of the bounding box) is generated.

  Next, in step S1104, the amount of stirring movement (sx, sy) of the bounding box is calculated. The agitation movement amount of the bounding box is calculated by subtracting the lower left coordinates (llx, ly) of the bounding box from the random number values (nx, ny) calculated in steps S1102 and S1103. Next, the process proceeds to step S1105, where the agitation movement amount (sx, sy) of the bounding box is returned as a return value, and the process ends. In step S903 of FIG. 9, the agitation movement amount is set to the position coordinates of each drawing element. To reflect.

  Next, in the process of step S808 of FIG. 8, the element reorganization unit 408 changes each position coordinate of the curve element to a value different from the current position, and draws the curve element including the changed position coordinate. Processing for writing the command to the sample document file will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the curve element agitation movement process by the element reorganization unit 408.

  In the processing of step S1201 in FIG. 12, the element reorganization unit 408 sets the start point coordinates, end point coordinates, control points that define the tangent line to the start point, and control points that define the tangent line to the end point of the curved element extracted from the element array unit 407 Create a coordinate array. In step S1202, the lower left coordinates (llx, ly) and upper right coordinates (urx, ury) of the bounding box are calculated based on the coordinate arrangement of these control points. Next, in the process of step S1203, the amount of stirring movement (sx, sy) of this curve element is calculated. The calculation method of the stirring movement amount is the same as the calculation method of the stirring movement amount with respect to the linear element described in FIG.

  In the subsequent step S1204, the calculated amount of stirring movement is reflected on the start point coordinates, end point coordinates of the curve element, and the coordinate values of the control points that define the tangents to the start point and the end point, respectively. That is, the stirring movement amounts sx and sy are added to the respective x and y coordinates. In step S1205, a curve drawing command reflecting the start point, end point, and coordinate values of each control point after the agitation movement is written to the sample document file, and the process ends.

  Next, in the process of step S812 in FIG. 8, the element reorganization unit 408 changes each position coordinate of the character element to a value different from the current position, and draws the character element including the changed position coordinate. Processing for writing the command to the sample document file will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the character element agitation movement process by the element reorganization unit 408.

  In the process of step S1301 in FIG. 13, the element reorganization unit 408 performs the lower left coordinate (llx, llx, lly) and upper right coordinates (urx, ury). Next, in step S1302, the stirring movement amount (sx, sy) of this character element is calculated. The calculation method of the stirring movement amount is the same as the calculation method of the stirring movement amount with respect to the linear element described in FIG. In step S1303, the calculated stirring movement amount is reflected on the coordinate value of the character element. That is, the value obtained by adding the stirring movement amount (sx, sy) to the coordinates of the character element is used as the coordinate value after the stirring movement, and a command for drawing characters of the same font, size, and character code is sampled here. Write to a document file and end the process.

  Next, in the process of step S820 in FIG. 8, the element reorganization unit 408 changes the position coordinates of each control point of the area filling element to a value different from the current position, and includes the changed position coordinates. The process of writing the area filling element drawing command to the sample document will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the agitation movement process of the area painting element by the element reorganization unit 408.

  In step S1401, the element reorganization unit 408 calculates the agitation movement amount (sx, sy) of the bounding box based on the position coordinates of the bounding box of the area filling element type data extracted from the element arrangement unit 407. The calculation method of the stirring movement amount is the same as the calculation method of the stirring movement amount with respect to the linear element described in FIG. Next, in step S1402, it is determined whether or not the region fill element type data path stored in the element array unit 407 is empty, that is, whether or not the processing has been completed for all the paths constituting the region fill element. To do. When it is determined that the path of the area filling element type data is not empty, in step S1403, the path elements are extracted one by one, and in step S1404, the agitation movement amount (sx, sy) is determined by each control point constituting the path. Is reflected in the position coordinate value, and written to the sample document file, and the process returns to step S1402.

  If it is determined in step S1402 that the path of the area fill element type data stored in the element array unit 407 is empty, the process proceeds to step S1405 to write the area fill command to the sample document file, and the process ends. To do.

  Next, in the process of step S814 in FIG. 8, the element reorganization unit 408 changes each position coordinate of the raster-format image element to a position different from the current position, and an image including the changed position coordinates. Processing for writing an element drawing command to a sample document file will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the image element stirring and moving process by the element reorganization unit 408.

  In step S1501, the element reorganization unit 408 determines the lower left corner of the bounding box based on information such as the origin coordinates, width, height, and number of bits per pixel included in the image element extracted from the element arrangement unit 407. Coordinates (llx, ly) and upper right coordinates (urx, ury) are calculated. Next, in step S1502, the stirring movement amount (sx, sy) of the image element is calculated. The calculation method of the stirring movement amount is the same as the calculation method of the stirring movement amount with respect to the linear element described in FIG.

  In step S1503, a replacement image corresponding to the image element is acquired from the storage device 243, or from the terminal device 22 or another device via the network 28. The replacement image acquired at this time is the same as the original image in width, height, number of bits per pixel, number of color components per pixel, color space, compression format, or any one or more elements Image.

  In step S1504, the amount of stirring movement is reflected, that is, added to the origin of the image element, and a command and image data for drawing a replacement image at this position are written in the sample document file, and the process ends.

  The stirring movement processing of each drawing element described above is performed for all drawing elements included in the document before processing, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and is included in each drawing element. In the process of changing the drawing position information to be different from the initial position information, that is, the stirring movement process, the stirring movement process may be performed only on the drawing elements that satisfy a predetermined specific condition. For example, the user may be able to instruct whether or not to perform the stirring movement process for a specific area of the document before processing. Specifically, the image data of the unprocessed document converted into the raster image by the raster image creation unit 404 is displayed on the display unit 410, and the user operates the input operation unit 409 to specify a specific range, The stirring movement process may be performed only on the drawing elements existing within the designated range.

  In that case, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the bounding box of the drawing element is located within the specified range when performing the stirring movement process of each drawing element. When the bounding box is located within the specified range, the stirring movement process of the drawing element is executed. When the bounding box of the drawing element is located outside the specified range, the drawing element The stirring movement process is not executed, that is, the corresponding drawing command is written to the sample document file without changing the position information of the drawing element. Or, conversely, the stirring movement process is performed only for the drawing elements that exist outside the specific range designated by the user, and the stirring movement process is performed for the drawing elements that exist within the specific range. You may make it not break. In that case, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the bounding box of the drawing element is within the specified range when performing the stirring movement process of each drawing element, When the bounding box of the element is located outside the specified range, the drawing element agitation movement processing is executed, and when the bounding box of the drawing element is located within the specified range, the drawing element The stirring movement process is not performed.

  In this way, the user can determine whether or not to perform the agitation movement process for each drawing element from the input operation unit 409, in addition to instructing whether or not to perform the agitation movement process by designating a specific region. You may make it possible to designate, or to designate for every kind of drawing element. In that case, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not the drawing element is the drawing element designated by the user or the type of drawing designated by the user when performing the stirring movement process of each drawing element. It is determined whether or not it is an element, and the stirring movement process is executed or not executed based on the determination.

  For example, when the user can specify drawing elements including attributes of personal information such as a name, a phone number, and a face photograph as a condition for executing the stirring movement process, and the user selects those drawing elements, the personal information The stirring movement process may be executed only for the drawing elements including Specifically, as a document to be agitated, there is a questionnaire sheet composed of a specific form and personal information input therein, for example, a frame, a question, an answer, a name, and the like. In this case, the drawing elements constituting the frame may be left as they are without performing the stirring movement process, and the stirring movement process may be performed on the other drawing elements.

  When it is specified that only a specific drawing element is to be stirred and moved, all other drawing elements may be erased and not reflected in the sample document file. That is, a specific drawing element designated by the user or a drawing element other than a specific type of drawing element is not output as a corresponding drawing command. That is, the drawing elements are not changed to corresponding drawing commands, and are not written to the sample document file. In that case, all the drawing elements of a specific page may disappear and a blank page may be generated. In such a case, a blank page that no longer includes the drawing element may be deleted. Specifically, when the element reorganization unit 408 takes out the page discharge element from the element arrangement unit 407, the element reorganization unit 408 determines whether or not any drawing command is included in this page. Write page initialization command to sample document file instead of page discharge command.

  Although the method for specifying the specific range for determining whether to perform the stirring movement process, the specific drawing element, and the type of the drawing element from the input operation unit 409 has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the image data of the document converted into the raster image by the raster image creating unit 404 is displayed on the terminal device 22 via the network 28, and the user can select a specific range and a specific drawing element on the terminal device 22. Alternatively, the type of drawing element may be specified.

  Furthermore, when a part of the drawing element is outside the drawable range, the drawing position information is changed so that the part that is outside the drawable range of the drawing element is outside the drawable range. It may be. For example, by comparing the position information of the bounding box of the drawing element and the position information of the paper, it is possible to determine whether or not the drawing element protrudes from the drawable range and which part protrudes. As a result, when a part of the drawing element is outside the drawable range, the drawing element that is outside the drawing range can be moved while maintaining the drawing range. In the case of a drawing element that cannot be separated inside and outside the drawing range, the drawing element is not moved. As a result, even if there is a drawing element that falls outside the drawable range, within the drawable range, it is possible to move a movable drawing element that falls outside the drawable range while maintaining the drawing content. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the print job is exemplified for a PDL format such as PostScript (registered trademark), but the present invention is not limited to this, and a PDF (Portable Document Format: registered trademark) or the like is used. It can also be applied to other types of document files.

Claims (15)

Extraction means for extracting a plurality of drawing elements from a data file including document data and drawing instructions;
Moving means for moving the relative drawing positions of the plurality of drawing elements extracted by the extracting means to be different drawing positions from before the movement;
An image processing apparatus comprising: Extracting a raster format image contained in the data file and replacing the extracted raster format image with a different image;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The image after replacement is the same as the raster format image before replacement with at least a part of the attributes including the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, the color space, the number of gradations for each color component, and the compression format.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 2. Extracting a plurality of character data contained in the data file, the movement amount of the plurality of character data is different,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The moving means maintains the font information included in the character data when moving the character data;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4. A plurality of line elements are extracted from the vector format image included in the data file, and the movement amounts of the plurality of line elements are different.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving unit moves a drawing element that satisfies a predetermined condition.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined condition is a drawing element located in a specific area designated by a user.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined condition is a drawing element located outside a specific area designated by a user.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined condition is a drawing element to which attributes of personal information such as a name, a telephone number, and a face photograph are given.   10. The moving means outputs as a drawing command for drawing a drawing element that satisfies a predetermined condition, and draws a drawing element that does not satisfy the predetermined condition as a drawing command without being moved or moved. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above.   12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when a drawing element that is not output as a drawing command is included and a blank page is generated in the sample document file generated by the drawing command, the blank page is deleted.   The drawing element is moved so that a portion of the drawing element that is outside the drawable range is directly outside the drawable range when the drawing element is outside the drawable range. Image processing apparatus. Extraction means for extracting a plurality of drawing elements from a data file including document data and drawing instructions;
Moving means for moving the relative drawing positions of the plurality of drawing elements extracted by the extracting means to be different drawing positions from before the movement;
Output means for forming an image based on the data file;
An image forming apparatus comprising: An extraction process for extracting a plurality of drawing elements from a data file including document data and drawing instructions;
A movement process that moves so that a relative drawing position of the drawing elements extracted by the extraction process is different from the drawing position before the movement;
An image processing program for causing a computer to execute.

Images