JP4848920B2 - Image management apparatus, image management apparatus control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image management apparatus, a control method for the image management apparatus, and a program, and more particularly to a technique for reducing the data size of an image.

  A storage device such as a memory or a hard disk cannot store data having a size exceeding its free capacity. For this reason, when the free space is insufficient, it is necessary to erase or compress unnecessary files to ensure the required free space.

In this regard, in Patent Document 1 below, when the size of data to be stored exceeds the free capacity of the storage device, data with an old storage period or data with low importance is reduced (compressed), or is transferred to another device. A technique for automatically increasing the free capacity of a storage device by transferring data is disclosed.
JP 2005-173949 A

  However, in a conventional image management apparatus that stores image data in a storage device, if the image data is compressed as it is, the resolution and gradation of the image deteriorates, and the specificity of the image data decreases. Further, if image data is deleted from the storage device by moving to another storage device or the like, the image data cannot be specified thereafter.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and can maintain an image storage area free space while maintaining image specificity, an image management apparatus control method, and The purpose is to provide a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image management apparatus according to the present invention is an image management apparatus that includes a storage unit that stores an image group composed of one or a plurality of images, and that detects a free space of the storage unit. Capacity detecting means, specific image selecting means for selecting at least one image including information for specifying the image group from the image group as a specific image, and the free capacity detected by the free capacity detecting means is less than a predetermined value If it is, for at least some of the image groups stored in the storage means, data of images other than the specific images selected by the specific image selection means among a plurality of images constituting each image group And a data size reduction means for reducing the size.

  According to the present invention, when the free capacity of the storage unit is less than the predetermined value, at least a part of the image group stored in the storage unit is selected as an image group to be processed. Among the one or more images constituting each image group, the specific image including information (keywords, characteristic charts, etc.) effective for specifying the image group is not subjected to any processing. Only the images other than are processed to reduce the data size. For this reason, it is possible to secure the free capacity of the storage means while maintaining the image specificity.

  The one or more images constituting each image group are generated from one or more images that have undergone predetermined image processing, and the storage means associates the image group with the image group, and Log information indicating the content of image processing is further stored, and the specific image selection unit reads log information associated with the image group from the storage unit and responds to the content of image processing indicated by the read log information. Then, the specific image may be selected from the image group. In this way, when the image group is generated from one or a plurality of images that have undergone some kind of image processing, a specific image can be selected more appropriately according to the type of the image processing. For example, in a fax document, the first page is a destination sheet, and important messages are often included in the second and subsequent pages. Therefore, when a certain image group is related to a document transmitted by fax, images corresponding to the first page and the second page of the image group can be selected as specific images.

  Further, the data size reduction means reads out log information associated with each image group from the storage means for the at least some image groups, and according to the contents of image processing indicated by the read log information. Thus, the data size may be reduced. In this way, a suitable data size reduction condition can be determined for each image group according to the type of image processing, the document (printing) mode, and the like.

  The data size reduction means may reduce the data size of the at least some image groups by changing a reduction condition every predetermined period. In this way, the data size of the image group can be reduced stepwise according to the free capacity of the storage means.

  The image management apparatus control method according to the present invention is an image management apparatus control method comprising storage means for storing an image group consisting of one or a plurality of images, and is a free space for detecting a free capacity of the storage means. A capacity detection step, a specific image selection step for selecting at least one image including information for specifying the image group from the image group as a specific image, and a free capacity detected in the free capacity detection step is less than a predetermined value If it is, for at least some of the image groups stored in the storage means, data of images other than the specific images selected in the specific image selection step among the plurality of images constituting each image group And a data size reduction step for reducing the size.

  The program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as an image management apparatus including a storage unit that stores an image group including one or a plurality of images, and is a free space for detecting a free capacity of the storage unit. Capacity detection means, specific image selection means for selecting at least one image including information for specifying the image group from the image group as a specific image, and the free capacity detected by the free capacity detection means is less than a predetermined value. A data size of an image other than the specific image selected by the specific image selection means among a plurality of images constituting each image group for at least some of the image groups stored in the storage means. A program for causing the computer to function as data size reduction means for reduction.

  The program may be stored in a computer-readable information recording medium. Examples of the information recording medium include a magnetic tape, flexible disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, MO, MD, DVD-ROM, and IC card. Etc. can be used.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system 1 includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses 10 (four here) and a server apparatus (image management apparatus) 12. Each image processing device 10 is, for example, a printer device, a scanner device, a facsimile device, a copy device, or a multifunction device having at least two functions of printing, scanning, faxing, copying, etc., and a LAN (Local Area Network) Is connected to the server device 12. Each image processing apparatus 10 and server apparatus 12 may be connected via a communication line such as the Internet.

  The image processing apparatus 10 acquires an image group (hereinafter, referred to as “processing target image”) including one or a plurality of images that are targets of image processing, and performs predetermined image processing on the acquired processing target image. It is. Specifically, a processing target image is acquired by optically reading (scanning) a document, a picture, a photograph, or the like including one or a plurality of pages. Alternatively, a processing target image is acquired from printing data transferred from a personal computer or other devices via a LAN or the like. The acquired processing target image is subjected to image processing such as file output, printing, and fax transmission, and the execution content is recorded as a log. The log recorded (generated) includes a log image and log information.

  The log image is an image group indicating the processing target image, and may be an image group itself composed of one or a plurality of images that are the processing target image, and the image quality is high enough to identify (identify) the processing target image. It may be an image group in which the resolution, the number of colors (gradation), etc. are reduced by a predetermined amount from one or a plurality of images that are the processing target images. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an administrator setting screen (setting of a log image to be created) in the image processing apparatus 10. As shown in the figure, the resolution, image information (binary or multi-valued), and color mode (color or black-and-white) that are the attributes of the log image to be created (shown as “image log” in the figure) Can be designated in advance by the user. As the image format of the log image, for example, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), TIFF (Tag Image File Format), or PDF (Portable Document Format) including these images is used.

  The log information includes the identification information (manufacturing number, IP address, etc.) of the image processing apparatus 10, the type of image processing executed (printing, scanning, faxing, copying, etc.), and the operation parameters (document (printing) mode at the time of image processing execution) , Paper size, number of printed sheets, image quality, etc.), processing completion time, etc., and indicates the operation content of the image processing performed on the processing target image.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing how the log image generated by the image processing apparatus 10 is stored in the server apparatus 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when copying is executed in the image processing apparatus 10, a log image is generated from an image (processing target image) obtained by reading a copy original. In addition, log information (not shown) including the type (copy) of the executed image processing and operation parameters (paper size, number of copies, image quality, margin, etc.) at the time of the copy is generated.

  Then, the log image and log information generated by the image processing apparatus 10 are transferred to the server apparatus 12 and stored in the storage unit 60 of the server apparatus 12 for each image process (in units of jobs). In this way, every time copying or other image processing is executed by the image processing apparatus 10 in the image processing system 1, log images and log information relating to the image processing are automatically stored in the server apparatus 12. ((B) in the figure).

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the storage unit 60 in the server device 12. As shown in the figure, the storage unit 60 stores a log image and log information for each job ID for identifying image processing (job). In addition to the log image and log information, it is also possible to store a keyword extracted by a character reading means such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition) from the log image or the completion time of the image processing (processing completion time).

  As described above, the server device 12 accumulates the contents of image processing executed in the past by each image processing device 10 in the storage unit 60 in the form of image information and character information. And the log image memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 60 can be searched by the similar image search based on another image, a keyword search, etc. For this reason, if the storage unit 60 in the server device 12 is searched, information relating to arbitrary image processing (processing target image, operation content, etc.) executed by any of the image processing devices 10 in the image processing system 1 is obtained. It can be tracked and identified later.

  For example, even if a certain confidential document is leaked to the outside, if the document taken outside is a copy copied by any of the image processing apparatuses 10 in the image processing system 1, the storage of the server apparatus 12 is performed. Based on the log image and log information stored in the unit 60, it is possible to specify when and how the copy is generated by which image device processing 10.

  By the way, since the capacity of the storage unit 60 is limited, it is not possible to store all information relating to image processing executed in the past by each image processing apparatus 10, particularly log images having a large data size as they are. Have difficulty. However, if the entire log image is simply compressed, the resolution and gradation of the image deteriorate, and the log image specificity cannot be maintained. Therefore, the search accuracy of log images is reduced. If an old log image is deleted from the storage unit 60, the log image cannot be retrieved thereafter.

  Usually, a multi-page manuscript is often included in a specific page having keywords such as a manuscript title, date, company name, and a characteristic chart. For example, in a fax document, the first page is a destination sheet including date and time, destination, etc., and important messages are often included in the second and subsequent pages. A page including these keywords and characteristic charts (hereinafter referred to as “specific page”) is an indispensable page for specifying the manuscript. On the other hand, pages other than the specific page have less effective information for specifying the manuscript than the specific page. That is, it can be said that pages other than the specific page are less important in specifying the original. Similarly, in a processing target image acquired by scanning a document consisting of a plurality of pages, an image other than an image corresponding to a specific page of the document (hereinafter referred to as “specific image”) is the processing target image. Less important in identifying or searching for The same applies to the log image generated from the processing target image.

  Therefore, the server device 12 uses the property of the log image to process at least a part of the specific image among the plurality of images constituting each log image for at least a part of the log images stored in the storage unit 60. No processing is performed, and only the image other than the specific image (non-specific image) is processed to reduce the data size. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing how the data size of the log image is reduced. As shown in the figure, the server device 12 has a specific image (in this case, including information effective for specifying the log image among a plurality of images (here, three) constituting each log image). No processing is performed on the first image, and the data size of the image other than the specific image is reduced by reducing the resolution or converting the color image into a black and white image. In this way, the server device 12 can secure the free space of the storage unit 60 while maintaining the specificity of the log image, and can accumulate more log images.

  Below, the structure and operation | movement with which the server apparatus 12 is provided in order to implement | achieve the said process are demonstrated in detail.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the server device 12. As shown in the figure, the server device 12 includes an operation unit 20, a display unit 30, a control unit 40, a transmission / reception unit 50, and a storage unit 60.

  The operation unit 20 includes various keys such as a character key, a numeric keypad, a function key, and a delete key, and receives user operations related to various operation settings of the server device 12 and log image search. The user operation received by the operation unit 20 is converted into a signal and output to the control unit 40.

  The display unit 30 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and is stored in the operation state of the server device 12, various setting screens (see, for example, FIGS. 7 to 9), a log image search screen, and the storage unit 60. Log images and so on.

  The transmission / reception unit 50 transmits / receives data to / from each image processing apparatus 10 via a communication line such as a LAN or the Internet. For example, a log image, log information, processing completion time, and the like are received from each image processing apparatus 10.

  The storage unit 60 includes, for example, a memory or a hard disk storage device, and stores a log image. Specifically, each time the transmission / reception unit 50 receives information related to image processing (log image, log information, processing completion time, etc.) transmitted from each image processing apparatus 10, a job ID that identifies the image processing is used. The log image, log information, processing completion time, etc. are stored in association with each other. As described above, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the storage unit 60. As shown in the figure, in addition to the log image and log information, the storage unit 60 stores the completion time of the image processing (processing completion time) and a keyword extracted from the log image by character reading means such as OCR. May be.

  The control unit 40 is connected to the operation unit 20, the display unit 30, the transmission / reception unit 50, the storage unit 60, and the like, and controls each unit according to a signal input from the operation unit 20. Further, it includes a free space detection unit 42, a data size reduction unit 44, and a specific image selection unit 46. The free space of the storage unit 60 is confirmed, and log information stored in the storage unit 60 is searched and processed. I do. The control unit 40 includes a CPU and a memory, and the above functions are realized by the CPU executing various control programs stored in the memory.

  The free space detection unit 42 detects the free space in the storage unit 60 and notifies the data size reduction unit 44 of the detected free space.

  In response to an instruction from the data size reduction unit 44, the specific image selection unit 46 selects at least one image including information for specifying the log image as a specific image from the log image according to the instruction. That is, as described above, the log image is a group of one or a plurality of images indicating a processing target image acquired by scanning a document including one or a plurality of pages. The specific image selection unit 46 selects, as the specific image, an image corresponding to a specific page including a keyword and a characteristic chart that are effective in specifying the document from the log image. For example, a specific page may be specified in advance by the user, and a specific image may be selected based on the specified value. In addition, an image recognition algorithm that can recognize an image including ruled line information, an image including a lot of character information, an image including a figure with rich saturation, and the like may be automatically selected as a specific image. Good.

  The specific image selection unit 46 reads log information associated with the log image from the storage unit 60 and selects a specific image from the log image according to the content of the image processing included in the read log information. May be. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an administrator setting screen (specific page designation) in the server device 12. As shown in the figure, a specific page may be designated for each type of image processing (copy, print, fax, scan) included in the log information. In this way, for example, if a certain log image relates to a fax document, the images corresponding to the first page and the second page are selected as specific images, and if the log image relates to a copy document, the first page and the last page are selected. The method of selecting a specific image may be changed according to the type of image processing, that is, depending on the type of a processing target image (an image read from a document) indicated by a log image, such as selecting a page as a specific image. it can.

  The data size reduction unit 44 processes at least some of the log images stored in the storage unit 60 when the free space in the storage unit 60 detected by the free space detection unit 42 is less than a predetermined value. The data size of the log image is reduced. Specifically, among the plurality of images constituting each log image, the specific image selected by the specific image selection unit 46 is not subjected to any processing, and only the image size other than the specific image (non-specific image) has a data size. The processing which reduces is performed. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an administrator setting screen (designation of conditions for starting log image processing) in the server device. As shown in the figure, the user may be allowed to specify a predetermined value for the free space, which is a condition for starting the processing of the log image. Further, when character information is extracted from each log image by OCR and a part or all of the extracted character information is stored in the storage unit 60 as a keyword related to each log image (see FIG. 3), OCR Processing of each log image may be started after performing the above. This makes it possible to more accurately extract keywords from the log image before it becomes difficult to read the character information included in the log image due to processing, that is, before the OCR character recognition accuracy decreases.

  Here, the log image processing method includes, for example, reducing the resolution of the image, reducing the number of colors (gradation) (for example, converting a color image into a grayscale image or a monochrome image), and converting the image to a predetermined compression rate. There are methods such as compressing the image and deleting the image, and these methods may be applied alone, or any two or more processing methods may be applied in combination. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an administrator setting screen (designation of log image processing conditions) in the server device 12. As shown in the figure, the user can set the log image processing conditions (data size reduction conditions) such that the image resolution is reduced and the color image is converted into a black and white image in one processing. It may be possible to specify.

  The data size reduction unit 44 reads log information associated with each log image to be processed from the storage unit 60, and reduces the data size according to the content of the image processing indicated by each read log information. You may go. That is, processing conditions (data size reduction conditions) to be applied may be determined based on the type of image processing included in each log information, the operation mode (one of the operation parameters) in each image processing, and the like. . FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing conditions applicable to the log image. For example, the type of image processing shown in the figure, such as “Copy / Print / Fax” (shown as “Job Type” in the figure), the original mode such as “Text Mode / Photo Mode”, and the “High Definition / Photo” If the storage unit 60 stores information indicating a correspondence relationship between the print mode such as “” and one or a plurality of processing methods to be applied, the image processing type and the document (printing) mode are determined according to the correspondence relationship. Therefore, it becomes possible to determine suitable processing conditions. Note that the correspondence shown in FIG. 11 is that search for character information is suitable for images mainly composed of characters, and similar image retrieval or visual identification is suitable for images mainly composed of photos. It is determined according to the characteristics. Further, for each type of image processing (for example, “copy”) and document mode (for example, “photo / text”) via the administrator setting screen (designation of log image processing conditions) of the server device 12 shown in FIG. In addition, the user may be allowed to specify log image processing conditions that are a combination of one or more processing methods to be applied.

  Further, the data size reduction unit 44 performs log image processing conditions (data size reduction conditions) every predetermined period (for example, on the first day of every month, every Saturday, 30 days after the log image generation date, two months later). The above processing may be performed by changing the above. For example, the compression rate may be increased and recompressed every predetermined period. Further, the resolution may be reduced to 200 dpi for the first time, to 100 dpi after one month, to 50 dpi after six months, and deleted after one year. Alternatively, it may be converted into a black and white image at the beginning, the resolution is lowered at the next timing, the compression rate is increased at the next timing, the image is recompressed, and the image is deleted at the end. In this way, the data size of the log image can be reduced step by step according to the free capacity of the storage unit 60. That is, the free space of the storage unit 60 can be suitably secured while maintaining the log image specificity. The predetermined period and the data size reduction condition may be specified by the user.

  Here, operation | movement of the server apparatus 12 is demonstrated based on FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing log image processing in the server device 12. This processing is executed every predetermined period (for example, on the first day of every month, every Saturday, etc.), at a timing when the free space in the storage unit 60 becomes less than a predetermined value, or in response to a start instruction by the user. Is.

  As shown in the figure, first, the free space detection unit 42 detects the free space in the storage unit 60 (S100). If the free space is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, it is determined that there is sufficient free space in the storage unit 60, and the process is terminated without processing the log image.

  If the free space in the storage unit 60 is less than the predetermined value in S100, the data size reduction unit 44 reads at least a part of log images stored in the storage unit 60 as a processing target in units of jobs (S102). . Next, the specific image selection unit 46 acquires the “specific page designation” value set by the user from the memory of the control unit 40 in accordance with an instruction from the data size reduction unit 44 (S104). Then, images are read in page order from the log image read in S102 (S106), and whether or not the read image relates to a specific page indicated by the “specify specific page” value acquired in S104, that is, It is determined whether or not the read image is a specific image (S108).

  If the image read in S106 is a specific image, the data size reduction unit 44 does not perform any processing on the image (specific image), and proceeds to S112. On the other hand, when the image read in S106 is not a specific image, the data size reduction unit 44 performs data such as reducing the resolution, reducing the number of colors, and compressing the image (non-specific image), for example. Processing for reducing the size is performed (S110).

  When the processing for one image is completed, it is determined whether or not the image relates to the last page in the log image (S112). If not, the image relates to the next page in S106. The image is read out and the processing after S108 is performed. On the other hand, if the image read in S108 relates to the last page in the log image, it is determined whether or not there is a log to be processed (S114), and at least one of the processing target is described above. Until the processing of all the log images of the copy is completed, the processing after S102 is repeatedly executed.

  According to the embodiment described above, when the free space of the storage unit 60 is less than the predetermined value, for at least a part of the log images stored in the storage unit 60, a plurality of images constituting each log image are stored. Of these, specific images that contain information (keywords, characteristic charts, etc.) that are effective for specifying the log image are not processed at all, and only the images other than the specific image are processed to reduce the data size. As a result, the free space of the storage unit 60 can be secured while maintaining the specificity of the log image.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention may be applied to the image processing apparatus 10 and the generated log image may be managed by the image processing apparatus 10 itself. The present invention is applicable to all image management apparatuses that store an image group composed of a plurality of images.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows a mode that a log image is stored in a server apparatus . It is a figure which shows an example of a memory | storage part. It is a conceptual diagram which shows a mode that the data size of a log image is reduced . It is a functional block diagram of the server apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the administrator setting screen in an image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the administrator setting screen in a server apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the administrator setting screen in a server apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the administrator setting screen in a server apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the administrator setting screen in a server apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the process conditions applicable to a log image. It is a flowchart which shows the log image processing in a server apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing system, 10 Image processing apparatus, 12 Server apparatus, 20 Operation part, 30 Display part, 40 Control part, 42 Free capacity detection part, 44 Data size reduction part, 46 Specific image selection part, 50 Transmission / reception part, 60 Storage Department.

Claims (5)

Associating an image group composed of images on each page of an information recording medium composed of a plurality of pages with the processing contents of the image processing executed for the image group among the print process, scan process, fax process, and copy process. Storage means for storing
Free capacity detecting means for detecting the free capacity of the storage means;
Specific image selection means for selecting, as the specific image, an image of a page designated in advance for the processing content associated with the image group from the image group;
When the free space detected by the free space detection means is less than a predetermined value, the specific image selected by the specific image selection means among the plurality of images constituting the image group stored in the storage means Data size reduction means for reducing the data size of images other than images,
An image management apparatus comprising: The image management apparatus according to claim 1,
The data size reduction means reduces the data size according to the processing content associated with the image group;
An image management apparatus. The image management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The data size reduction means reduces the data size by changing a reduction condition every predetermined period.
An image management apparatus. Associating an image group composed of images on each page of an information recording medium composed of a plurality of pages with the processing contents of the image processing executed for the image group among the print process, scan process, fax process, and copy process. A free space detecting step for detecting free space in the storage means for storing
A specific image selection step of selecting, as the specific image, an image of a page designated in advance for the processing content associated with the image group from the image group;
When the free space detected in the free space detection step is less than a predetermined value, the specific selected in the specific image selection step among the plurality of images constituting the image group stored in the storage means A data size reduction step for reducing the data size of images other than images,
A control method for an image management apparatus. Associating an image group composed of images on each page of an information recording medium composed of a plurality of pages with the processing contents of the image processing executed for the image group among the print process, scan process, fax process, and copy process. Free space detecting means for detecting free space of storage means for storing
Specific image selection means for selecting, as the specific image, an image of a page designated in advance for the processing content associated with the image group from the image group;
When the free space detected by the free space detection means is less than a predetermined value, the specific image selected by the specific image selection means among the plurality of images constituting the image group stored in the storage means Data size reduction means for reducing the data size of images other than images,
As a program to make the computer function as.

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