JP5089524B2 - Document processing apparatus, document processing system, document processing method, and document processing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a document processing apparatus, a document processing system, a document processing method, and a document processing program.

  There are some known systems that read completed paper forms using an image device such as a scanner and perform various recognition processes such as mark recognition and character recognition on the entered contents. There is a case where it is performed from the design application that created the form.

  For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3770656 (Patent Document 1), a table, a frame, a ruled line, etc. are extracted from the image data of the processing target form and presented to the user as processing target candidate areas, and the user originally processes the extracted data. It has been proposed to set a form processing by selecting a processing target region to be processed using a mouse and a keyboard.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-4523 (Patent Document 2) prints out a question sheet once, specifies a portion of the question sentence to be hidden, that is, a reply character string by reading it with a scanner after specifying the reply with a marker. A method for creating a hole-filling problem by simultaneously extracting and answer character string deletion is disclosed.
Japanese Patent No. 3770656 JP 2007-4523 A

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, when the type of form and the number of entry areas in the form increase, the work on the PC for setting the processing contents also increases, which is a burden on the form processing designer. In many cases. If the setting method differs for each tool, the setting method must be learned for each tool. Therefore, there is a need for a method capable of setting various forms processing as easily as possible.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, since it is impossible to know in advance what kind of image is input, in order to extract the color of the marker specified by the answer character string, Must be searched, and the processing efficiency of the apparatus may be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and generates image data (electronic file) related to a form, and easily sets attribute information for a rectangular area of image data corresponding to an entry area of the form. An object of the present invention is to provide a document processing apparatus, a document processing system, a document processing method, and a document processing program.

The document processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a first storage unit that stores rectangular area data including identification information of image data and rectangular area information related to the rectangular area of the image data associated with the identification information; An acquisition unit that acquires the identification information attached to a sheet on which the image data is printed; a reading unit that reads rectangular area information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the acquisition unit from the rectangular area data ; Based on the rectangular area information read by the reading means, the specifying means for specifying the rectangular area of the image data, and the feature information including the color indicated in the rectangular area specified by the specifying means are extracted. extraction means, based on the feature information extracted by said extraction means sets the attribute information indicating an attribute representing the condition of entries for the rectangular region, the attribute information, In association with the serial rectangular area information and a setting means for writing the rectangular area data.

A document processing system according to another aspect of the present invention is a document processing system including an information processing apparatus and a document processing apparatus connected via a network, and the information processing apparatus includes image data having a rectangular area. Generating means, and transmitting means for transmitting the image data generated by the generating means to the document processing apparatus, wherein the document processing apparatus receives the image data from the information processing apparatus. Adding means for adding the identification information for each image data received by the receiving means; analyzing means for analyzing the image data received by the receiving means and extracting the rectangular area of the image data; , serial to store the identification information added by said adding means, the rectangular area data including the rectangular area information of the rectangular region extracted by the analysis means Means, obtaining means said image data to obtain the identifying information attached to the print paper, the rectangular area information corresponding to the acquired identification information by the acquisition unit, read read from the rectangular region data Characteristic information including means, a specifying means for specifying the rectangular area of the image data based on the rectangular area information read by the reading means , and a color indicated in the rectangular area specified by the specifying means Extraction means for extracting, and attribute information indicating an attribute indicating an entry condition for the rectangular area based on the feature information extracted by the extraction means, and the attribute information is associated with the rectangular area information Setting means for writing to rectangular area data .

According to another aspect of the document processing method of the present invention, there is provided storage means for storing rectangular area data including identification information of image data and rectangular area information relating to the rectangular area of the image data associated with the identification information. A document processing method in a document processing apparatus comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring the identification information attached to a sheet on which the image data is printed; and rectangular area information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the acquisition step Reading from the rectangular area data , a specifying step for specifying the rectangular area of the image data based on the rectangular area information read by the reading step, and a rectangular area specified by the specifying step an extraction step of extracting feature information including the colors shown, based on the feature information extracted by the extraction step There by setting attribute information indicating an attribute representing the condition of entries for the rectangular region, the attribute information, having a setting step of writing to the rectangular area data in association with the rectangular area information.

  Note that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by applying the components of the present invention to a document processing program that can be executed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, a document processing apparatus, a document processing system, which can generate image data relating to a form and can easily set attribute information for a rectangular area of the image data corresponding to the entry area of the form, A document processing method and a document processing program can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overview of document processing system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of creating a form setting sheet in the document processing system according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the form setting sheet will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the form setting sheet, and the present invention can be applied to the case where attribute information is added to an arbitrary area on electronic image data.

  In the document processing system shown in FIG. 1, first, a form design file 101 including a rectangular area created on a PC (Personal Computer) by a form creator is transmitted to the document processing apparatus 100. The setting image creation means 410 of the document processing apparatus 100 extracts a rectangular area from the image data 101, assigns an identifier for identifying the form, prints the form design file to which the identifier is attached, and forms the form setting sheet. 102 is output. Here, the form setting sheet refers to a document (paper) on which a form design file with an identifier is printed.

  Specifically, first, the form creator uses a general document editor such as Word (registered trademark), Excel (registered trademark), or Acrobat (registered trademark) in the PC to check a rectangle such as a check box, Design the layout of the form (drawing entry fields with ruled lines, rectangles, etc.) by placing the tabular entry area in the editor area that looks like a form, and save it as a form design file To do.

  Next, the form creator transmits the previously created form design file to the document processing apparatus 100 via the network. Upon receiving the form design file, the document processing apparatus 100 uses the setting image creation unit 410 to extract a candidate area for entry from each page of the form design file and store the coordinate value (area information) in a storage medium. After saving, an identifier of each page is issued so that the area information of each page can be uniquely specified.

  Next, the setting image creation unit 410 of the document processing apparatus 100 encodes the identifier of the issued form into a symbol such as a QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark) or a barcode, and superimposes it on each page, and then forms the form design file. 101 is printed and a form setting sheet 102 is output. Here, the identifier is encoded into a symbol such as a QR code (registered trademark). However, the identifier is not necessarily encoded, and any identifier can be used as long as it can identify the form. Next, attribute information setting using the form setting sheet 102, that is, a flow of setting attribute information (hereinafter also referred to as entry attribute) in each entry area will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of attribute information setting in the document processing system according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the attribute setting unit 420 of the document processing apparatus 100 scans the form setting sheet 103 in which the feature is entered, extracts the feature of the entry area from the scanned image, and corresponds to the extracted feature. The entry attribute is assigned and stored in the storage device.

  Here, the entry attribute means information that defines whether or not entry in each entry area is indispensable, and what processing is performed such as mark recognition, character recognition, and image storage at the time of entry.

  Specifically, the form creator fills each entry area in the printed form setting sheet 102 with a writing instrument of a color corresponding to the entry attribute to be set. Thereafter, the form setting sheet 103 is scanned using a color scanner in the document processing apparatus 100.

  In this example, the color corresponding to the entry attribute has been painted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, characters, symbols, numbers, or the like corresponding to the entry attribute may be used. In addition, if a combination of colors, letters, symbols, and numbers (for example, red numbers) is entered in the entry area, it is possible to reduce false detection when extracting the characteristics of the entry area.

  Next, the document processing apparatus 100 that has acquired the scanned image of the form setting sheet 103 (hereinafter also referred to as “setting sheet image”) uses the attribute information setting unit 420 to print a QR code (registration) superimposed during printing from the setting sheet image. The identifier of the form is obtained by searching for a symbol such as (trademark) and decrypted, and the area information of the entry area candidate (corresponding to the setting sheet image) in the storage device is obtained using the identifier.

  Next, the attribute information setting unit 420 specifies the entry area of the setting sheet image using the coordinates of the acquired area information, extracts the fill color (feature of the entry area) in the specified entry area, and the color The entry attribute corresponding to is added to the area information and stored again in the storage device.

  After the attribute information setting is completed, the form user prints the form design file with the attribute information set, fills in the printed form (paper with the form design file with the attribute information set), and then uses the scanner The data is input to the form processing unit 104 in the processing apparatus 100. Upon receiving the image of the completed form, the form processing means 104 checks whether or not to fill in each entry area according to the entry attribute corresponding to the saved entry area, and saves the result.

<Hardware configuration of document processing apparatus>
A hardware configuration of the document processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of the document processing apparatus 300 according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the document processing apparatus 300 includes a control unit 301, a main storage unit 302, an auxiliary storage unit 303, a network I / F 304, a QR code / bar code reader unit 305, an input unit 306, a display unit 307, and a print. 308, a scanner unit 309, and the like.

  The control unit 301 is a CPU that controls each device, calculates data, and processes in a computer. The control unit 301 is an arithmetic device that executes a program stored in the main storage unit 302. The control unit 301 receives data from the input device or the storage device, calculates and processes the data, and outputs the data to the output device or the storage device.

  The main storage unit 302 is a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like, and stores or temporarily stores programs and data such as an OS and application software that are basic software executed by the control unit 301. Device.

  The auxiliary storage unit 303 is an HD (Hard Disk) or the like, and is a storage device that stores data related to application software and the like. The auxiliary storage unit 303 stores various types of information (eg, user information) managed by the document processing apparatus, and is managed by functions such as a database (DB: DataBase) and a file system (FS: File System). .

  A network I / F 304 includes peripheral devices having a communication function connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and a WAN (Wide Area Network) constructed by data transmission paths such as wired and / or wireless lines. This is an interface of the document processing apparatus.

  The QR code / bar code reader unit 305 is a device that reads a QR code (registered trademark) or a bar code attached on a recording medium.

  The input unit 306 and the display unit 307 are composed of a key switch (hard key) and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) having a touch panel function (including GUI software key: Graphical User Interface). It is a display and / or input device that functions as a UI (User Interface) when using the function.

  When the printing unit 308 receives image data including C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black), the received image data is recorded on a recording medium (printing paper) using an inkjet method. A plotter device that outputs (prints).

  The scanner unit 309 includes a line sensor composed of a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) photoelectric conversion element, an A / D converter, and a drive circuit for driving them, and scans a document set on a document reading surface (on a contact glass). This is a reading device that generates digital image data of 8 bits for each of RGB (reads information from a document and digitizes it).

  In this way, the document processing apparatus 300 executes a program stored in a storage device such as the main storage unit 302 or the auxiliary storage unit 103 by the control unit 301 and sends a control signal (control command) to each device ( By controlling each device), applications such as copy, scanner, printer, etc. possessed by the document processing device are realized, and information managed by the document processing device or information managed in the system to which the document processing device is connected is processed. can do.

<Main Functional Configuration of Document Processing Device According to Embodiment 1>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the main functional configuration of the document processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the document processing apparatus 400 has a function for creating a form setting sheet (setting image creating means 410), a function for setting entry attributes in the entry area of the form setting sheet (attribute information setting means 420), including.

  First, the setting image creation means 410 surrounded by a dotted line shown in FIG. 4 will be described. The setting image creation unit 410 includes a reception unit 411, an image data creation unit 412, an analysis unit 413, an image data management unit 414, a storage unit 415, and an output unit 416.

  The receiving unit 411 receives a form design file created by the form creator using the PC 401 via the network, and outputs the received form design file to the image data creating unit 412. The form design file can be acquired by directly connecting a storage medium such as an SD card to the document processing apparatus 100 in addition to acquiring the form design file via a network.

  When the image data creation unit 412 acquires the form design file from the reception unit 411, the image data creation unit 412 outputs the acquired form design file to the analysis unit 413. In addition, when the image data creation unit 412 obtains the form identifier from the image data management unit 414, the image data creation unit 412 generates a QR code (registered trademark) by encoding the identifier, and the QR code (registered trademark) is generated for each page of the form design file. Print data is created by superimposing it on the image. Next, the image data creation unit 412 outputs the created print data to the output unit 416.

  When the analysis unit 413 acquires the form design file from the image data creation unit 412, the analysis unit 413 disassembles the acquired form design file into pages, and selects the area that is a candidate for the input area from each page. Extract as

  As an example of this extraction process, an example of handling a PDF (Portable Document Format) format as the data format of the form design file will be described below. In the PDF format, a figure can be expressed in a vector format. A PDF document is read, and entry area candidate extraction processing is performed for each page in the PDF document.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the entry area candidate extraction process. In FIG. 5, [1] is a page in the form design file that is a rectangular area extraction target, and is composed of character information and graphic information. [2] is obtained by extracting only graphic information. In this case, the graphic information is information of an object expressed by a path construction operator such as “re”, “m”, and “l” in the case of PDF format data.

  Here, this graphic information is represented by one rectangle and three line segments as in [2 ′] inside the electronic document. Here, the rectangle is divided into four line segments and the graphic information is expressed by only the line segments as [3]. By using the combination of these seven line segments, all rectangles existing in the graphic information are searched. In this example, five rectangular areas are extracted as shown in [4].

  Further, when a specific graphic character exists in the character information, a rectangle is obtained by acquiring the coordinates of the graphic character. The rectangular characters here are characters such as “□”, “◯”, and “◇” that are generally used as a check box role in a form.

  As described above, in these five rectangular areas extracted in the entry area candidate extraction process, there are combinations of rectangles that overlap each other. In the present embodiment, information that the minimum rectangle is added to a rectangle that does not contain another rectangle, and information that is not the minimum rectangle is added to a rectangle that contains another rectangle.

  Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 5, five rectangles are obtained as shown in [4] in FIG. 5, and among them, the result is that three are the minimum rectangles as shown in [5] in FIG. The minimum rectangle obtained here is used as an entry area candidate, and the extracted entry area candidate area information (hereinafter referred to as entry area information) is collected and output to the image data management means 414.

  The above processing is executed for each page in the form design file, and entry area information is output to the image data management unit 414 by the number of pages in the form design file. In the above-described processing, a PDF format file has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this format, and the same processing can be applied to any electronic file format that can handle vector information.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the image data management unit 414 stores the entry area information acquired from the analysis unit 413 in the storage unit 415 and issues an identifier for uniquely identifying the entry area of each page. Further, the image data management unit 414 issues a form identifier to each page, and outputs the issued form identifier to the image data creation unit 412.

  Further, the image data management means 414 searches the entry area information by this identifier. The image data management means 414 can determine whether or not entry area information corresponding to the identifier already exists in the storage means 415 by using the entry area identifier and entry area information. At this time, if the entry area information already exists in the storage unit 415, the image data management unit 414 overwrites the entry area information and updates the entry area information. The image data management unit 414 is used by both functions of the setting image creation unit 410 and the attribute information setting unit 420.

  The storage unit 415 holds entry area information for each page of the form design file. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of entry area information held by the storage unit 415. Each row in the table shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to the area information of one entry area candidate, and the identifier number, position information (x coordinate, y coordinate, width, height) and attribute of each entry area candidate are stored.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, an “identifier” is assigned to each page of the form design file, and a “number” is assigned to each extracted entry area. In the “attribute”, information is not yet stored at the stage where the entry area is extracted. This “attribute” will be described later.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the output unit 416 is, for example, the printing unit 308. When the print data is acquired from the image data creation unit 412, the print unit prints the print data and outputs a form setting sheet. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the entry area candidate may be output so as to be distinguishable from other areas.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an emphasis process for an entry area. When printing processing with emphasis on the entry area candidate is desired, processing means is provided in the image data creation means 412. The processing means acquires the entry area information from the image data management means 414, specifies the entry area, changes the ruled line related to the entry area to a thick line, or changes the area other than the entry area to a light color (for example, gray). Or highlight the entry area.

  When the image data creation means 412 shown in FIG. 4 outputs the form design file (identifier assigned) processed by the processing means to the output means 416, as shown in FIG. Will be.

  Thus, by performing the emphasis processing of the entry area, the form creator can easily recognize which area should be filled with color, or which area should be filled with symbols, characters, or numbers. It becomes like this.

  Also, the image data creation means 412 obtains a correspondence table (FIG. 8) between entry attributes and entry colors held by the storage means 428, which will be described later, and adds the correspondence table to the form design file for printing. You may output to the means 416. FIG. At this time, the correspondence table may be printed as a front page of the form setting sheet, or may be printed on the back of the form setting sheet.

  Thus, the form creator does not need to remember the correspondence between the entry attribute and the entry color, and the feature of the entry attribute in the entry area while looking at the printed correspondence table (entry color in the example shown in FIG. 8). Can be filled in.

  The main functions of the setting image creation unit 410 have been described above. Next, the attribute information setting unit 420 will be described. The attribute information setting unit 420 includes a reading unit 421, an image processing setting unit 422, a feature extraction unit 426, an attribute information management unit 427, a storage unit 428, an image data management unit 414, and a storage unit 415.

  The reading unit 421 is a scanner unit 309 or the like, scans a form setting sheet in which a feature is written in an entry area, acquires a setting sheet image that is a scan image of the form setting sheet, and outputs the setting sheet image to the image processing setting unit 422. .

  The image processing setting unit 422 includes an acquisition unit 423, a specifying unit 424, and a setting unit 425. The image processing setting unit 422 acquires a setting sheet image from the reading unit 421, and performs the following processing by the acquiring unit 423 on the acquired setting sheet image. The acquisition unit 423 acquires the form identifier from the setting sheet image, and outputs the acquired identifier to the image data management unit 414.

  The image data management unit 414 acquires the form identifier from the acquisition unit 423 in the image processing setting unit 422, and acquires entry area candidates corresponding to the acquired identifier by referring to the storage unit 415. The image data management unit 414 outputs the entry area candidate acquired from the storage unit 415 to the specifying unit 424. Here, the entry area candidate includes area position information as shown in FIG.

  The specifying unit 424 in the image processing setting unit 422 acquires a writing area candidate from the image data management unit 414, specifies a writing area in the setting sheet image based on the acquired writing area candidate, and images of the specified writing area Is cut out and output to the feature extraction means 426. The specifying unit 424 may be a process performed by the feature extracting unit 426.

  The feature extraction unit 426 extracts features from the image of the entry area specified by the specification unit 424. Here, the entry color is used as a feature in the image of the entry area. In order to extract the entry color, first, smoothing processing such as median filter processing is executed on the entire cut-out image to remove fine fluctuations in the entry color. Next, the color of each pixel of the image is decomposed into three colors of red, green, and blue, and histograms of red, green, and blue for the entire image are created. When the above processing is executed for one cutout image, three histograms are created. By using each peak value of this histogram and again synthesizing it into one color, the entry color in one cut-out image is acquired.

  Next, the feature extraction unit 426 outputs the identification number of the entry area and the extracted feature (here, entry color) to the attribute information management unit 427. When symbols, characters, numbers, and the like are used as the features of the image in the entry area, OCR (Optical Character Reader) processing may be performed to recognize them.

  When the attribute information management unit 427 acquires the feature (fill color) from the feature extraction unit 426, the attribute information management unit 427 refers to the correspondence table between the fill attribute and the fill color stored in the storage unit 428, It is output to the setting means 425 in the image processing setting means 422 together with the identification number of the entry area.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence table between entry attributes held by the storage unit 428 and reference entry colors. As shown in FIG. 8, the entry attribute and the reference entry color are associated with each other. For example, “required mandatory entry area” is associated with “red”, and “required mandatory entry area” is associated with “magenta”.

  In the first embodiment, the entry color is used as the feature in the entry area. Therefore, when the entry color is input together with the search request from the feature extraction unit 426, the attribute management unit 427 determines whether the entry color is between the entry color and the reference entry color. The square of the difference between each color component of red / green / blue is calculated, and by adding them, the “distance” between the entry color and the reference entry color is calculated. Calculation of the “distance” with this entry color is performed for all the reference entry colors in the correspondence table shown in FIG. 8, and the entry attribute corresponding to the reference entry color with the shortest “distance” with the entry color is obtained. The acquired entry attribute and entry area identification number are output to the setting means 425 as a search result.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the setting unit 425 in the image processing setting unit 422 displays the identification number and entry attribute of the entry area acquired from the attribute information management unit 427 and the form identifier acquired from the acquisition unit 423 as image data management unit. To 414.

  The image data management unit 414 writes the entry attribute acquired from the setting unit 425 in the “attribute” for the entry area information held by the storage unit 415. At this time, the entry area information including the “attribute” to be written is entry area information corresponding to the identifier of the form acquired from the setting unit 425, and the “attribute” to be written is the identification number of each entry attribute acquired from the setting means 425. It is an “attribute” corresponding to.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of entry area information after the entry attribute is written (updated) in “attribute”. As shown in FIG. 9, the entry attribute corresponding to the identification number “1” of the entry area is “1”, which indicates that the entry area “1” is an “essential entry area for free description”. The entry area information shown in FIG. 9 represents a state when the entry area information shown in FIG. 6 is updated.

  The main functional configuration of the document processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment has been described above. However, the document processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and each configuration is combined into one configuration. One configuration may be separated into two configurations, or any configuration as long as the above-described processing contents can be realized.

<Regarding Form Setting Sheet Creation Processing in Embodiment 1>
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining the creation of the form setting sheet in the first embodiment. In step 101, the receiving unit 411 receives a form design file from the PC 401 or the like and outputs it to the image data creating unit 412. Progressing to step 102 following step 101, the image data creation unit 412 outputs the form design file acquired from the reception unit 411 to the analysis unit 413.

  Progressing to step 104 following step 103, the analysis unit 413 performs region extraction processing on the form design file acquired from the image data creation unit 412 to extract a rectangular region or the like as an entry region candidate. Next, in step 105, the analysis unit 413 outputs the extracted entry area candidate to the image data creation unit 412.

  Progressing to step 106 following step 105, the image data creation unit 412 outputs the entry area candidate acquired from the analysis unit 413 to the image data management unit 414. Progressing to step 107 following step 106, the image data management means 414 generates a form identifier for each page of the form design file. Progressing to steps 108 and 109 following step 107, the image data management unit 414 writes and saves the entry area candidate acquired from the image data creation unit 412 and the generated form identifier in the storage medium 415.

  Proceeding to step 110 following step 109, the storage unit 415 notifies the image data management unit 414 of the completion of storage. Progressing to step 111 following step 110, the image data management unit 414 outputs the generated form identifier to the image data creation unit 412.

  Progressing to step 112 following step 111, the image data creation unit 412 performs an encoding process on the form identifier acquired from the image data management unit 414. Here, a QR code (registered trademark) is created or a barcode is created. This process is not always necessary.

  Progressing to step 113 following step 112, the image data creation means 412 creates print data by superimposing the encoded form identifier on the form design file. Progressing to step 114 following step 113, the image data creation unit 412 outputs the print data to the output unit 416.

  Progressing to step 115 following step 114, the output means 416 prints the print data acquired from the image data creation means 412. Progressing to step 116 following step 115, the output unit 416 notifies the image data creation unit 412 that printing has been completed.

<About Attribute Information Setting Processing in Embodiment 1>
FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining the attribute information setting process according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 11, the processing performed by the specifying unit 424 illustrated in FIG. 4 is described as being performed by the feature extraction unit 426.

  In steps 201 and 202, the reading unit 421 scans the form setting sheet in which the feature is entered in the entry area by the form creator, and outputs the scanned image (setting sheet image) to the image processing setting unit 422. Progressing to steps 203, 204, and 205 following step 202, the image processing setting unit 422 extracts a form identifier from the scanned image acquired from the reading unit 421 using the acquisition unit 423, and acquires the extracted form identifier. To do.

  Progressing to step 206 following step 205, the image processing means 422 outputs the form identifier extracted by the acquisition means 423 to the image data management means 414. Proceeding to step 207 following step 206, the image data management means 414 makes a request for reading out the entry area candidate corresponding to the form identifier acquired from the image processing setting means 422 from the storage means 415.

  Progressing to step 208 following step 207, entry area candidates corresponding to the form identifier are read from the entry area information held by the storage unit 415, and the entry area candidates are returned to the image data management means 414 in step 209.

  In step 210 following step 209, the image data management unit 414 outputs the entry area candidate read from the storage unit 415 to the image processing setting unit 422. Progressing to step 211 following step 210, the image processing setting unit 422 outputs a scanned image to the feature extraction unit 426 in addition to the entry area candidate acquired from the image data creation unit 414.

  Proceeding to step 212 following step 211, the feature extraction unit 426 specifies an entry region from information such as coordinates, width, and height included in the entry region candidate acquired from the image processing setting unit 422. Next, the feature extraction unit 426 cuts out a scan image area corresponding to the specified entry area, and extracts features of the cut-out area. Here, it is assumed that the entry color is extracted. In step 213, the feature extraction unit 426 outputs the extracted entry color and the entry region identifier (“number” shown in FIG. 6) included in the entry region candidate to the attribute information management unit 427.

  Proceeding to step 214 or 215 following step 213, the attribute information management unit 427 issues a request for reading the entry attribute corresponding to the entry color acquired from the feature extraction unit 426 to the storage unit 428. As described above, as processing related to reading of the entry attribute, the distance between the extracted entry color and the reference entry color of the correspondence table held in the storage unit 428 is calculated, and the distance corresponding to the reference entry color with the shortest distance is calculated. Read entry attributes.

  Proceeding to step 216 following step 215, the attribute information management unit 427 associates the entry attribute read from the storage unit 428 with the entry area identifier acquired from the feature extraction unit 426 and outputs the associated attribute to the image processing setting unit 422.

  Proceeding to step 217 following step 216, the image processing setting unit 422 outputs the form identifier, the entry area identifier acquired from the attribute information management unit 427, and the entry attribute to the image data management unit 414.

  Progressing to steps 218 and 219 following step 217, the image data management unit 414 determines the entry area information “” stored in the storage unit 415 based on the form identifier and the entry area identifier acquired from the image processing setting unit 422. Write (update) the attribute information in “Attribute”. Specifically, the entry area information as shown in FIG. 6 is specified based on the form identifier, and the entry attribute acquired from the image processing setting unit 422 is added to the “attribute” corresponding to the entry area identifier included in the entry area information. Is written in the storage means 415.

  Proceeding to step 220 following step 219, the image data management means 414 is notified from the storage means 415 that the update of the entry area information has been completed. In step 221, the image data management unit 414 notifies the image processing setting unit 422 that the update of the entry area information has been completed.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, image data relating to a form can be generated, and attribute information can be easily set for a rectangular area of image data corresponding to a form entry area.

  Also, when printing a form design file, the form creator prints out the extracted entry area so that it can be distinguished from areas other than the entry area, so that the form creator can enter the characteristics corresponding to the attribute information in any area. It becomes easy to recognize what should be done.

  In addition, when the form design file is printed, the form creator remembers this correspondence by printing a correspondence table of entry attributes and features (entry color in the example of Embodiment 1) together. The feature corresponding to the attribute information (entry attribute) can be entered in the entry area while looking at the correspondence.

  When the document processing apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment creates a form setting sheet by printing a form design file, a setting color designation area is provided to newly establish a correspondence relationship between an entry attribute and a feature corresponding to the entry attribute. Can be created or updated.

<Main Functional Configuration of Document Processing Apparatus According to Second Embodiment>
FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the main functional configuration of the document processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. Here, in the configuration shown in FIG. 12, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 12, the document processing apparatus 500 includes a setting image creation unit 510 and an attribute information setting unit 520. The setting image creation unit 510 differs from the first embodiment in that it includes an attribute information management unit 511.

  The attribute information management unit 511 holds initial information for providing a feature designation area in addition to the attribute information management unit 427 of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of initial information of the feature designation area 601 held by the attribute information management unit 511. In the example shown in FIG. 13, a color (hereinafter referred to as a set color) is used as a feature for setting. With the initial information shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to specify a “display character string” corresponding to a box 602 for filling (filling) a set color shown in FIG. 14 to be described later, and a “display position” in the designated area.

  The “display position” may be expressed not by relative position information but by specific coordinates in the set color designation area 601 shown in FIG.

  The image data management unit 414 acquires initial information as shown in FIG. 13 from the attribute information management unit 511 and outputs it to the image data creation unit 412. Thus, the image data creation unit 412 can add the setting color designation area 601 to the form design file based on the acquired information of the setting color designation area 601.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for adding the set color designation area 601. As shown in FIG. 14, a setting color designation area 601 is added to the lower part of the printed form setting sheet. This set color designation area 601 is created based on the expected information shown in FIG. For example, “required entry area (free description)” is printed in the upper left box in the set color designation area 601. In the upper right box in the set color designation area, “required entry area (check)” is printed.

  Thus, based on the position of the feature (entry color) extracted in the set color designation area 601, it can be determined which feature (entry color) corresponds to which entry attribute.

  The area information of the set color designation area 601 is stored in the storage unit 415. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of area information of the set color designation area 601 held by the storage unit 415. FIG. 15A shows a case where the data is stored in the same manner as the entry area information. At this time, since information indicating that it is the set color designation area 601 is required, an item “setting” is provided, and the area where this “setting” is flagged is the set color designation area 601. Will be shown. In the example shown in FIG. 15A, the area with the area number “n” represents the set color designation area.

  FIG. 15B shows a case where the area information of the set color designation area 601 is provided separately from the entry area information shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 15B, when the entry area information and the set color designation area 601 are stored separately, only the position information of the set color designation area 601 needs to be saved.

  Next, returning to FIG. 12, the attribute information setting unit 520 in the document processing apparatus 500 will be described. The difference from the first embodiment is that an attribute information updating unit 521 is newly provided. The attribute information update unit 521 is configured to perform the feature extraction process of the feature extraction unit 426.

  The attribute information update unit 521 acquires the scanned image and the area information of the set color designation area 601 from the image processing setting unit 422. At this time, the image processing setting unit 422 acquires area information of the set color designation area 601 from the storage unit 415 via the image data management unit 414 in advance. Also, the attribute information update unit 521 acquires the initial information held by the attribute information management unit 511 via the image processing setting unit 422.

  Next, the attribute information update unit 521 identifies the area of the setting color designation area 601 based on the area information of the setting color designation area 601, identifies the position where the setting color is written based on the initial information, and sets the setting information. Extract colors. The attribute information update unit 521 writes the extracted setting color in the correspondence table held by the storage unit 428 for each entry attribute.

<Regarding Form Setting Sheet Creation Processing in Embodiment 2>
FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram for explaining the form setting sheet creation process according to the second embodiment. In the processing shown in FIG. 16, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 10 are given to those performing the same processing as in FIG.

  In step 301, the image data creation unit 412 requests the attribute information management unit 511 to obtain initial information of the feature designation area (initial information of the set color designation area in the second embodiment). Proceeding to step 302 following step 301, the attribute information management unit 511 outputs the stored initial information of the feature designation area to the image data creation unit 412.

  In step 303, the image data creation unit 412 adds the feature designation region based on the initial information of the feature designation region acquired from the attribute information management unit 511 to the form design file and generates print data. Thereafter, if this print data is subjected to print processing by the output means 416, a form setting sheet to which a set color designation area as shown in FIG. 14 is added can be acquired.

<About Attribute Information Setting Processing in Embodiment 2>
FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram for explaining the attribute information setting process according to the second embodiment. In the processing shown in FIG. 17, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 11 are assigned to the same processing as in FIG.

  In step 401, the image data management unit 414 reads out and acquires feature designation area information and entry area candidates from the storage unit 415. Progressing to step 402 following step 401, the image data management unit 414 outputs the feature designation area information and the entry area candidate acquired from the storage unit 415 to the image processing setting unit 422.

  Progressing to step 403 following step 402, the image processing setting unit 422 outputs the characteristic area designation information and the scanned image acquired from the image data management unit 414 to the attribute information update unit 521.

  Proceeding to Steps 404 and 405 following Step 403, the attribute information update unit 521 identifies the feature designation region in the scan image from the feature region designation information, and responds to the entry attribute from the identified feature designation region based on the initial information. The feature is extracted, and the extracted feature is overwritten on the correspondence table held in the storage unit 428 (update process).

  Here, the attribute information update unit 521 holds the initial information of the feature designation area in advance, but may be appropriately acquired from the attribute information management unit 511.

  Proceeding to step 406 following step 405, the storage unit 428 notifies the attribute information update unit 521 that the update of the correspondence table has been completed when the update of the feature of the correspondence table is completed. Proceeding to step 407 following step 406, when the attribute information update unit 521 acquires the update completion notification from the storage unit 428, the attribute information update unit 521 notifies the image processing unit 422 that the update of the correspondence table is completed. For the subsequent processing, attribute information setting processing is performed based on the updated correspondence table.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the correspondence table held in the storage unit 428 can be updated based on the set color entered in the set color designation area 601 by the form creator. In addition, since attribute information is set based on the updated correspondence table, it is possible to set attribute information using features set by the form creator, which can be said to have improved convenience for the form creator. .

[Modification 1]
A document processing apparatus according to Modification 1 will be described. In the first modification, not only the rectangular area is extracted from the image data received by the receiving unit 411, but also the rectangular area is extracted from the scanned image acquired by the reading unit 421.

  In addition to the entry area candidate extraction process described above, the analysis unit 413 performs an OCR process on the scanned image to perform a layout analysis and extract an entry area candidate. At this time, the analysis unit 413 switches the processing such that when the image data is acquired from the reception unit 411, the above-described entry area candidate extraction processing is performed, and when the scan image is acquired from the reading unit 421, the OCR processing is performed. .

  By assigning the form identifier to the scanned image by the image data management means 414, the subsequent processing can be performed in the same manner as the processing described above, and the object of the present invention can be achieved.

  Further, when a form setting sheet is corrected by adding a rectangular area to the form setting sheet to which the identifier is assigned, the following processing is performed. First, the corrected form setting sheet is scanned by the reading unit 421, the identifier is acquired by the acquiring unit 423, and when the same identifier as the acquired identifier is in the storage unit 415, an OCR process is performed to extract an entry area candidate Then, the extracted entry area candidate is overwritten in the storage means 415.

  Thus, the form setting sheet can be easily corrected. Note that when scanning a form setting sheet, it is possible to explicitly perform these processes separately by setting the mode setting for whether to perform form setting sheet correction processing or attribute information setting processing. do it.

  As another example of the correction of the form setting sheet, the form creator may be made to confirm whether or not the feature extraction of only the entry area candidate may be performed when the attribute information setting process is performed. At this time, when the form creator selects to extract features other than the entry area candidates, the feature extraction unit 426 also extracts the areas other than the entry area candidates so that the form creator can select the areas other than the entry areas. In addition, it is possible to extract a region in which features are entered.

  Next, the storage unit 415 additionally stores position information and the like of the region where the feature is extracted in addition to the entry region. Thus, the image data related to the form can be easily corrected. At this time, regarding the newly extracted region, the features of the region are also extracted, so the entry attribute corresponding to the feature entered in this region may also be stored in the storage unit 415. This eliminates the need for feature extraction again.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and other than the above-described modifications within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. In addition, various modifications and changes can be made. Moreover, it is also possible to configure one by combining the above embodiments and modifications. In that case, each mode corresponding to each may be provided so that the form creator can select the mode and execute the process.

  In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the document processing apparatus is configured to include the output unit 411 and the reading unit 421. However, the output unit 411 and the reading unit 421 are provided outside, and the document processing apparatus receives electronic data from these. It can also be set as the structure which receives.

  It should be noted that the processing content described in each embodiment and modification may be a program, and the program may be executed by a computer to cause the document processing apparatus to execute the processing described above. It is also possible to record the program on a recording medium, cause the computer to read the recording medium on which the program is recorded, and cause the document processing apparatus to execute the processing described above.

The figure which shows the outline | summary about the form setting sheet preparation in the document processing system which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the outline | summary about the attribute information setting in the document processing system concerning this invention. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware of a document processing apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a main functional configuration of a document processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of an entry area candidate extraction process. The figure which shows an example of the entry area information which a memory | storage means hold | maintains. The figure which shows an example of the emphasis process of an entry area. The figure which shows an example of the correspondence table of the entry attribute which a memory | storage means hold | maintains, and a reference entry color. The figure which shows an example of the entry area information after an update. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining creation of a form setting sheet according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining attribute information setting processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a main functional configuration of a document processing apparatus according to a second embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the initial information of the feature designation | designated area | region which an attribute information management means hold | maintains. The figure which shows an example of the process which adds a setting color designation | designated area | region. The figure which shows an example of the area | region information of the setting color designation | designated area | region which a memory | storage means hold | maintains. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining a form setting sheet creation process according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining attribute information setting processing according to the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100, 200, 300, 400, 500 Document processing apparatus 101 Form design file (image data)
102 form setting sheet 103 setting sheet image 301 control unit 302 main storage unit 303 auxiliary storage unit 304 network I / F unit 305 QR code / bar code reader unit 306 input unit 307 display unit 308 printing unit 309 scanner unit 401 PC
410, 510 Setting image creation means 411 Reception means 412 Image data creation means 413 Analysis means 414 Image data management means 415, 428 Storage means 416 Output means 420, 520 Attribute information setting means 421 Reading means 422 Image processing setting means 423 Acquisition means 424 Identification means 425 Setting means 426 Feature extraction means 427, 511 Attribute information management means 521 Attribute information update means 601 Setting color designation area 602 Box

Claims (10)

First storage means for storing rectangular area data including identification information of image data and rectangular area information related to the rectangular area of the image data associated with the identification information;
Obtaining means for obtaining the identification information attached to the paper on which the image data is printed;
Reading means for reading rectangular area information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the acquiring means from the rectangular area data ;
Identifying means for identifying a rectangular area of the image data based on the rectangular area information read by the reading means;
Extracting means for extracting feature information including the color indicated in the rectangular area specified by the specifying means;
Set the attribute information indicating an attribute representing the condition of entries for the rectangular area based on the feature information extracted by the extraction means, the attribute information, in association with the rectangular area information written in the rectangular area data setting means When,
A document processing apparatus comprising: Receiving means for receiving the image data;
An adding means for adding the identification information for each image data received by the receiving means;
Analyzing the image data received by the receiving means, and extracting the rectangular area of the image data;
A writing means for associating the identification information added by the adding means with the rectangular area information of the rectangular area extracted by the analyzing means, and writing it in the rectangular area data ;
Output means for printing the image data to which the identification information is added;
A document processing apparatus according to claim 1. Second storage means for storing attribute data associating the attribute information with the feature information;
The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit acquires the attribute information corresponding to the feature information extracted by the extraction unit from the attribute data , and sets the acquired attribute information. The output means includes
4. The document processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the image data is printed, the attribute data stored in the second storage means is also printed. The adding means further adds a feature setting area for setting a correspondence relationship between the attribute information and the feature information to the image data,
The writing means further writes feature setting area information relating to the feature setting area to the rectangular area data in association with the identification information,
The reading means further reads feature setting area information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the acquiring means,
The specifying means further specifies a feature setting area of the image based on the feature setting area information read by the reading means,
The extraction unit further extracts a correspondence relationship between the attribute information and the feature information set in the feature setting area specified by the specifying unit,
The document processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the setting unit sets the attribute information for each rectangular area based on the correspondence relationship extracted by the extraction unit and the feature information. Processing means for processing the image data so that a rectangular area of the image data can be distinguished from an area other than the rectangular area;
The document processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing unit prints the image data processed by the processing unit.   The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feature information is a color, a character, and / or a symbol written in the rectangular area. A document processing system comprising an information processing apparatus and a document processing apparatus connected via a network,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Generating means for generating image data having a rectangular area;
Transmitting means for transmitting the image data generated by the generating means to the document processing apparatus;
With
The document processing apparatus includes:
Receiving means for receiving the image data from the information processing apparatus;
An adding means for adding the identification information for each image data received by the receiving means;
Analyzing the image data received by the receiving means, and extracting the rectangular area of the image data;
Storage means for storing rectangular area data including identification information added by the adding means and rectangular area information of the rectangular area extracted by the analyzing means;
Obtaining means for obtaining the identification information attached to the paper on which the image data is printed;
Reading means for reading rectangular area information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the acquiring means from the rectangular area data ;
Identifying means for identifying a rectangular area of the image data based on the rectangular area information read by the reading means;
Extracting means for extracting feature information including the color indicated in the rectangular area specified by the specifying means;
Set the attribute information indicating an attribute representing the condition of entries for the rectangular area based on the feature information extracted by the extraction means, the attribute information, in association with the rectangular area information written in the rectangular area data setting means When,
A document processing system comprising: A document processing method in a document processing apparatus comprising storage means for storing rectangular area data including identification information of image data and rectangular area information related to the rectangular area of the image data associated with the identification information,
An acquisition step of acquiring the identification information attached to a sheet on which the image data is printed;
Reading out the rectangular area information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the acquiring step from the rectangular area data ;
A specifying step of specifying a rectangular area of the image data based on the rectangular area information read by the reading step;
An extraction step of extracting feature information including the color indicated in the rectangular area specified by the specifying step;
Setting step of the extraction on the basis of the feature information extracted by the step to set the attribute information indicating an attribute representing the condition of entries for the rectangular region, the attribute information, in association with the rectangular area information written in the rectangular region data When,
A document processing method.   A document processing program for causing a computer to execute the document processing method according to claim 9.

Images