JP5407700B2 - Image processing system, information processing apparatus, image processing apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing system, an information processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus, and a program.

  The job analysis unit analyzes the print job generated based on multiple records, detects the boundary of the record using the analysis result, determines the print page corresponding to each record, and determines the print job according to the determined content. Each record and a print page corresponding to each record are associated with each other and stored in the job-record storage unit, and each record and print page in a variable print job can be associated with each other and managed in units of records. A technique for enabling this is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

JP 2008-269261 A

  When data using so-called PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language) is generated in merge printing performed based on a plurality of information for insertion, only data using this PPML is provided on the image forming side. It becomes. Under such circumstances, there is a demand for a function for selectively forming a part of a plurality of documents whose formation is instructed by the PPML data.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an image processing system including an information processing device and an image processing device, wherein the information processing device receives a plurality of insertion information, and receives each of the insertion information. Based on this, means for generating a plurality of variable partial image information, means for generating common partial image information representing an image part common to a plurality of images to be formed, and a plurality of pieces to be processed Means for generating related information associating information representing the image formation order with at least a part of the insertion information, the plurality of generated variable partial image information, common partial image information, and related information Means for generating formation image information, wherein the image processing device accepts the formation image information generated by the information processing device, and the related information included in the accepted formation image information. In other words, at least a part of the insertion information including the designation information designated by the user is searched, and an image represented by the formation order associated with at least a part of the insertion information found by the search is associated. And means for combining the variable partial image information and the common partial image information to form the image forming apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 2 is an information processing apparatus, wherein a receiving unit that receives a plurality of insertion information, a unit that generates a plurality of variable partial image information based on each of the insertion information, and a forming process Means for generating common partial image information representing an image portion common to a plurality of images to be processed, information representing the formation order of the plurality of images to be formed, and at least a part of the insertion information Means for generating related information associated with each other, and means for generating formed image information including the plurality of generated variable partial image information, common partial image information, and related information. .

  The invention according to claim 3 is an image processing apparatus, and represents a plurality of variable partial image information generated based on each piece of insertion information and an image portion common to a plurality of images to be formed. Means for accepting formation image information including common partial image information and related information in which at least part of the insertion information is associated with information representing the formation order of the plurality of images to be formed; Of the related information included in the received formed image information, search for at least a part of the insertion information including the designation information designated by the user, and associate it with at least a part of the insertion information found by the search. And means for combining the corresponding variable partial image information and the common partial image information to form the image represented by the formed order in the image forming apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 4 is a program comprising: a receiving unit that accepts a plurality of insertion information; a unit that generates a plurality of variable partial image information based on each of the insertion information; Means for generating common partial image information representing an image portion common to a plurality of images to be processed, information representing the formation order of the plurality of images to be formed, and at least a part of the insertion information And generating means for generating related information, and means for generating formed image information including the plurality of generated variable partial image information, common partial image information, and related information. It is.

  The invention according to claim 5 is a program, in which a computer is used to store a plurality of variable partial image information generated based on each piece of insertion information and an image portion common to a plurality of images to be formed. Means for accepting formation image information including common partial image information to be represented, and related information in which at least a part of the insertion information is associated with information representing the formation order of the plurality of images to be subjected to the formation processing. And searching for at least a part of the insertion information including the designation information designated by the user among the related information included in the received formed image information, and at least a part of the insertion information found by the search Causing the image forming apparatus to function as an image forming apparatus by combining the corresponding variable partial image information and the common partial image information with the image represented by the associated formation order. Those were.

  According to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, a part of a plurality of documents including insertion information can be selected on the image forming side, and the selected part of the image can be formed.

1 is a configuration block diagram illustrating an example of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the insertion information group which the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention accepts. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the form data which the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention accepts. It is a flowchart figure showing the example of the processing which can be performed by the information processor concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the relevant information which the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention produces | generates. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the formation image information which the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention produces | generates. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the interface screen which the image processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention provides.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an information processing apparatus 1 and an image processing apparatus 2 as illustrated in FIG. An image forming apparatus 3 is connected to the image processing apparatus 2.

  The information processing apparatus 1 is a personal computer or the like, and includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an operation unit 13, a display unit 14, and a communication unit 15 as illustrated in FIG. The control unit 11 is a program control device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 12.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 accepts an insertion information group and form data. An example of the insertion information group is a plurality of insertion information each including content information (C1, C2,...) Associated with at least one key information (K1, K2,...) As illustrated in FIG. It is a list (list) of (E). Then, the control unit 11 generates an image formation instruction for forming an image obtained by combining each piece of insertion information with the received form data.

  In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the form data is the target of synthesis of base image information (B) for each page, range information (R) indicating the range of synthesis of insertion information on this base image, and so on. Key information (K) for specifying content information. FIG. 3 shows, as an example, a case where an image composed of two pages for each part is formed.

  The control unit 11 of the information processing apparatus 1 generates an image formation instruction for forming an image for a plurality of pages based on the received insertion information group and form data. Specifically, the control unit 11 acquires key information (hereinafter referred to as a compositing target key) that specifies content information to be synthesized for each page included in the received form data. Then, the control unit 11 selects the insertion information included in the insertion information group in a predetermined selection order (for example, if there is “record number” as key information, the order of the record number), and selects the selected insertion information. The content information corresponding to the compositing target key is read out. The control unit 11 draws an image based on the read content information in the corresponding key information synthesis region, and generates a plurality of variable partial image information for each insertion information and for each page.

  In addition, the control unit 11 draws an image based on the base image information (B) of the form data for each page, and generates common partial image information representing an image portion common to a plurality of images to be formed. Then, for each page of each part (copy) to be formed, the common partial image information, the variable partial image information to be combined with it, and instruction information for specifying the combination position are generated. In an example of the present embodiment, this instruction information is described in PPML.

  That is, the control unit 11 separately generates information representing a part common to a plurality of images and information representing parts different from each other in the plurality of images, and separately generates information related to the synthesis method. To do. In addition, the control unit 11 generates related information in which information representing the formation order of a plurality of images to be formed is associated with content information related to at least some key information of the insertion information. Formation image information including a plurality of generated variable partial image information, common partial image information, instruction information, and related information is generated. Detailed operation of the control unit 11 will be described later.

  The storage unit 12 is a memory device or the like, and holds a program executed by the control unit 11. This program is provided by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc-Read Only Memory), and is copied to the storage unit 12. The storage unit 12 also operates as a work memory for the control unit 11.

  The operation unit 13 is a mouse, a keyboard, or the like, and accepts a user operation and outputs the contents to the control unit 11. The display unit 14 is a display or the like, and displays an image based on an instruction input from the control unit 11. The communication unit 15 transmits / receives information to / from the image processing apparatus 2 through communication means such as a network in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 11.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 2 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, an operation unit 23, a display unit 24, a communication unit 25, and an interface unit 26. Here, the control unit 21 is a program control device such as a CPU, and operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 22.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 receives the formed image information generated by the information processing apparatus 1 and includes designation information designated by the user among the related information included in the received formed image information. Retrieving at least a part of the insertion information, and displaying an image represented by a formation order associated with at least a part of the insertion information found by the search, corresponding variable partial image information, common partial image information, Are formed on the image forming apparatus 3. Specific contents of this processing will be described later.

  The storage unit 22 is a memory device or the like, and holds a program executed by the control unit 21. Similar to the program stored in the storage unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 1, this program is provided in a state of being stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a DVD-ROM and stored in the storage unit 22. It may be. The storage unit 22 also operates as a work memory for the control unit 21.

  The operation unit 23 is a mouse, a keyboard, or the like, and accepts a user's instruction operation and outputs the contents to the control unit 21. The display unit 24 is a display or the like, and displays an image according to an instruction input from the control unit 21. The communication unit 25 transmits / receives information to / from the information processing apparatus 1 through communication means such as a network in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 21.

  The interface unit 26 is an interface such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus), and is connected to the image forming apparatus 3. In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 outputs an image formation instruction to the image forming apparatus 3 via the interface unit 26.

  The image forming apparatus 3 is, for example, a printer or a complex machine that also has functions such as a scanner in addition to a function as a printer. According to an image formation instruction input from the image processing apparatus 2, the image forming apparatus 3 An image is formed on the medium.

Next, an example of an operation in which the control unit 11 of the information processing apparatus 1 of the image processing system according to the present embodiment accepts an insertion information group and form data and generates formation image information will be described. As already described, in the present embodiment, the control unit 11 generates variable partial image information, common partial image information, and instruction information based on these pieces of information. Here, the instruction information to be included in the formed image information is described in PPML. PPML is a tagged language, and the definition for each part (copy) is delimited by a <document> tag. Also, the definition of each page that should be included in each part is delimited by <page> tags. In other words, an example of the specific content of the instruction information is
...
<document DocumentCopies = "1">
<page>
... variable partial image information to be synthesized in one page of the first part and information indicating the synthesis position ...
</ page>
<page>
... variable partial image information to be synthesized in the first two pages and information indicating the synthesis position ...
</ page>
...
</ document>
<document DocumentCopies = "2">
<page>
... variable partial image information to be synthesized in one page of the second part, and information indicating the synthesis position ...
</ page>
<page>
... variable partial image information to be synthesized in the second page of the second part, and information indicating the synthesis position ...
</ page>
...
</ document>
...
And so on.

  The control unit 11 performs the processing illustrated in FIG. 4 while referring to the instruction information. In the process of FIG. 4, the control unit 11 first initializes the counter variable Counter by resetting it to “0” (S1). Next, the instruction information, which is PPML data, is read from the beginning until the description “<document>” is found (note that the case of the case is not distinguished) (S2). When the description of “<document>” is found in this process S2, the counter variable Counter is incremented by “1” (S3). The control unit 11 finds and selects insertion information including content information to be formed in the number of copies (formation order) represented by the counter variable Counter from the insertion information included in the insertion information group (S4). ). In this process S4, for example, each time the counter variable Counter is incremented, the insertion information is selected one after another in the selection order of the insertion information when generating the variable partial image information (for example, the order of the record numbers). do it.

  The control unit 11 extracts content information related to at least a part of predetermined key information (may be all content information related to all key information) from the insertion information selected in step S4. Then, the counter variable Counter (information indicating the formation order) and the extracted content information are associated and recorded as related information (S5). And the control part 11 returns to process S2, and continues a process. In step S5, if the extracted content information is not a character string but information representing an image (JPEG (Joint Picture Experts Group) image data or the like), the information representing the image itself is included in the related information and recorded. Alternatively, a so-called thumbnail image obtained by reducing the image to a predetermined size may be generated, and the thumbnail image may be included in the related information and recorded.

  On the other hand, in the process S2, when the next description of “<document>” is not found and the end of the instruction information is read (when the process for all the parts is completed), the control unit 11 The processing is terminated, and the related information generated so far is included in the variable partial image information, the common partial image information, and the instruction information of each page of each unit and output.

  Here, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the related information is information on an image to be formed in the formation order with respect to information (information indicating the formation order) indicating what number the image is to be formed. Of the plug-in information related to the included content information, the content information associated with the predetermined key information is selectively associated. The related information may include the predetermined key information itself.

  That is, here, the content information to be formed as an image and the content information included in the related information may not necessarily match. For example, content information C1 and C2 associated with key information K1 and K2 may be included in an image to be formed, and key information K1 and K3 and content information C1 and C3 respectively associated with them may be included in related information. Absent.

  In the present embodiment, the content information extracted in step S5 in FIG. 4 may be the same as the content information to be formed as an image. In this case, as the processing in step S5, content information associated with the same key information as when each variable partial image information to be included in each unit is generated may be extracted.

  As described above, the formed image information output from the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes (generally a plurality of) variable partial image information V, common partial image information C, and instructions as illustrated in FIG. Information I (for example, information described by PPML) and related information R extracted from the insertion information group are included. The formed image information may be archived in a zip format and compressed by the information processing apparatus 1, for example.

  Next, an operation example of the control unit 21 of the image processing apparatus 2 that has received such formed image information will be described. The control unit 21 holds the received formed image information in the storage unit 22 and controls the image forming apparatus 3 based on the formed image information according to a user instruction to form an image. In an example of the present embodiment, the control unit 21 receives an instruction from the user to form images for all the parts (copy) to be formed based on the formed image information. Upon receiving this instruction, the control unit 21 refers to the instruction information in order from the top, and in the order in which the <document> blocks appear (that is, in the order of formation), the common partial image information and variable partial images to be included in the images of the respective parts The information is extracted from the formed image information, the images of the respective pages are combined according to the instruction information, and the information of the image as a result of the combination is output to the image forming apparatus 3 to form the image. Hereinafter, this process is referred to as a normal forming process. In the case of this normal forming process, the control unit 21 may not use the related information included in the formed image information.

  Further, the image processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment can receive an instruction to selectively form a copy (copy) including content information to be designated. That is, in the present embodiment, when the image processing apparatus 2 receives an instruction from the user to form the selected copy (copy), the control unit 21 uses the search key as illustrated in FIG. Displays a screen for specifying key information. Here, the control unit 21 may extract a list of key information included in the related information from the related information included in the received formed image information, and display the list. When the user designates one of the key information, the control unit 21 extracts a list of content information related to the selected key information from the related information. Then, a list of the extracted content information is displayed (FIG. 7B), and the user is made to select. At this time, if the content information is image information, the image information may be displayed in a list as it is, or may be displayed in a list after being reduced to a predetermined size.

  When the user selects at least one piece of content information from this list, the control unit 21 retrieves the selected content information from the related information. Then, in the related information, information indicating the formation order associated with the selected content information is read out. The control unit 21 reads information related to the part (copy) corresponding to the formation order represented by the read information from the instruction information, and based on the read instruction information part, the corresponding part (copy) The variable partial image information and common partial image information of each page are extracted from the formed image information, the images of each page are combined, and the combined image is formed in the image forming apparatus 3.

  In the example of FIG. 7, specific content information associated with specific key information is specified as a condition (designating condition) for specifying a part (copy) to be formed. Is not limited to this. That is, the control unit 21 only needs to accept a designation condition for searching for at least one content information included in the related information, and a plurality of designation conditions such as logical sum and logical product of a plurality of key information and a plurality of content information. It is also possible to accept the logical combination of and to obtain information on the formation order associated with the set of content information satisfying such a complex condition.

  For example, among the formation order information included in the related information, the associated content information is “content information related to key information“ A ”is“ a1 ”and content information related to key information“ B ”is Read formation order information that satisfies the condition “b1”, and synthesize the images of each page related to the copy (copy) corresponding to the formation order represented by the read information according to the instruction information And may be formed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the information processing apparatus 1 generates the formation image information based on the insertion information, the common partial image information representing the image part common to each part and each page, And a plurality of variable partial image information to be arranged on any page of any part (copy). At the same time, the common partial image information and variable partial image information described in PPML and to be combined in each part and each page are specified, and information specifying the combination mode (for the combination position and the combination) And instruction information including information defining the deformation of the image to be performed.

  Also, together with these, the information processing apparatus 1 generates related information in which at least a part of the insertion information related to the information to be formed in the corresponding part (copy) is associated with the information indicating the formation order of each part. . Then, formed image information including the common partial image information, variable partial image information, instruction information, and related information is generated and transmitted to the image processing apparatus 2.

  The image processing apparatus 2 receives from the user information specifying at least one of the pieces of insertion information associated with the information representing the formation order included in the related information. Then, an image to be formed in the formation order represented by the information associated with a part of the designated insertion information (if the formation order represented by the information is P, the Pth in the normal formation process) The image of each page of the portion to be formed (copy)) is selectively combined to cause the image forming apparatus 3 to form the combined image.

  Note that the present embodiment is not limited to what has been described so far. According to another example of the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 1 generates common partial image information, variable partial image information, and instruction information without performing the processing illustrated in FIG. 4, and generates the generated common partial image information. Then, together with the variable partial image information and the instruction information, the received insertion information group is included as it is (or the portion related to the key information is extracted from the insertion information group) to generate the formed image information.

  Then, the image processing apparatus 2 performs the processing shown in FIG. 4 to generate related information, and performs the search processing based on the related information, the composition of the images to be formed in the formation order found as a result of the search, and the formation processing. It may be done.

  According to the present embodiment, even when only data using PPML is provided to the image processing apparatus 2 side, the image processing apparatus 2 side can store a plurality of documents that are instructed to be formed by the PPML data. A part can be narrowed down by user-specified content information, and an image related to the narrowed part can be selectively formed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus, 2 Image processing apparatus, 3 Image forming apparatus, 11, 21 Control part, 12, 22 Storage part, 13, 23 Operation part, 14, 24 Display part, 15, 25 Communication part, 26 Interface part.

Claims (3)

An image processing system including an information processing device and an image processing device,
The information processing apparatus includes:
An acceptance means for accepting multiple plug-in information;
Means for generating a plurality of variable partial image information based on each of the insertion information;
Means for generating common partial image information representing an image portion common to a plurality of images to be formed;
Means for generating related information associating information indicating the formation order indicating which image is to be formed among a plurality of images to be subjected to the formation processing and at least a part of the insertion information When,
Means for generating formation image information including the generated plurality of variable partial image information, common partial image information, and related information;
Including
The image processing apparatus includes:
Means for receiving formation image information generated by the information processing apparatus;
Of the related information included in the received formed image information, search for at least a part of the insertion information including the designation information designated by the user, and associate it with at least a part of the insertion information found by the search. Means for causing the image forming apparatus to form the image relating to the portion represented by the formed order of formation after combining the corresponding variable partial image information and the common partial image information;
Including an image processing system. A plurality of variable partial image information generated based on each of the insertion information, common partial image information representing an image part common to a plurality of images to be formed, and a plurality of pieces to be formed Means for accepting formation image information including related information in which at least part of the insertion information is associated with information indicating a formation order indicating an image formed in which part of the image;
Of the related information included in the received formed image information, search for at least a part of the insertion information including the designation information designated by the user, and associate it with at least a part of the insertion information found by the search. Means for causing the image forming apparatus to form the image relating to the portion represented by the formed order of formation after combining the corresponding variable partial image information and the common partial image information;
An image processing apparatus. Computer
A plurality of variable partial image information generated based on each of the insertion information, common partial image information representing an image part common to a plurality of images to be formed, and a plurality of pieces to be formed Means for accepting formation image information including related information in which at least part of the insertion information is associated with information indicating a formation order indicating an image formed in which part of the image;
Of the related information included in the received formed image information, search for at least a part of the insertion information including the designation information designated by the user, and associate it with at least a part of the insertion information found by the search. Means for causing the image forming apparatus to form the image relating to the portion represented by the formed order of formation after combining the corresponding variable partial image information and the common partial image information;
Program to function as.

Images