JPH0923330A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make slippage inconspicuous in overlap areas by comparing and operating pixels of overlapping picture data to select the data minimizing the density difference on a junction boundary at the time of joining picture data, which are divided into plural parts and have overlap areas in boundary parts, into one picture. SOLUTION: A picture processing part 4 generates picture data of a document read by an image read part 2 and sends it to memories A51 and B52 of a picture synthesis part 5. When picture data is inputted to and outputted from memories A51 and B52, addresses of input/output data are indicated by an address counter 55. One of data inputted to memories A51 and B52 is selected by a selector 53 and is transferred to a memory C54. The selector 53 selects data in accordance with the command from a boundary data holding part 56 based on the operation in a control part 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which joins images divided so as to have an overlapping region at a boundary to obtain one composite image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large-sized document that cannot be entirely placed on a document table is divided into a plurality of images having overlapping portions (= a plurality of images of a size that can be placed on the document table) and sequentially read and stored in a memory. An apparatus has been proposed which stores the divided images in each image and synthesizes and outputs each divided image. For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-122501, a large-sized original image is read by dividing it into a plurality of images having overlapping portions, the overlapping portions of each divided image are recognized by pattern matching, and a boundary line with a non-overlapping portion is recognized. And an apparatus and method for synthesizing each divided image according to this boundary line.

The following publications are also known as prior art relating to image composition. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-219258, when one original image is read by dividing it into a plurality of images having overlapping portions and two adjacent divided images are combined at the overlapping portions and combined, An apparatus is disclosed in which an overlapping portion of the two divided images is divided into strip-shaped small regions, and the strip-shaped small regions are alternately selected and arranged from each divided image.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-182976 discloses an example of a method of joining two images taken so as to have overlapping portions. In this method, first, density conversion is performed so that the densities of the respective images are equalized, then each is binarized, and two characteristic particles are extracted from each image after binarization, and the two characteristic particles are extracted. A straight line connecting the centers of gravity is used as a joining line, and the images are joined according to the joining line.
Here, the characteristic particles are obtained by extracting a particle-shaped small area formed with a specific number of pixels and determining the specific number of pixels so that the number of the small areas is two.

[0005]

Each of the above publications discloses a technique for joining so as not to cause image loss and overlap. That is, in each of the above-mentioned joining methods, when the respective images are read, the adjacent portions are overlapped and read so that the image loss does not occur at the joining portions, and the overlapping portions do not occur or the images do not shift. As described above, the boundary line (joint line) is obtained in the overlapping region or at the end portion, and the overlapping portion is overlapped by joining according to the boundary line.

In some cases, a density difference may occur in the corresponding portion between the images in the overlapping area of the images in which the adjacent portions are read in an overlapping manner. Therefore, as in the method of each of the above-mentioned publications, if the joining is performed without causing the image loss, the image shift, or the overlapping, the joining portion is likely to stand out linearly due to the density difference. Occurs.

The present invention is a method of joining image data having a plurality of divided areas and overlapping areas at the boundary portion as one image and outputting the merged image data by minimizing the density difference at the joining boundary. The purpose is to suppress the phenomenon in which the line is conspicuous. Further, the purpose is to determine the joining boundary so that the deviation is not noticeable.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an image processing apparatus for joining and outputting first image data and second image data, which have common overlapping image data, as one image data and outputs a plurality of patterns. Bonding line storage means for storing a bonding line, and a calculation means for comparing the pixels of the respective overlapping image data of the first and second image data located on the bonding line and calculating the difference in image density between the two pixels. As a result of the calculation by the calculation means, the number of pixels in which the difference in image density between the two pixels is equal to or more than a predetermined value is counted for each bonding line stored in the bonding line storage means, and the counting means Depending on which of the first storage means and the second storage means the overlapping image data is extracted according to the extraction means for extracting the connection line having the smallest number of pixels and the connection line extracted by the extraction means. Selection means for selecting either the force, which is an image forming apparatus characterized by and an output means for outputting a redundant image data selected by said selecting means.

Further, according to the present invention, the first image data and the second image data, which have common overlapping image data, are combined.
In an image processing apparatus for joining and outputting as one image data, joining line storage means for storing joining lines of a plurality of patterns, and the image density located on each joining line in the first image data is a predetermined value or more. Counting means for counting the number of pixels for each bonding line stored in the bonding line storage means, extracting means for extracting the bonding line with the minimum number of pixels counted by the counting means, and the extracting means According to the extracted joining line, the overlapping image data is first
An image forming apparatus comprising: a selection unit that selects which of the storage unit and the second storage unit to output, and an output unit that outputs the overlapping image data selected by the selection unit.

Further, according to the present invention, the first image data and the second image data, which have common overlapping image data, are combined into one.
In an image processing apparatus for combining and outputting as one image data, a background density determining unit that determines a background density of overlapping image data of the first image data, and the background density determining unit using the overlapping image data of the first image data. A counting means for counting, for each line, the number of pixels whose image density is equal to or more than a predetermined value compared with the background density determined by; and a line having the minimum number of pixels counted by the counting means,
Extracting means for extracting as a joining line, selecting means for choosing which of the first storing means and the second storing means the overlapping image data is to be output according to the joining line extracted by the extracting means, and the selecting means. And an output unit that outputs the overlapping image data selected by the image forming apparatus.

Further, the present invention is the image processing apparatus according to the above structure, further comprising means for prohibiting the processing of the joining means when the overlapping area is a photographic image.

[0012]

A line connecting pixels having a small density difference between adjacent divided images is extracted as a joining line from the overlapping area provided at the boundary of each of the plurality of divided images, and the joining line is extracted. Each adjacent image is joined at the part.

In the overlapping area provided at the boundary of each of the plurality of divided areas, a line connecting pixels having a small density difference from adjacent pixels from the area belonging to one of the divided areas is a joining line. And the adjacent images are joined at the portion of the joining line.

[0014]

EXAMPLE FIG. 2 schematically shows the structure of the apparatus of this example. The apparatus shown in the figure is a known scanning optical device (= light source 21, light source 21, which is a document D placed on a platen glass 27 with its image surface facing downward.
The image is read by the reflection mirrors 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, the lens group 23, the CCD line sensor 24, the drive motor 25, the driver IC 26, and the like) and sent to the image processing unit 4 to perform known image processing ( This is a device for generating image data by performing A / D conversion, shading correction, scaling, etc., and combining the image data in the image synthesizing unit 5 as necessary, and outputting it to the outside. In FIG. 2, 28 is an original cover.

The scanning optical device includes a light source 21 and a reflection mirror 22a.
First moving body (not shown) for mounting and reflection mirrors 22b, 22
Mount the second moving body (not shown) that mounts c on the platen glass 27
By moving to the left and right of the figure along the bottom surface of
This is a device for forming an image of reflected light of the document D on a CCD line sensor 24 line by line via a lens system 23. Here, the moving speed of the first moving body is twice the moving speed of the second moving body. The CCD line sensor 24 generates an electric signal of each pixel of the line corresponding to the image reflected light of each line formed as described above, and outputs the electric signal to the image processing unit 4.

When the scaling processing is performed as in the large-format combining mode described below, the scanning speed (first and second scanning speeds of the scanning optical device is combined with the scaling processing of the image data in the image processing unit 4.
The moving speed of the moving body) is changed. That is, the scanning speed is changed from the reference speed (speed at the same magnification) so as to match the set scaling ratio. This can be performed by changing the speed of the drive motor 25 of the scanning optical device from the reference speed according to the set scaling ratio. For example, in the case where a large-sized document of A2 size is divided and read, and the image is reduced to 1/2 and then combined, the scanning speed is 2 times the reference speed.
It is changed to ^1/2 times.

As shown in FIG. 3, the platen glass 27 is A3 size.
The width is larger by L than the size (width in the vertical direction in FIG. 3). Therefore, when the A2 size original is divided into halves and each of them is read in order,
The strip-shaped portion having a width corresponding to is read in duplicate. That is, when reading the upper half of the document as shown in the upper left column of FIG. 7, the line indicated by the symbol S2 at the upper right position of FIG. 3 is the reference line for aligning the upper edges of the document, and in FIG.
A strip-shaped portion having a width L from the lower edge (the edge on the front side) is the overlapping area. On the contrary, when reading the lower half of the document as shown in the upper right column of FIG. 7, the line indicated by the symbol S1 at the lower right position of FIG. 3 is the reference line for aligning the lower ends of the documents, and in FIG. A strip-shaped portion having a width L from the upper edge (edge on the back side) is the overlapping area. The original cover 28 is not shown in FIG.

Also, as shown in FIG.
An operation panel 1 is provided on the right front side (lower right side in the figure) of the. The operation panel 1 has a start key 11 for instructing the start of the document reading operation, a mode key 12 for instructing the switching between the normal mode and the large format compositing mode, and a large format for illuminating and displaying the setting state of the large format compositing mode. Mode indicator lamp
13. Numeric keypad for numeric input and clear stop key 1
4. A display panel 15 for displaying the reading magnification value, reading size, etc. is provided.

In the large-format combining mode, a document larger than A3 size and smaller than A2 size is divided into two parts, and an overlapping part (when reading the upper half of the document, the front side of the platen glass 27 is read). The strip-shaped portion having the width L from the edge and the strip-shaped portion having the width L from the inner edge when reading the lower half are read at a reduction ratio, and the read images are obtained in the overlapping area as described below. This is a mode in which the images are combined into a single image of A3 size or smaller by combining the images according to the connection line and output.

The process of joining and synthesizing two images in the overlapping area is performed by the image synthesizing unit 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the image composition section 5 has an image memory A51, an image memory B52, a selector 53, an address counter 55, a boundary data holding section 56, and an image memory C54. The image synthesizing unit 5 is controlled by the control unit 3 like the image reading unit 2 and the image processing unit 4.

The image data read in the normal mode is stored in the image memory A51. Also, in the large-format combining mode, the image memory A51 stores the upper half image data read at the first reduction ratio, and the image memory B52 stores the lower half image data read at the second reduction ratio. Is stored.

As described above, when reading the upper half of the original, the strip-shaped portion having the width L from the front edge of the original table glass 27 becomes an overlapping area, and when reading the lower half of the original from the rear edge of the original table glass 27. The strip-shaped portion having the width L is the overlapping region. Two images (an upper half image and a lower half image) are combined in this overlapping area. This combining is performed by selecting image data belonging to one of the divided images by the selector 53, as described later.

Therefore, for each pixel in this overlapping area, the addresses of the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 must be made common. Therefore, for example, an address shift process is performed in which an address obtained by moving up the address corresponding to the overlapping portion from the final address of the image memory A51 is assigned as the start address of the image memory B52.
The addresses of the overlapping areas are the image memory A51 and the image memory B52.
Is shared by and. For example, the first address in the image memory A51
When 180 addresses are assigned and 121 to 180 of them are used as overlapping areas, 121 to 300 are assigned to the image memory B52 and 12 of them are assigned.
A process is performed in which addresses 1 to 180 are set as overlapping areas.
When the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 are stored, the position reference of the image may be changed and stored, so that the addresses of the overlapping portions of the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 are made common.

The image memory C54 can store image data up to A3 size. In the normal mode, the image data in the image memory A51 is transferred and stored. Further, in the large-size combining mode, the combined image of the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 is stored. The image data in the image memory C54 is output to an external device such as a printer or a facsimile (not shown).

The address counter 55 includes an image memory A51,
When inputting / outputting the image data of the image memory B52 and the image memory C54, the address of the data to be input / output is designated.

In the normal mode, the selector 53 sends the image data read from the image memory A51 to the image memory C54 as it is. Further, the selector 53 selects either one of the image data of the same address read from the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 at the same time in the overlap area in the large-size combining mode in accordance with the instruction from the boundary data holding unit 56. And sends it to the image memory C54. Even in the large-format combining mode, the image memory A51 is not displayed in the non-overlapping area.
Since the address of the image memory B52 does not overlap, the image data of the address designated by the address counter 55 is sent to the image memory C54 as it is.

The boundary data holding unit 56 stores the boundary shape data (X1 in this case) determined by the calculation in the control unit 3.
To X3, Y1 to Y5, the address corresponding to the boundary shape data selected from the grid line data) is stored, and the selector 53 is operated according to this boundary shape data.
Is controlled. As a result, in the overlapping area in the large-size compositing mode, one of the image data (paired image data) having the same address in the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 is selected according to the boundary shape data as described above. And is transferred to the image memory C54.

Next, the calculation for obtaining the above-mentioned joining boundary shape data will be described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. FIG. 4 shows an operation procedure when the large-format combining mode is selected.

When the start key 11 is turned on (S11; YES)
, It is determined whether or not the large format composite mode is set (S1
3) If it is the normal mode (S13; NO), the normal image reading process is performed (S27). That is, the image data in the image memory A51 is sent to the image memory C54 as it is and output to the outside.

When it is determined in step S13 that the mode is the large-format combining mode (S13; YES), first, the upper half of the document (to be precise, the upper half of the document and the width L of the center of the document as shown in the upper left column of FIG. 7). The image reading operation and the image data processing are performed (S15). That is, the document set with the top edge of the document aligned with the edge on the back side of the document table glass 27 (the edge indicated by the symbol S2) is read by the image reading section 2, and this image signal is sent to the image processing section 4. Is processed, processed into image data, and stored in the image memory 51. In this example, since the A2 size is divided and read and then combined into the A3 size, the reduction ratio at the time of image reading is 0.707.

Next, after the original is placed with the lower edge of the original aligned with the front edge of the original glass 27 (the edge indicated by the symbol S1), the start key 11 is turned on (S17; YES). The image reading operation and the image data processing are performed on the lower half of the original (more precisely, the overlapping portion of the width L of the central portion of the original and the lower half of the original as shown in the upper right column of FIG. 7) (S19). That is, the image reading operation (the reduction magnification here is 0.707 times as described above) is performed by the image reading unit 2, and the read image signal is processed by the image processing unit 4 to obtain the image data. And stored in the image memory B52.

Here, the address of the storage destination of the image data in the width L portion of the central portion of the document is common to the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 as described above. Image memory A
When the storage of the image data in 51 is completed and then the storage of the image data in the image memory B52 is completed, the junction boundary is determined (S21). This processing will be described later.

When the joining boundary is determined, the image data joined according to the joining boundary is developed in the image memory C54 (S23) and output to the outside (S25). "Image data joined according to the joining boundary" means "data selected from the image memory A51 or the image memory B52 by the selector 53 controlled by the boundary data holding unit 56 according to the joining boundary shape data and transferred to the image memory C54. ".

Next, the joint boundary determining process (S21) will be described. First, the image data of the overlapping area is extracted from the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 (S51). That is, from the image memory A51, image data corresponding to a strip-shaped portion having a width L from the front edge of the document table glass 27 is extracted. Further, from the image memory B52, data corresponding to a strip-shaped portion having a width L from the inner edge of the platen glass 27 is extracted. The addresses of the image data of the paired pixels in the overlapping area are the same as described above. The pair of pixels are overlapped when the above-mentioned “belt-shaped portion having a width L from the front edge of the document table glass 27” and the above-mentioned “belt-shaped portion having a width L from the rear edge of the document table glass 27” are overlapped. A pixel at a position.

Next, it is determined whether or not the overlapping area is a photograph area (S53). As a result, (S
53; YES), and joining is disabled (S65).

If it is determined in step S53 that the area is not the photograph area (S53; NO), the junction boundary data is determined according to the processing procedure of steps S55 to S63.

First, in the overlapping area, as shown in FIG. 10, a total of 32 line segments each of which is a candidate for a joining boundary are determined (S55). That is, first, the line segments X1 to X3 and the line segments Y1 to Y5 are determined, and each of the line segments X1, X2, and X3 is divided into four by Y2, Y3, and Y4 to form 12 line segments. , Line segments Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5 are each X
It is divided into four by 1, X2, X3 to make 20 line segments. In this way, a total of 32 line segments are determined.

Next, for each of the above-mentioned 32 line segments in total, the number of pixels considered as black pixels among the pixels located on each line segment is counted (S57). Here, the pixel regarded as a black pixel is a pixel having the same address in the image memory A51 and the image memory B52, that is, a pair of pixels, and a difference in pixel data value is a predetermined value. Pixels that exceed. For example, a pair of pixels stored as "white" in the image memory A51 but stored as "black" in the image memory B52 becomes a black pixel.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in the case of an image in which a deviation occurs in the overlapping area L, a difference in pixel data is obtained for each pixel forming a pair, and the pixel whose difference exceeds the above-mentioned predetermined value. When is filled with black, it becomes as shown in FIG. When this black-painted portion is on the above line segment, that portion is counted as a black pixel on the line segment.

In the present embodiment, the combination (route) of line segments that minimizes the number of black pixels is selected as the junction boundary (S5
9, S61). That is, in FIG. 10, line segments Y1, Y2, Y3,
From the left end of either Y4 or Y5, the line segment Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y
Route to reach the right end of any of 5 (because it is a route selected from the above-mentioned combination of 32 line segments, 5 ⁴ = 62
If there are 5 routes), the route with the minimum total number of black pixels on that route is selected as the junction boundary.
(S61).

This will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. In FIGS. 10 and 11, the numerical value attached to each line segment indicates the number of black pixels on the line segment. For example, when the route indicated by the thick line in FIG. 10B is selected from the line segment group in which the number of black pixels is distributed as shown in FIG. 10A, the total number of black pixels on the route is "0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 100 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 10
0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 200 = 400 ”.

On the other hand, if the route shown by the bold line in FIG. 11 is selected from the same line segment group as above, the total number of black pixels on the route is "0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +".
0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0 ”.

That is, the thick line route in FIG. 11 is shown in FIG.
The total number of black pixels is smaller than that of the bold line in (b).
In this embodiment, a route is selected as shown in FIG. 11, and this route is determined as the joining boundary shape.

The data indicating the joint boundary shape thus determined is stored in the boundary data holding unit 56. Based on this, the selector 32 is switched and controlled as described above, and the selected image data of the image data of the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 is the image memory C54.
Sent to Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the two images are well joined so as not to cause a density difference at the boundary portion.

In the above embodiment, as described above, the difference between the image data of the pair of pixels is obtained from the image data of the image memory A51 and the image data of the image memory B52, and the pixel whose value exceeds a certain predetermined value is blacked. It is counted as a pixel. That is,
The part where the difference in density is large due to the deviation of the two divided images (the part shown in black in FIG. 9)
Are counted as black pixels. Therefore, for example, even when the image is expressed white on a black background, there is an effect that it can be processed promptly.

According to the apparatus of the above-described embodiment, when the density difference occurs in the overlapping portion of the divided images due to the reading condition or the like, not only the density difference can be conspicuously joined but also the first time (the upper half and the center). Overlapping part) and the second (the central overlapping part and the lower half) reading, if there is a gap in the overlapping part,
There is an effect that two images can be joined so that the shift is not noticeable. Note that FIG. 12 shows the case of joining by this device, and FIG. 13 shows the case of joining by the conventional device.

In the above embodiment, the path having the smallest density difference between the pixel data values at corresponding positions (= same address) in the overlapping area of the image memory A51 and the image memory B52 is selected as the junction boundary. The present invention may be implemented as in the following embodiments.

For example, a path passing through the base region may be selected as the joining boundary. That is, in the overlapping area of either the image memory A51 or the image memory B52, a portion having a density higher than a predetermined background density is detected as a black pixel,
You may make it process similarly to the above-mentioned Example.

FIG. 14 is a diagram in which, in the image data of the image memory A51, a portion having a large density difference from a predetermined background density is detected as a black pixel (a portion filled with black in FIG. 14). The vertical and horizontal line segments X1 to X3, Y1 to Y5
Is the same as in the above-mentioned embodiment. In this example, the left end to X
One of the line segments Y2 to Y5 is selected between 1 and X
The line segment Y5 is selected between 1 and X2, the line segment Y2 is selected between X2 and X3, and the line segment Y4 is selected between X3 and the right end.
Is selected. Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 14, either one of the divided images (the image of the image memory A51 in FIG. 14)
Area where the density difference from the background area is large (black pixels)
The path of the line segment selected so as to avoid is determined as the joining boundary shape, which is the same as in the above-described embodiment.
Is used for the switching control of the, and the divided images are joined.

As a method for extracting pixels larger than the background density by exceeding a certain value, the background density may be obtained and the difference between the values may be obtained. It is also possible to select pixels larger than a predetermined value.

Further, as shown in FIG. 15, a route passing through the base region may be selected by selecting the joining boundary line so as to avoid the character region and the photo region. That is, the total of pixel densities is calculated for each line in the horizontal direction, and the total is the minimum line (line indicated by arrow A / line indicated by thick line).
May be selected as the joining boundary line. This method is effective for an image in which characters and the like are regularly arranged.

Further, it is also possible to select a path by selecting a portion with a small density change, or select a path with a small color change in the case of a color image. Further, the joining boundary shape may be selected or the selection algorithm may be changed according to the character area, the photograph area, or the like.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, two or more line segments are not selected in each of the left end to X1, the X1 to X2, the X2 to X3, and the X3 to the right end. I have to. In other words, the line segment is selected so that there is no return route. However, it is also possible to choose to allow the return route. In that case, although the amount of data to be processed increases, it may be possible to perform better joining. It should be noted that an upper limit may be set for the total path length in order to avoid an extreme increase in the data processing amount.

In the above-described embodiment, the joint boundary shape is defined based on the line segments X1 to X3 and the line segments Y1 to Y5 shown in FIG. That is, the joint boundary shape is defined based on the orthogonal line segments. However, if the data processing capacity has a margin, the joining boundary shape may be determined by an arbitrary line such as a diagonal line or a curved line.

[0055]

According to the present invention, a line connecting pixels having a small density difference between adjacent images from the overlapping area is extracted as a joining line and each adjacent image is joined at the portion, so that the joined images are joined. Then, the concentration difference at the junction boundary becomes small. In addition, even when a deviation occurs in the overlapping area, the deviation is less noticeable.

Further, according to the present invention, a line connecting pixels having a small density difference from adjacent pixels is extracted as a joining line from the overlapping area of one image, and each adjacent image is joined at that portion. Joining in the part where the change is large is avoided.
As a result, in the joined image, the density difference at the joining boundary portion becomes small, making it less noticeable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a mechanism of an image reading unit of the embodiment apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a document placing table of the embodiment apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing in a control unit of the embodiment apparatus.

5 is a flow chart showing the joint boundary determination processing of FIG.
G.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a document image and an image obtained by reading, synthesizing, and dividing the document image.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of processing in the apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which divided images are overlapped at overlapping portions.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a shift of images in the overlapping portion of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a manner of dividing an overlapping portion in order to determine a joining boundary line.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a joining boundary line of overlapping portions in the case of the images shown in FIGS. 6 to 9;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an overlapping portion of the joining boundary line of FIG. 11 and the images shown in FIGS. 6 to 9.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where the images shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 are joined by a conventional method.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an algorithm for obtaining a joining line from an overlapping area of one of adjacent images.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an algorithm different from that of FIG. 14 for obtaining a joining line from an overlapping region of one of adjacent images.

[Explanation of symbols]

 27 Platen glass D Original

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for joining and outputting first image data and second image data, which have common overlapping image data, as one image data, and join line memory for storing joining lines of a plurality of patterns. Means for calculating the difference between the image densities of the two pixels by comparing the pixels of the overlapping image data of the first and second image data located on the joining line, and the result of the calculation by the calculating means, Counting means for counting the number of pixels whose image density difference between both pixels is a predetermined value or more for each of the joining lines stored in the joining line storage means, and the number of pixels counted by the counting means is the minimum. Extraction means for extracting the joining line consisting of, according to the joining line extracted by the extracting means,
It is characterized by further comprising: a selection unit for selecting which of the first storage unit and the second storage unit the overlapping image data is to be output, and an output unit for outputting the overlapping image data selected by the selection unit. Image forming apparatus. 2. An image processing apparatus for joining and outputting first image data and second image data, which have common overlapping image data, as one image data and outputs the joined line memory for storing joining lines of a plurality of patterns. Means for counting the number of pixels, in the first image data, in which the image density located on each of the joining lines is a predetermined value or more, for each joining line stored in the joining line storage means; Extraction means for extracting the junction line having the minimum number of pixels counted by the counting means, and the junction line extracted by the extraction means,
It is characterized by further comprising: a selection unit for selecting which of the first storage unit and the second storage unit the overlapping image data is to be output, and an output unit for outputting the overlapping image data selected by the selection unit. Image forming apparatus. 3. An image processing apparatus for joining and outputting first image data and second image data, which have common overlapping image data, as one image data, and a background of the overlapping image data of the first image data. The background density determining means for determining the density, and the overlapping image data of the first image data, the number of pixels whose image density is a predetermined value or more compared with the background density determined by the background density determining means is 1 Counting means for counting for each line, a line in which the number of pixels counted by the counting means is the minimum, extraction means for extracting as a joining line, and according to the joining line extracted by the extracting means,
It is characterized by further comprising: a selection unit for selecting which of the first storage unit and the second storage unit the overlapping image data is to be output, and an output unit for outputting the overlapping image data selected by the selection unit. Image forming apparatus. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, further comprising: a unit that prohibits processing of the joining unit when the overlapping region is a photographic image.