JP2000138814A - Image layout device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent areas which are not desired to be concealed from overlapping, even when a plurality of images are overlappingly laid out. SOLUTION: Image entry means 3, 4, 5 enter a plurality of images, an image display means 2 displays them, area designation means 7, 16, 19 designate a specific area in the displayed image, an automatic layout means 14 obtains the designated area and automatically lays out other images to area other than the obtained area. When an area which is not desired to be concealed is designated in advance, many images can automatically be laid out on one print, while avoiding other images from being overlapped on the designated area and then it is not required to reduce the images in the case of laying out many images.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image layout apparatus and, more particularly, to an apparatus for automatically laying out a plurality of images so that the areas not desired to be hidden do not overlap.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed an image layout apparatus which takes in an image from a scanner, a memory card, an optical disk or the like, automatically lays out the plurality of taken-in images, prints the image on one sheet, and outputs it.

In such an image layout apparatus, there has been proposed an image layout apparatus in which when laying out an image of a film having a magnetic recording section, the vertical and horizontal arrangement is automatically determined from the vertical and horizontal information recorded in the magnetic recording section. Have been.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional image layout apparatus, a predetermined number of images, for example, 4 to 9 images, are laid out on one print sheet. It is necessary to arrange the images so that they do not overlap, and the number of prints increases. Therefore, when trying to increase the number of images per sheet, there is a problem that the image must be reduced, and it is difficult to confirm the image with the reduced image.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to increase the number of images per image by superimposing images, but there is a possibility that an area in the image that is not desired to be hidden is hidden by another image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image layout apparatus in which, even when a plurality of images are laid out on a single print, the areas not desired to be hidden do not overlap.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventor of the present invention has conducted intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems. As a result, an area which the user does not want to hide is specified in advance, and another image is not overlapped with the specified area. Focusing on good things, the present invention has been completed.

Therefore, an image layout apparatus according to the present invention is an image layout apparatus for automatically laying out a plurality of images by superimposing the plurality of images, the image input means for inputting a plurality of images, and the image for displaying the input images. Display means, area designation means for designating a specific area in the displayed image,
Automatic layout means for obtaining an area specified by the area specifying means and laying out another image in addition to the obtained area.

One of the features of the present invention is that an area is designated for a displayed image, and an automatic layout is performed so that another image does not overlap the designated area. Accordingly, a plurality of images can be automatically laid out without reducing an image or the like and without overlapping another image with a part of the image that the user does not want to hide.

The area may be designated by specifying the start point and the end point using a mouse. Alternatively, if an area pattern is prepared in advance and selected, the operation can be performed more easily. And convenient. That is, the apparatus may further include storage means for storing a plurality of area patterns prepared in advance, and the area specifying means may specify a specific area in the displayed image based on the selected area pattern. .

The automatic layout of the image may be performed at random, or the operation may be simplified by selecting from a layout pattern prepared in advance. That is, the automatic layout unit may further include a storage unit that stores a plurality of layout patterns prepared in advance, and the automatic layout unit may display a plurality of images based on the selected layout pattern.

[0012]

According to the present invention, when an area that is not desired to be hidden is designated in advance, a large number of images can be automatically laid out on one print without any other image overlapping the designated area. When laying out a large number of images, there is no need to reduce the images.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to specific examples shown in the drawings. 1 to 15 show a preferred embodiment of the image layout apparatus according to the present invention.
1 and 2 show a system of an image layout device,
FIG. 1 shows a system configured as an integrated input / output device, and FIG. 2 illustrates a system configured as a separate type of input / output device.
In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body including a CPU and a memory, and 2
Reference numeral denotes a monitor (image display means), and reference numeral 3 denotes a print type loading section (image input means) for reading an image by loading a film or print, and is constituted as a scanner in the separate type of the input / output device in FIG. Reference numeral 4 denotes a card loading unit (image input means) for loading a memory card or a floppy disk and reading image data; 5 denotes an optical disk or a compact disk (CD)
A disc loading section (image input means) for reading image data by loading the same, etc., and a print output section 6 for outputting an image is configured as a printer in the separate input / output device type shown in FIG. Reference numeral 7 denotes a mouse (region specifying means) as a pointing device.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit block in the apparatus main body 1. In the figure, 11 is an overall control unit for controlling the entire apparatus, 12 is an interface for taking in image data from the prints loading unit 3, card loading unit 4 and disc loading unit 5, and 13 is image data from the interface 12. A first memory for temporarily storing the image data, an image signal processing unit (automatic layout unit) 14 for monitoring and printing the image data stored in the first memory 13, and a reference numeral 15 for the image data subjected to the signal processing. A second memory for displaying on the monitor 2 for printing out, which is usually constituted by a buffer memory, in which image data is laid out and stored. Reference numeral 16 denotes an address controller (region designating means) for controlling the addresses of the first and second memories 13 and 15, and in particular, for determining an image address so that the designated region is not hidden from the second memory 15. Is a superimpose section for displaying a frame of a designated area on the monitor 2, 18 is a ROM (storage means) in which a template (area pattern) and a composite pattern (layout pattern) for designating an area are stored, Reference numeral 19 denotes an area specifying unit (area specifying means) for outputting an address of an area specified by the mouse 7.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a main process from image reading to printing. When the processing is started, the prints loading section 3, the cards loading section 4, or the disc loading section 5 causes the recording media (film, print, memory card, floppy disk, optical disk, compact disk) loaded therein to be read. An image is read (step S1). The reading of the images may be performed by reading all the images recorded on the recording medium at once, or may be performed by reading one image at a time, and further, the image to be read may be arbitrarily selected.

The read image is displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 as a multi-screen (step S2). FIG. 7 shows an example of multi-screen display. The number of images to be displayed on one screen is set to such a size that the contents of the image can be confirmed and can be displayed on the screen. For example, in FIG. 7, six images are displayed. The lower part of the screen of the monitor 2 is used for designating an area that is not desired to be hidden when an image is automatically laid out, and will be described later in detail.

Next, an area not to be hidden when a plurality of images are automatically laid out is designated (step S).
3), details will be described later with reference to FIG. After the designation of the area not to be hidden is completed, the layout and the composition of the image are performed in consideration of the designated area (step S4). The printed and synthesized image is printed by the print output unit 6. The print size can be a panorama size or A4 size.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a subroutine of the area designation processing. When the process is started, first, an input method is selected (step S31). That is, a frame (template) previously stored in the apparatus is used, or the mouse 7
Determines whether to specify an arbitrary shape by manual operation.

When selecting an input method using a template, a mouse 7 is used as shown in FIGS.
A desired shape is selected (dragged) from the plurality of templates 21 displayed at the lower part of the screen of the monitor 2 and a desired one is selected from the images displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 in a multi-screen with the mouse 7 being clicked. Select image 23,
In the area of the image 23 that the user does not want to hide,
Is moved, and the click is released to place (drop) (steps S32 and S33).

When the area not to be hidden is designated, the address of the designated area is stored, and then the indication of the designated area is displayed, for example, a display 24 by a dotted line as shown in FIG. (Steps S34 and S35).
The storage of the area address is performed, for example, using a rectangular template 2
In the case of 1, the address of the four corners is stored, and in the case of a circle, the address on the frame 24 of the template 21 is stored. Also, the frame line 2 of the area frame displayed in the image 23
4 is naturally not printed.

The display of the area frame displayed on the screen 24
Can be arbitrarily changed (magnification). That is, when an instruction to change the magnification is given, the size of the display of the area frame 24 is changed, and the address of the designated area is re-stored and re-displayed (steps S36 and S37). In the scaling method, the user clicks the frame line 24 of the area frame displayed on the image with the mouse 7 and specifies the size with the mouse 7 while the bidirectional arrow 25 is displayed as shown in FIG. In this way, the magnification can be changed. If there is no scaling operation,
The operation of area designation is repeated for the desired next image 23 (step S313).

On the other hand, when an area is designated by manual operation, the arrow 2 displayed on the lower part of the screen of the monitor 2
When the mouse 7 is clicked on the screen of the monitor 2 and the mouse 7 is clicked again in a desired area of the desired image 23 on the screen of the monitor 2, the clicked position on the image 23 is stored as the start point address of the area (step S38). , S3
9).

When the starting point is determined, the mouse 7 is moved (drag) and placed (dropped) while being clicked.
After designating the area that the user does not want to hide and storing the position where the click is released as the end point address of the area (steps S310 and S311), the display 24 of the designated area frame is performed (step S312). The operation of specifying the area is repeated for the next image 23 (step S313).

The above-mentioned operation is repeated until the designation of the region not desired to be hidden for all the plurality of desired images 23 is completed. When the designation is completed, the region designation processing is terminated. In this case, when the area specification is necessary for six or more images 23, that is, when the number of images recorded on the recording medium is large, the next six images are similarly displayed on the monitor 2 screen in multi-screen. , An area is specified.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a subroutine of the synthesizing process. When the process is started, first, a shape for laying out an image, that is, a combined pattern is selected (step S41). FIG. 9 shows an example of a pattern. Each example of a linear, radial, arc and random pattern is shown together with its number. The selection method is selected, for example, by clicking the composite pattern displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 with the mouse 7, or by inputting the number of the composite pattern using a keyboard (not shown) or the like.

Next, a variable K indicating the image number is set to 1, and the K-th frame, that is, the first image of the first frame is displayed on the screen of the monitor 2, and the K-th frame, ie, the image of the first frame, is displayed. The address of the designated area that is not desired to be hidden is read out (step S
42, S43, S44).

Until the predetermined number of frames is displayed, the variable K indicating the number of the image is incremented by 1, and the number of the next image of the second frame is set. From the address of the designated area of the first frame to the other addresses, Is calculated, and the image of the second frame is displayed while avoiding the area where the image of the first frame is not desired to be hidden. The above processing is repeated until the number of frames reaches a predetermined number. Here, the predetermined number of frames is the maximum number of frames in which images can be arranged so that the designated area is not hidden, or the number when the number of captured images is designated (however, images are arranged so that the designated area is not hidden). Less than the maximum possible number of frames).

The concept of the above address calculation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The area addresses of the image are indicated by X1 to X4 and Y1 to Y4, and the address of the designated area is x1.
X2 and y1 to y2. For the image A, the designated area is (x1, y1) (x2, y1) (x1, y2) (x
2, y2), the image B to be laid out on the image A
Display areas other than the designated area of image A (X3, Y3)
(X4, Y3) (X3, Y4) (X4, Y4).
Similarly, the next image (not shown) is displayed outside the designated areas of the images A and B.

FIG. 10 shows a display example of images arranged as described above. In the example, a linear pattern is selected as the composite pattern. A frame line 40 indicates that printing is performed in a panoramic size. FIG. 12 shows an example of a layout using another composite pattern. FIG. 12A shows a layout using a three-row composite pattern, and FIG. 12B shows a normal layout using a radial composite pattern. This is a designated area where the dotted frame in the image is not desired to be hidden.

When the display of the image of the predetermined number of frames is completed, either the "print" 41 or the "correction" 42 displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 shown in FIG.
Then, when "print" is selected (step S48), the combining process is terminated and the print process (step S5) is performed.

When "correction" displayed on the screen of the monitor 2 is selected (step S49), the position of the image can be manually corrected, and the image can be trimmed by designating the area. For example, if the user wants to change the layout of the image, he or she can click on the image to be moved with the mouse and move it to an arbitrary position by dragging and dropping. Also,
Image rotation can also be performed.

Here, a method of rotating an image with a mouse will be described. When the vertical / horizontal information is recorded together with the image, the vertical / horizontal image can be automatically displayed in an erect state based on the information. However, when there is no vertical / horizontal information, the vertical position image is also displayed horizontally. FIG. 15A shows this state. In order to display this state in an upright state as shown in FIG. 15 (b), the above-described area designating method is used.

That is, the image is rotated from the movement of the mouse in the same procedure as the procedure for specifying the start point and the end point when specifying the area. In this case,
The template described in the area specification above does not apply.

More specifically, FIG. 13 shows the addresses of the designated areas numbered. (X1, y1)
= 1, (x2, y1) = 2, (x1, y2) = 3, (x
2, y2) = 4. In this state, the direction in which the mouse 7 is moved is detected as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14, and the display is rotated by 90 ° left and right and 180 ° according to the moving direction of the mouse 7.

That is, when the manual correction process shown in FIG. 16 is started, first, the mouse 7 is clicked at the position to be the starting point of the image on the monitor 2 screen. It is stored as the start point address (steps S490 and S491). When the start point is determined, the mouse 7 is moved (drag) and placed (dropped) with the mouse clicked. When the position to be the end point is designated, the click is released. Since the position is stored as the end point address of the area (steps S492 and S493), an image rotation process (FIG. 14) is executed, and the moving direction of the mouse 7 is detected and the image is rotated (step S4).
94).

For example, when the image is displayed in an upright state, the image does not need to be rotated. Therefore, if the mouse 7 is moved from address 1 to address 4, the image can be displayed as it is. (Step S60,
S67). When the mouse 7 is moved from the address 4 to the address 1 when the image is displayed in the 180 ° reverse direction, the image is rotated 180 ° and displayed (step S).
61, S62, S67). When the mouse 7 is moved from the address 2 to the address 3 when the image is displayed in a state rotated 90 degrees to the right, the image is rotated 90 degrees to the left and displayed (steps S63, S64, S67). In a case where the image is displayed in a state of being rotated 90 ° to the left, when the mouse 7 is moved from address 3 to address 2, the image is rotated 90 ° to the right and displayed (step S65,
S66, S67).

In FIG. 15A, the mouse 7 is rotated 90 ° to the right and displayed.
, The image is displayed rotated 90 degrees to the left.
The rotation angle may be set arbitrarily. In addition, each time a pattern is selected, the pattern may be automatically rotated clockwise by 90 °. For example,
A linear pattern may be selected as a composite pattern, and the image may be rotated by 90 ° in the next pattern so that the pattern can be selected again.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a preferred embodiment in which an image layout device according to the present invention is configured as an integrated input / output device.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing a preferred embodiment in which the image layout apparatus according to the present invention is configured as an input / output device separate type.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing circuit blocks in the image layout device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a main flow of processing in the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of an area designation process in the device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a combining process in the above device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of multi-screen display of an image in the device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an operation of specifying an area in the apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout pattern.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which an image is automatically laid out.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an automatic layout method.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example in which an image is automatically laid out.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining rotation of an image at the time of layout correction.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a flow of a subroutine of image rotation processing in manual correction processing.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image rotation process.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a flow of a subroutine of a manual correction process in FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Monitor (image display means) 3 Prints loading part (image input means) 4 Cards loading part (image input means) 5 Disks loading part (image input means) 6 Print output part 7 Mouse (area designation means) 11) Overall control unit 14 Image signal processing unit (automatic layout unit) 15 Second memory 16 Address controller (region specifying unit) 17 Superimpose unit 18 ROM (storage unit) 19 Area specifying unit (region specifying unit)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 5B057 AA11 BA01 BA02 BA24 CA12 CA16 CB12 CB16 CC03 CD02 CD04 CD05 CE08 CE20 DA07 DA16 DB02 DC04 DC08 5B075 ND08 NK37 PP03 PP12 PP13 PP22 PQ02 PQ69 5C076 AA12 AA14 AA21 CA10 CA11

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image layout apparatus for automatically laying out a plurality of images by superimposing the plurality of images, an image input unit for inputting a plurality of images, an image display unit for displaying the input images, and the displayed image An image layout comprising: an area designating means for designating a specific area within the area; and an automatic layout means for finding an area designated by the area designating means and laying out another image other than the found area. apparatus. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store a plurality of area patterns prepared in advance, wherein the area designating unit is configured to specify a specific area in the displayed image based on an area pattern selected from the plurality of area patterns. 2. The image layout apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image layout device can specify the following. 3. A storage means for storing a plurality of layout patterns prepared in advance, wherein the automatic layout means lays out a plurality of images based on a layout pattern selected from the plurality of layout patterns. The image layout device according to claim 1.