JP2001127975A - Image processing, control method therefor and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent careless mistakes by realizing management of an electronic watermarks with satisfactorily operability, which is not realized in conventional image processing software, and realizing operability which is not only the one which can be easily managed by a beginner but also one without giving him sense of incongruity for a user who is familiar with the management of the conventional image processing software. SOLUTION: It is determined whether the electronic watermark which can be read by a control program is embedded when the image is read (step S2), electronic watermark information is read first, when it is embedded (step S5) and the information is decoded and converted into information with a meaning (step S6). Then a layer exclusive for electronic watermark information is newly prepared, while being separate from the layer for holding the read picture and the image is preserved there (step S7).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and processing for handling image data.

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, various methods have been considered for embedding information in image data by means such as a digital watermark, and software for realizing the information is actually sold by a personal computer or the like. However, with such software, there are problems such as a troublesome procedure for embedding a desired digital watermark in an image and a difficulty in embedding data as desired. In addition, it often happens that an image embedded with a digital watermark is processed without knowing it, so that the embedded information cannot be read.

[0002]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims at realizing digital watermark handling with good operability, which cannot be realized with conventional image processing software. The aim is to realize operability that does not make users feel uncomfortable even for users who are familiar with software, and to prevent inadvertent mistakes.

[0003]

In order to achieve the above object, for example, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, an image processing apparatus that manages and processes image data in a hierarchical manner, a detecting unit that detects digital watermark information included in the image data, and the digital watermark information obtained by the detection is referred to as the image data. Storage means for holding in another layer.

As a result, the image processing apparatus can manage and process the read image data hierarchically.

[0005]

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

[First Embodiment] This embodiment is an image processing apparatus that manages and processes image data hierarchically.
The digital watermark information included in the image data is detected, and the digital watermark information obtained by the detection is stored in a layer different from the layer constituting the image data. When printing the image stored in this way, the image data of each layer is synthesized to form one image data, and the watermark information stored in another layer is read and output.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

Reference numeral 401 denotes a CPU such as a microprocessor, for example, which executes various controls in accordance with a control program stored in a program memory 403 of a RAM 402. The control program includes, for example, the drive unit 4
08 is installed from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM mounted on the storage device 08 and stored in an external storage device 410 such as a hard disk, and is loaded into the program memory 403 of the RAM 402 and executed at the time of execution. This RAM 40
Reference numeral 2 also includes a work area for temporarily storing various data and an image memory area for storing input image data when the CPU 401 executes various processes.

Reference numeral 404 denotes a display unit which is composed of, for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal, and displays an image to be processed, a message to an operator, and the like.

Reference numeral 405 denotes an image input unit, for example, a scanner,
It includes a digital camera, and an NCU or the like capable of inputting image data via a communication line, and is used to input image data intended by an operator. Note that the image data in the present embodiment may be input from the image input unit 405, or may be loaded from a storage medium mounted on the drive unit 408.

Reference numeral 406 denotes an operation unit having a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse. Various commands, data, and the like can be input by an operator using a cursor or the like displayed on the display unit 404. .

A printer 407 includes, for example, an ink jet printer, a laser beam printer, and a thermal printer. The printer 407 receives print data from a printer driver (not shown) which is loaded into the RAM 402 and executed, and performs printing.

An external storage device 410 such as a hard disk stores various application programs and image data as described above.

Reference numeral 409 denotes a bus for connecting the above-described units.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic process from reading image data to displaying the image data in this embodiment. The processing content will be described along with this processing.

First, image data is read (step S)
1). When reading the image, it is determined whether or not a digital watermark that can be decoded by the control program is embedded (step S2). If the digital watermark is embedded, the digital watermark information is read first (step S5), and the digital watermark is read. The information is decoded and converted into meaningful information (step S6).

FIG. 5 shows the detailed processing of step S6. First, information is decoded (step S501), and it is determined whether or not the watermark information is an image (step S50).
2). If an image is displayed as it is (step S50)
5) If it is a text, the text is converted, and the font, character size, character color, and the like at that time are displayed using preset ones (step S503). Next, it is determined whether the watermark is a visible watermark (step S504). If the watermark is a visible watermark, the digital watermark information is read from the image signal and the digital watermark information is removed from the original image information, so that the digital watermark information does not remain in the image signal. (Step S506). Since various proposals have already been made for such a visible watermark, the details will not be described here.

As described above, image data can be displayed irrespective of the presence / absence and type of watermark information by the above-described processing. Returning to FIG. The digital watermark information thus read out is temporarily stored in a buffer, and can have a multilayer image holding layer (layer) structure similar to that of, for example, Photoshop (Photoshop is a trademark of Adobe in the United States). Then, a layer dedicated to digital watermark information is newly prepared separately from the layer holding the read image, and is stored there (step S7). Thus, no matter how this image data is handled thereafter, the digital watermark information is separated, so that the digital watermark is not affected. It is also possible to combine other image data with this image data.

On the other hand, when the digital watermark is not embedded in the image data, a normal image manipulation operation or
3) A watermark layer can be created as needed (steps S4 and S7).

The above is the description of the case where the digital watermark is removed from the image and a new digital watermark layer is created and processed. A in FIG. 1 is processing until the image data and watermark information of each layer are output in the form of printing or file creation, and is shown in FIG. 1B is the processing described in FIG. 6, and B will be described below with reference to FIG.

The operator determines whether to print or combine each layer into a single layer (step S601).
If combining is performed, the watermark information is combined after combining the image layers (step S604). Next, the operator inputs whether or not to perform printing (step S60).
5) If an image is to be printed, the image is printed (step S606); if not, the operator selects whether to print or combine the layers into a single layer, and selects not to perform the printing. Similarly, a selection is made as to whether or not to output an image (step S602). If so, a file is created (step S603), and this process ends. If no output is made, the image display and image operation of FIG.
Return to 3).

Next, a case where digital watermark information is newly added to an image file will be described. When adding a new digital watermark to image data, when it is selected to create a watermark in the selection of whether to create a watermark (step S
4) A layer dedicated to digital watermarking is created, and digital watermark information is set there (step S7). At this time, if there is a watermark that has already been set, the watermark is retained, and if a new digital watermark is to be added, the type of digital watermark is set when the layer is created. Here, for example, an invisible watermark of a text or a visible watermark of an image (graphic) is set. When the text is set, the character size, font type, and the like are ignored, and only the so-called text information and the approximate position of the built-in information are retained.
If the image is set as a graphic, it is recognized as image information and the information is kept as it is.

After that, when the image is filed, the image with the digital watermark is processed as it is as an image file (step S603). At this time, the digital watermark layer is clearly saved as being different from a general image layer, and is stored so that the original state can be restored when the digital watermark is read again.

When an image having a multi-layer structure is converted into a single-layer image for the purpose of printing or the like, image information (including text information) consisting of layers other than a digital watermark is first added. The images are combined, and then the digital watermark information is incorporated into the image (step S604) to complete the process. Although the stage of synthesizing the digital watermark information depends on the method of incorporating the digital watermark, it may be necessary to convert the image information into spatial frequency axis information. In that case, once the image information is frequency-converted and the digital watermark is embedded,
Thereafter, it is necessary to convert the image signal into a normal image signal again. The conversion work, etc. during this time is different from the layer synthesis process handled by conventional image software, and a process of incorporating a digital watermark is added to the compression process such as JPEG when saving image data. The function can be added relatively easily.

When an image file is created, the file can be created by compressing the file as it is, so that it is efficient. When printing out, image information on the frequency axis is temporarily converted into normal plane axis information. Data to the printer driver and print out (step S
606).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a digital watermark is once incorporated into image information, the image is set to be filed as it is. However, when the image is filed and read again, the digital watermark is generated in the process. Since the watermark can be separated and the digital watermark can be stored in another layer again, it is possible to return to a multilayered layer structure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a multilayer structure including a digital watermark. The first layer 11 is character information such as a date, the second layer 12 is original image information, and the third layer 13 is information to be incorporated as a watermark. In the case of finally combining, the first layer and the second layer are combined, and then the watermark information of the third layer is converted and incorporated into the image. In this case, the digital watermark can be separated by re-reading after the file is once combined and filed, but the character information of the first layer and the image information of the second layer are read as one.

The above-described function of decomposing a read image into a multi-layer structure including a digital watermark may be provided, for example, in a device driver incorporated in an OS on a computer. That is, when reading the Photoshop, the device driver described above decomposes the read image into a multilayered layer structure including a digital watermark.

[Second Embodiment] In this embodiment, when higher-speed processing is required in image processing software capable of handling a digital watermark, only the presence or absence of a digital watermark is detected when reading an image. An example is shown in which, when there is a watermark, only an operation set in advance can be performed, and an image is read and displayed as it is. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart at this time.

The outline of the processing contents will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, image information is read (step S30).
1), the presence or absence of a watermark is determined (step S302).
If the presence of a digital watermark that can be handled by the control program can be confirmed when reading the image, a signal (flag) indicating the presence of a preset digital watermark is set, and information indicating the presence of the digital watermark is held (step S308). ). Based on this information, an operable key is set so that an operation that affects the digital watermark cannot be performed (step S3).
09). For example, operations such as color tone and contrast of an image can be performed, but conversion of the number of pixels, partial extraction of an image, synthesis of another image, and the like cannot be performed.

At this time, the influence of the operation is different depending on how the digital watermark is inserted. If the digital watermark is of the type that intensively embeds in a certain part of the image, the part avoiding the area can be synthesized. I can do it. When embedding a digital watermark by focusing on a frequency obtained by converting an image into a frequency axis, filter processing such as an image sharpness filter can be performed by avoiding the frequency band. If you don't, you can give a warning.

Thereafter, when printing is performed, printing can be performed as it is. Compared with the case where the digital watermark is separated, processing such as separation and synthesis of the watermark is not required, and the time can be reduced.

[Other Embodiments] The above-described embodiment can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), and can be configured as a single device. (For example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, etc.).

An object of the above-described embodiment is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and to provide the system or the apparatus. It is needless to say that the present invention is also achieved when a computer (or a CPU or an MPU) reads and executes a program code stored in a storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the above-described embodiment. By executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where some or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the above-described embodiment is applied to the above-mentioned storage medium, the storage medium is described above (FIGS. 1, 3,
The program code corresponding to the flowchart (shown in 5 and 6) will be stored.

[0038]

According to the present invention, there is an effect of realizing the digital watermark handling with good operability which could not be realized by the conventional image processing software, so that not only the beginner can easily handle but also the conventional image processing software can be handled. It has the effect of realizing operability that does not make the user feel uncomfortable, and preventing inadvertent mistakes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating processing from reading down image data to displaying the image data in the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a multi-layer structure including a digital watermark according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a schematic process according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of decoding digital watermark information used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing when outputting in the first embodiment.

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus that manages and processes image data hierarchically, comprising: a detecting unit that detects digital watermark information included in the image data; An image processing apparatus, comprising: storage means for storing the image data in a layer different from the layer constituting the image data. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a prohibition unit that prohibits operation of the image data when the digital watermark information is detected by the detection unit. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a removing unit that determines whether the digital watermark is visible, and removes the digital watermark from the image data if the digital watermark is visible. Image processing device. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising output control means for determining whether the digital watermark is a character or an image, outputting the image in a predetermined format if it is a character, and outputting this image if it is an image. The image processing device according to claim 2. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit configured to combine the layers constituting the image data into a single layer when the image data is output, and to generate image data for output by incorporating the digital watermark of the another layer. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for re-reading the image data combined into a single layer and returning the image data and digital watermark information to the original hierarchical structure. apparatus. 7. An image processing method for hierarchically managing and processing image data, comprising: a detection step of detecting digital watermark information included in the image data; Storing the image data in a layer different from the layer constituting the image data. 8. The image processing method according to claim 7, further comprising a prohibition step of prohibiting operation of the image data when the digital watermark information is detected in the detection step. 9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: determining whether the digital watermark is visible, and removing the digital watermark from the image data if visible. Image processing method. 10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising an output control step of determining whether the digital watermark is a character or an image, outputting the image in a predetermined format if it is a character, and outputting the image as it is if it is an image. 9. The image processing method according to any one of 8. 11. The method according to claim 11, further comprising a step of combining the layers constituting the image data into a single layer at the time of outputting the image data, and creating image data for output by incorporating the digital watermark of the another layer. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein: 12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a step of re-reading the image data combined into a single layer and returning the image data and the digital watermark information to the original hierarchical structure. Method. 13. A storage medium for storing a program code for hierarchically managing and processing image data by being read and executed by a computer, comprising: a detection processing module for detecting digital watermark information included in the image data; A storage medium storing a program code, comprising: a storage processing module for holding the digital watermark information detected by the detection processing module in a layer different from the layer constituting the image data. 14. The program code according to claim 13, further comprising a prohibition processing module for prohibiting operation of the image data when the digital watermark information is detected in the detection processing module. Storage media. 15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a removal processing module that determines whether the digital watermark is visible and removes the digital watermark from the image data if the digital watermark is visible. Storage medium for storing the program code of 16. An output control processing module for judging whether the digital watermark is a character or an image, outputting the image in a predetermined format if it is a character, and outputting the image as it is if it is an image. Item 15. A storage medium for storing the program code according to any one of items 14. 17. When outputting the image data, the image processing apparatus further includes a processing module that collects the layers constituting the image data into a single layer, and incorporates the electronic watermark of the another layer to generate image data for output. A storage medium for storing the program code according to claim 13. 18. The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a processing module for re-reading the image data combined into a single layer and returning the image data and digital watermark information to the original hierarchical structure. Storage medium for storing program code.