JP2001235812A - Image processing method in digital photographic processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which allows easy execution of adequate masking processing for the purpose of privacy protection of a third person or for making it possible to process even the images contradicting public order and morals and to hand the photographs to the clients by using a digital photographic processing device which enables individual users to use the device in general DPE services as well. SOLUTION: The digital photographic processing device has an input means for inputting image data, a display means for displaying the inputted image data, an operation means for inputting operation information, a processing means for processing the inputted image data in accordance with the operation information and an output means for outputting the processed image data. The photographic processing device is constituted in such a manner that the masking pattern M is superposed on the undesirable segment of the original image data K and that the masked image data L is printed by operating the operation means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital photographic processing apparatus having a function of processing input image data and outputting the processed image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when printing an image recorded on a medium such as a photographic film on a photographic paper, printing all of the image may cause inconvenience. Such a case is, for example, a case where an unrelated third party other than the intended subject is photographed together, regardless of whether the photographer intends or not. The use of such third-party images for personal purposes requires strictly the consent of all third parties, but obtaining such consent is practically unlikely. It is possible and not implemented. Therefore, in the case of using in publications, masking processing such as painting out the face of a person or the nameplate of a house so that the third party cannot be identified is a protection of the privacy of the third party. It is generally performed for the purpose. Further, when an operator finds an image that is contrary to public order and morals at the stage of inspecting a finished print, the operator discards the print without giving it to the client as a self-regulation.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned masking processing is not performed in the general DPE service intended for the individual user due to the problem of the function of the equipment and the trouble. In addition, if an image that violates public order and morals is shown, it must be disposed of, and it is not possible to charge a fee for the print, resulting in loss as a loss print. In many cases, the client requested that an image contrary to public order and morals was unintentionally captured, and that other parts were necessary. There was a problem that I could not pass it.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention uses a digital photograph processing apparatus which can be used by an individual user in a general DPE service to protect the privacy of a third party, or The purpose of the present invention is to provide a system that can easily perform appropriate masking processing so that an image that is contrary to public order and morals can be processed without any inconvenience and delivered to a client.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method in a digital photograph processing apparatus, comprising: input means for inputting image data; display means for displaying the input image data; Input means, a processing means for processing input image data based on operation information, and an output means for outputting processed image data. An input step of displaying image data input from the display unit on a display unit, and a designation of operating an operation unit to designate a region to be subjected to a masking process and a masking pattern of the image data displayed on the display unit as operation information Operating the processing means, and performing masking processing on the image data based on the designated operation information. It is characterized in that it has a, and an output step of outputting.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the output step is a step of painting a predetermined area of the image data with a predetermined masking pattern and outputting the same. In the third aspect, the output step is a step of outputting the processed image data obtained by masking the original image data based on the designated operation information from the output means instead of the original image data. It is characterized by being. Claim 4
The output step is characterized in that the output step is a step of combining the original image data and a masking pattern determined based on the designated operation information and outputting the result from the output means.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a digital photograph processing apparatus used in an image processing method according to the present invention. The photographic processing apparatus A includes a scanner unit 1 that reads image data from each frame of a developed photographic film that has been separately developed by a film developing device (not shown), and a print set based on the read image data. The printing apparatus includes a printing unit 2 for printing data on photographic paper, a developing unit 3 for developing and discharging the photographic paper on which an image is printed, and an image processing unit 4.

The scanner section 1 is an input means for inputting image data from a photographic film. By setting the developed photographic film on the scanner unit 11, the light from the light source unit 12 is irradiated on the photographic film to thereby control the image data. The images of the frames are sequentially read and output to the image processing unit 4. The image processing unit 4 receives image data from the scanner unit,
Processing means for performing image processing and creating print data, including a computer 41 on which image processing software is installed, a full keyboard 42, and a mouse 43
And a display device 44.

The printing unit 2 is an output unit for printing the print data created by the image processing unit 4 on photographic paper. The printing unit 2 cuts a photographic paper P supplied from a paper magazine into a predetermined length, and cuts the photographic paper P into a predetermined length. The conveyed photographic paper P is line-exposed to image data input by the scanner unit 1. The printing paper P on which the print data has been printed in this way is sent to the developing unit 3 and developed.

In FIG. 2, image data of a photographic film read by a scanner unit 1 is converted into print data by an image processing unit 4, and
And printed on the photographic paper P. The printing unit 2 includes a cutting mechanism 22 that cuts the photographic paper P supplied from the paper magazine 21 to a predetermined length, and an image input by the scanner unit 1 onto the photographic paper P that has been cut and conveyed. An exposure mechanism 23 that performs line exposure of data with an exposure head such as a PLZT shutter system and a transport mechanism 24 that sequentially transports photographic paper are provided.

The exposure mechanism 23 has a light source 25 composed of a halogen lamp, and a light source 25 connected to the light source 25 via an optical fiber bundle (not shown). Exposure head 26 of the PLZT shutter type, light source 25 and exposure head 2
And a light quality modulation filter (not shown) disposed in the optical path between the light source 6 and the light source 25 transmitted through the light quality modulation filter. Exposure light is radiated from a radiation portion at the leading end. By transferring the photographic paper P to the exposure head 26 one dot line at a time by the transport mechanism 24, the print data is line-exposed on the photographic paper P. It is configured to be.

The digital exposure system used for the exposure mechanism 23 includes, in addition to the above-described PLZT shutter system,
A fluorescent beam type or a liquid crystal shutter type may be used. Further, a scanner unit 1, a printing unit 2, and a developing unit 3
A dedicated keyboard (not shown) for operating the keyboard is provided with a concave portion on the upper surface of the console 5 so as not to hinder the placement of the full keyboard 42, and is embedded in the concave portion.

A printer 51 for printing charges and a static eliminator 52 for eliminating static electricity generated on the photographic film are also arranged on the console 5.

The display device 44 is a display means for displaying the image data processed by the image processing section 4, and displays a list of image data of a plurality of frames, and sequentially displays the image data of each frame individually. Or have the function of In this manner, the image data processed in accordance with the operation information input by the full keyboard 42 is displayed on the display device 44, and the change in the operation information is reflected on the display device 44 as needed. When the operation information is determined, the image data processed according to the determined operation information is output to the printing unit 2 and printed on photographic paper. The operation information includes correction data for correcting image data and data for masking processing of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image processing such as the masking process, which is a feature of the present invention, is performed by superimposing a masking pattern M on an image K of a frame of a photographic film input from the scanner unit 1, and This is a process of performing processing such as painting a portion, and outputting an image L in which the original image is difficult to determine. In the following, in order to prevent the third party from being identified when the face of a third party whose privacy is to be protected is shown in addition to the person to be photographed, as shown in FIG. A case will be described as an example in which a masking process is performed in which a black masking pattern is placed over the eye portion and painted black.

Such processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step 1, image data of a photographic film read by the scanner unit 1 is processed based on standard correction information and displayed on the display device 44. In step 2, the operator determines whether or not an image that is not desirable to print is displayed on the image displayed on the display device 44, and an image that is not desirable is present and requires image processing such as masking. If it is determined that a key operation has been performed, the process of step 3 is performed. If not necessary, normal correction processing and printing processing as in the past are performed.

In step 3, a specified masking pattern M is displayed at a specified position in a specified size.
In step 4, by operating the full keyboard 42 or the mouse 43, the size and position of the masking pattern M are changed so that the third person's eyes to be hidden are set to be hidden.

In step 5, information on the type, size, and position of the masking pattern M set in step 4 is determined as operation information and stored in association with the corresponding frame number. In this way, after the processing of one order is completed or after the start of printing is specified, in step 6, the image data of the frame and the operation information are output to the printing unit 2,
It is printed on photographic paper.

At this time, in the printing unit 2, as for the frame for which the masking process is designated, as shown in FIG. 3, the information of the type, size and position of the masking pattern M stored in the step 5 described above. , The corresponding portion of the original image K is subjected to a process of temporarily superimposing by superimposition processing or the like, sent to the printing unit 2, and an image L in which the eyes are painted black is printed on photographic paper. I do. Step 1 corresponds to the input step described in the claims, steps 2, 3, and 4 correspond to the specifying step, and steps 5 and 6 correspond to the output step of claim 4. Step 5 in FIG.
Instead of 6, processing may be performed as in steps 5a and 6a of FIG. That is, in step 5a of FIG. 5, a process is performed in which the masking pattern M having the position and size set in step 4 is superimposed on the image data of the corresponding frame, and the image data itself is actually changed. Subsequent image data is replaced with the image data of the corresponding frame and stored. Then, in step 6a,
For the frame for which the masking process is designated, the replaced image data is printed on photographic paper as it is. Steps 5a and 6a in FIG. 5 correspond to the output step of claim 3. The input medium is not limited to photographic film, but may be a network, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, or a magneto-optical storage medium. The output medium is not limited to photographic paper, but may be a network, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium,
Alternatively, a magneto-optical storage medium may be used.

It should be noted that the masking pattern M is not limited to the shape shown in FIG.
Various shapes such as an elliptical shape, a triangular shape, and a so-called mosaic pattern shape are possible, and may be selected each time. In addition, as a method of generating such a masking pattern M, the masking pattern M may be generated by reflecting information of an image of a portion hidden by the masking processing. Further, the image to be hidden by the masking pattern is not limited to an image related to privacy such as a person's face, a house nameplate, a vehicle license plate, and the like, and may be an image considered to be contrary to public order and morals.

The area to be covered with the masking pattern may be determined by automatically recognizing the pattern of the face of the person.

[0022]

According to the present invention, from the viewpoint of privacy protection and violation of public order and morals, an image is output in which an area to be hidden in image data is hardly discriminated by a masking process or the like. In addition, there is no need to perform a process of painting an actual print with a felt pen or the like, and an effect of improving workability can be obtained. In addition, even prints that had to be disposed of in the past in view of violation of public order and morals can be masked by the present invention and given to the client, so that there is no loss print and no loss. Can be

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a digital photographic processing apparatus used in an image processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the digital photograph processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a masking process according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example of a masking process according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another example of the masking process according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a masking pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 scanner unit, input unit 11 scanner unit 2 printing unit 23 exposure mechanism, output unit 26 exposure head 3 developing unit 4 image processing unit, processing unit 41 computer 42 keyboard, operation unit 44 display device, display unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] An input unit for inputting image data; a display unit for displaying the input image data; an operation unit for inputting operation information; and a processing unit for processing the input image data based on the operation information. And an image processing method in a digital photographic processing device having output means for outputting processed image data, wherein an input step of displaying image data input from an input means on a display means, and operating an operation means A designation step of designating, as operation information, a region to be subjected to masking processing of image data displayed on the display means and a masking pattern; and operating the processing means to specify the image data based on the designated operation information. An output step of performing a masking process and outputting the output from the output unit. Law. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the outputting step is a step of painting and outputting a predetermined area of the image data with a predetermined masking pattern. And outputting the processed image data obtained by masking the original image data based on the designated operation information from the output means in place of the original image data. The image processing method in the digital photographic processing device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The output step according to claim 1, wherein the output step is a step of synthesizing the original image data and a masking pattern determined based on the designated operation information and outputting from the output means. 3. An image processing method in the digital photographic processing device according to 2.