JP2003271942A - Method of recording bar-code, and method and device for correcting image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document capable of processing correctly an image for an additional information portion. <P>SOLUTION: In this bar-code recording method of the present invention used when the additional information portion written in the document by hand- writing is extracted, a bar code 901 recorded with areas (element 1 - element 3) extracted as the additional information portions and recorded with image processing contents for the areas, and marks 902 for position correction for the extracted areas are recorded in the document 800. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar code recording method, an image correction method and an image correction apparatus, and more particularly to a bar code recording method and an image correction method for handling a bar code added to a document and a mark for position correction. And an image correction device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, information has been widely converted into digital contents, and its editing work is also performed on a computer. When a computer is used, advanced editing work is possible, but it takes time to learn a user interface peculiar to software. For example, when inputting characters, character conversion work is required, and a lot of trouble is required for correction work of input errors. Therefore, it is difficult to reflect the thoughts unfolding in the head immediately or smoothly, and the workability is not necessarily excellent.

On the other hand, the work of "writing", which is a basic motion of human beings, can only be simple, but has a characteristic that it can sufficiently cope with the speed of thought. Therefore, when writing questionnaires or registering members, it is better to print the template and have the person fill it in handwriting than to distribute the electronic template and input characters electronically. There are actual situations such as being accurate and being convenient for the user.

Under these circumstances, there has been a demand for a technique for efficiently extracting character portions and performing necessary image processing.
That is, there was a request to compare handwritten manuscripts with the original manuscripts before handwriting, to efficiently extract handwritten character parts, and to perform image processing such as character recognition processing as necessary. . At this time, since the handwritten document is treated again as electronic data, it is necessary to accurately compare the document image in which the image is read by a scanner or the like with the original document.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-245173, "Image processing method", elements used for alignment are automatically selected from filled-in images, and alignment is performed accurately between unfilled images and filled-in images. Techniques for performing are disclosed.
According to this technique, it is possible to automatically detect the original image and the corresponding image that has been read, and perform the alignment based on the positional relationship. FIG. 13A is a conceptual diagram showing the outline of the present technology.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-091783, "Image registration method, fax character recognition device and computer storage medium", a reference image before additional recording and a post-addition additional image are used as preprocessing for recognizing the additional characters from the form. Detects the cross point where the line segments intersect for both images of
There is disclosed a technique for performing alignment / rotational correction by using cross points corresponding to both. This technique is also disclosed in JP-A-9-24.
Similar to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5173, the alignment can be performed by detecting the corresponding cross points of the original (reference) image and the read image. FIG. 13B is a conceptual diagram showing the outline of the present technology.

Further, the inventor of the present application pays attention to the characteristic of the handwriting work of "writing", and a system and a print medium for performing an information operation (event processing) according to the writing position from the writing information (additional information) on the paper surface. , Programs, and devices have been devised. In the present invention, since the image portion of the area required for the event processing is cut out and processed based on the bar code on the document called the print management information,
There is an advantage that the processing speed is fast because it is only necessary to perform necessary image processing on a limited image size.

Further, when the original is read by the scanner, the bar code is searched for based on the read image, the suitability of the bar code is determined, and then the printed matter management information corresponding to the read format is acquired and processed. To do
Even if a document with a different type of barcode that is not compatible with the system, a document with the same type of barcode generated by another system, or a document image without a barcode is imported into the system, It had the advantage of not causing a malfunction. That is, there is an advantage that a stable operation is possible in a computer system having an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine into which an arbitrary document can be inserted and a scanner.

Similarly, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-57260, "Machine-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute the extraction information and the extraction information extraction method is recorded", a completed form including a color image is recorded. A technique for accurately extracting input information is disclosed.
Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-328309, "Optical Character Reading Method and Apparatus", after separating a ruled line and a character pattern from an electronic image of a filled-in form, a statistical feature amount is extracted from the character pattern. , A technique for determining a category to which a character pattern belongs is disclosed. Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-005195 “Character Separation Device” and Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-041029 “Image Input Device” disclose a technique of using a field mark for recognizing handwritten characters written on a form. .

These techniques relate to so-called form-out techniques, in which a frame, a field mark, or a feature amount such as a gray zone (colored portion or shaded portion) that is image-wise different from others is printed in advance on a print medium. The system manages this. The form-out technique has the advantage that it is less susceptible to expansion and contraction and skew because it cuts out regions corresponding to these feature amounts from the scanned image.

As a related technique, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-3
No. 21942, “Image processing device and image joining method for split screens”, JP-A-8-77300, “Image processing device”, JP-A-5-274474, “Image processing device and its processing method”, JP-A-10- No. 187889 "Image recognition device", Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-41449 "Image processing device and method and recording medium recording image processing program", Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-331555 "Image processing method and device" are known. ing.

[0012]

However, the conventional techniques have the following problems. That is, JP-A-9-
No. 245173 "Image processing method" and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-0
The techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 91783 “Image registration method, fax character recognition device, and computer storage medium” are techniques for performing registration from a relatively wide area, but the former case is similar to the original image. There is a problem that correspondence detection becomes difficult when repeated images exist. Also, in the latter case, correspondence detection becomes difficult when there are no ruled lines in the original image,
Since the image applied to the image processing is large, there is a problem that it takes a long processing time. Further, when both inventions are applied to a narrow image area, there is a problem in that the number of elements for recognizing the correspondence is extremely small and a good correspondence cannot be constructed.

Also in the conventional technique by the inventor of the present application, there may be an error in the feeding speed of the paper or the traveling member in the printing unit or the scanning unit of the printer or the scanner, and the print result or the scanned image shows the paper conveyance direction. Alternatively, when expansion or contraction of several percent or less occurs in the moving direction of the traveling body, there is a problem that the desired event processing cannot always be achieved.

Similarly, in a printer or scanner that uses a method of transporting paper, a skew phenomenon may occur in which the paper gradually inclines with respect to the transport direction during paper transport, and a printed image or a read image is read. However, there is a problem in that the desired event processing cannot always be achieved if the paper has an angle with respect to the paper edge.

The direction of expansion and contraction or inclination of these images is mainly determined by the installation direction of the printing paper in the printer and the printing direction set by the application, and is uniquely determined by the direction of the document to be read in the case of a scanner. . The installation direction, the printing direction, or the document reading direction is arbitrarily designated by the user and cannot be determined from the system side.

Therefore, when the ideal layout is extracted from the printed matter management information and a part of the image in a limited range is cut out, all the necessary images are no longer included in the ideal position, and in some cases, a part of the element is included. Will result in a missing image.

Further, the form-out technique has a problem in that the system cannot cope with paper that is arbitrarily input. In addition, there is a problem that the processing load is large because image processing is performed on the entire read image.

In other words, the conventional technique has a problem that the image processing cannot be performed correctly, and it takes a long processing time because the deviation or the distortion cannot be corrected by a simple method or configuration. It can be said that there was.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a manuscript capable of correctly performing image processing on an additional information portion handwritten on a manuscript.

It is another object of the present invention to correctly perform image processing on a predetermined area.

It is another object of the present invention to realize the correction of deviation and distortion by a simple method or structure.

[0022]

In order to achieve the above object, a barcode recording method according to a first aspect of the present invention is a barcode recording method used when extracting an additional information portion handwritten on a document. The method is characterized in that a bar code in which a region to be extracted as an additional information portion and image processing contents for the region are recorded on an original and a mark for position correction of the region to be extracted are recorded. To do.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, even when the original is misaligned and read, or even when the original is distorted and read, the additional information portion is correctly corrected by the correction based on the position correction mark. Can be extracted.

The barcode recording method according to claim 2 is the same as the barcode recording method according to claim 1.
It is characterized in that the bar code includes information regarding the coordinates of the mark for position correction.

That is, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to correctly extract the area of the additional information portion with the information only from the original.

The image correction method according to claim 3 is
An image correction method for correcting a document read image based on a position correction mark printed on a document and a barcode of a specific format in which control information for extracting a predetermined area of the document is recorded. A document reading step, a bar code extracting step for extracting a bar code from a document image read in the document reading step, and a case where the bar code extracted in the bar code extracting step is a bar code of a specific format,
A mark coordinate reading step for reading the coordinates of the mark for position correction from the bar code, the coordinates of the mark read in the mark coordinate reading step, and the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read in the document reading step. On the basis of the following, in the displacement reading calculation step for calculating the deviation or distortion of the original image read in the original reading step, and the deviation or distortion of the original image calculated in the deviation distortion calculating step and the barcode extraction step. A correction step of correcting a deviation or distortion of a predetermined area to be extracted from the original image read in the original reading step based on the extracted control information in the barcode of the specific format. Characterize.

That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, even when the original is misaligned and read, or even when the original is distorted and read, the desired result is obtained based on the bar code and the position correction mark. The predetermined area can be extracted correctly.

The image correction method according to a fourth aspect is
The image correction method according to claim 3, wherein control information for image processing for a predetermined area is also recorded in the barcode of the specific format, and the predetermined area extraction step of extracting the predetermined area corrected by the correction step, An image processing step of performing image processing on the predetermined area extracted in the predetermined area extracting step in accordance with the control information based on the barcode.

That is, the invention according to claim 4 can correctly perform image processing on a predetermined area.

The image correction method according to claim 5 is
The image correction method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the coordinates of the position correction mark in the barcode are relative coordinates from a predetermined reference position in the barcode.

That is, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the reference position is provided in the bar code, it is possible to correctly extract the desired predetermined area as long as the bar code is extracted even if the document misalignment or the document distortion is large. it can.

The image correction method according to claim 6 is
The image correction method according to claim 5, wherein the barcode includes information regarding a coordinate system of relative coordinates.

That is, according to the sixth aspect of the invention, it is possible to easily extract the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read in the document reading process.

The image correction method according to claim 7 is
The image correction method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the bar code includes information about the number, shape, or color of marks for position correction.

That is, in the invention according to claim 7, it is possible to easily extract the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read in the document reading process.

The image correction apparatus according to the eighth aspect is
An image correction apparatus that corrects a document read image based on a position correction mark printed on a document and a barcode of a specific format in which control information for extracting a predetermined area of the document is recorded. A document reading unit, a bar code extracting unit for extracting a bar code from a document read by the document reading unit, and a check whether the bar code extracted by the bar code extracting unit is a bar code of a specific format. A bar code format determining means for determining; a mark coordinate reading means for reading out the coordinates of the mark for position correction from the bar code when the bar code format determining means determines that the barcode is a specific format; Based on the coordinates of the mark read by the mark coordinate reading unit and the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading unit, the document reading is performed. Deviation distortion calculating means for calculating deviation or distortion of the original image read by the means, deviation or distortion of the original image calculated by the deviation distortion calculating means, and a bar code of a specific format extracted by the bar code extracting means Correction means for correcting the displacement or distortion of the predetermined area to be extracted from the document image read by the document reading means based on the control information therein.

That is, the invention according to claim 8 is based on the bar code and the mark for position correction even when the original is misaligned and read, or when the original is distorted and read. The predetermined area can be extracted correctly.

An image correction device according to a ninth aspect is
The image correction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein control information for image processing for a predetermined area is also recorded in the barcode of the specific format, and the predetermined area extraction means extracts the predetermined area corrected by the correction means; Image processing means for performing image processing on the predetermined area extracted by the predetermined area extracting means according to the control information based on the barcode;
It is characterized by having.

That is, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, image processing can be correctly performed on a predetermined area.

An image forming apparatus according to a tenth aspect is the image correction apparatus according to the eighth or ninth aspect,
The coordinates of the position correction mark in the barcode are relative coordinates from a predetermined reference position in the barcode.

That is, according to the tenth aspect of the present invention, since the reference position is provided in the bar code, it is possible to correctly extract the desired predetermined area as long as the bar code is extracted even if the document misalignment or the document distortion is large. it can.

An image forming apparatus according to an eleventh aspect is the image correcting apparatus according to the tenth aspect, wherein the bar code includes information regarding a coordinate system of relative coordinates.

That is, in the invention according to claim 11, the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading means can be easily extracted.

An image forming apparatus according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the image correction apparatus according to any one of the eighth to eleventh aspects, wherein the bar code has the number, shape or color of marks for position correction. It is characterized by including information about.

That is, according to the twelfth aspect of the invention, it is possible to easily extract the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading means.

[0046]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Since the present invention is an improvement of the conventional technique by the applicant of the present application, the present invention will be described in comparison with the conventional technique as necessary.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Here, a laser printer having a general copying process (image processing function) will be exemplified to explain factors causing image distortion and misalignment. Image forming apparatus 1
Reference numeral 00 stores printing paper in the paper feed unit 101, and conveys the printing paper from the printing paper carry-in port 102 to the printing paper carry-out port 104 via the developing unit 103 according to the print command.

The developing unit 103 forms a toner image corresponding to one line of a print image in the depth direction (main scanning direction) of the photosensitive drum 105 located on the right side in FIG. 1, and as the photosensitive drum 105 rotates. The toner image is transferred onto the printing paper that is conveyed (in the sub-scanning direction). The transferred image is fixed in the subsequent process.

Here, there is a minute relative speed between the speed of the photosensitive drum 105 and the conveying speed of the printing paper, and expansion and contraction easily occur in the conveying direction of the printing paper. Further, similarly to an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) which will be described later, a skew may occur.
In this case, the image written on the printing paper has an inclination with respect to the end face of the paper due to the skew. Further, in the case of a copying process such as a copying machine or a laser printer, since heat and pressure are used for fixing toner, the printing paper may expand and contract due to heat and pressure or moisture in the paper. Occurs.

Since the user normally determines the type of paper and the paper direction to be set in the printer, when the image processing is performed by the copying process as described above, as a result, the paper is arbitrarily selected. It will expand and contract and tilt in the direction. When verified with an actual image forming apparatus, the expansion and contraction is 0.5% at maximum in A4 vertical direction,
The maximum skew was 0.1 degree.

The above-mentioned example has been described mainly focusing on image shifts and distortions at the time of image formation. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and image shifts and distortions also occur at the time of reading an image. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a scanner device to which the present invention can be applied. Here, a scanner device called a flat bed scanner device is illustrated. The flatbed scanner device 200 scans a document set on a document table 201 left and right by a traveling body 202 having an optical reading unit, and outputs it as a document image.

Specifically, the image data in the lateral direction (main scanning direction) of the document is acquired by the line sensor of the optical reading unit, and the image in the longitudinal direction (sub scanning direction) of the document is accumulated by running scanning and finally recorded. Output the original image. In the case of the illustrated flatbed scanner device 200, the traveling body 2
Since the moving speed of 02 has an error from the ideal value,
The read document may expand and contract in the longitudinal direction. Further, when the document is tilted and set on the document table, the read image is tilted accordingly.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a scanner device to which the present invention can be applied. Here, an apparatus called an ADF apparatus that reads an image while conveying a sheet is illustrated. The ADF device 300 takes in a document from the document carry-in port 301 on the left side in the figure, reverses it by the roller section 302 at the leftmost end in the figure, and passes it through the optical reading section 303.
The document is discharged from the document outlet 304. The optical reading unit 303 includes a line sensor in the main scanning direction, and reads an image in the document depth direction (sub scanning direction) at high speed. That is, the optical reading unit 303 has a mechanism for reading the image of the entire original document while following the original document conveyance.

In the ADF device 300, an error may occur in the document feeding speed, and the document may expand or contract in the conveying direction. Further, as a number of existing rollers are conveyed, the sheet may be conveyed while being inclined in the apparatus, which may cause an image inclination.

As described above, image expansion / contraction or skew may occur during image formation or image reading. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating the relationship between ideal printing and image expansion / contraction / skew. The drawing shows a state in which vertical contraction (FIG. 4B), lateral extension (FIG. 4C), and skew (FIG. 4D) occur during image formation or image reading.

An example (extraction example) of cutting out a predetermined area of a document when such expansion and contraction or skew occurs will be described.
Here, an example of reading the member registration form will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 8. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing the cutout area when the intended predetermined area is the check box element (FIG. 8, element 1). The ideal cutout is as shown in FIG. However, when misalignment or distortion occurs during reading, the image is cut out by shifting in the lower left direction or the right direction as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D. In this case, there is a problem that the check mark is missing or the outer shape of the check box is missing.

Similarly, FIG. 6A is a view showing the cutout area of the member writing frame of the element 2 in FIG. The ideal cutout is as shown in FIG. 6 (b). However, if misalignment or distortion occurs during reading, the image is clipped to the right or to the bottom as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D. In the cutout, there may be a case where a handwritten character is missing or a part of an unnecessary character on the manuscript is mixed into the cutout area in the vertical and horizontal directions (not shown).
At this time, erroneous recognition occurs when performing image processing, for example, character recognition on the cut out image.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the clipping when the double line is added and superimposed on the original image as in the element 3 of FIG. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a state in which a double line is added and superimposed on a document image. As shown in FIG. 7B, the ideal extraction of the added portion is an image formed by the difference between the original image and the added superimposed image. However, if misalignment or distortion occurs during reading, the result shown in FIG.
As shown in, there may be a case where a shadow corresponding to the positional deviation of the original image is reflected on the image to be taken out. At this time, when post-processing is performed on the extracted image, for example, when character recognition is performed, there arises a problem that the image is not correctly recognized.

Therefore, the inventor of the present application has previously described the elements of the content to be printed on the paper (for example, check boxes and arbitrary entry fields) and the attributes such as the position / shape / content information of the elements and the elements. We have developed a technology that manages event information (control information), which is the content of processing when handwriting is added, as "print management information" in advance. The present invention is
Although this technique is improved, the invention before the improvement will be first outlined, and then the invention of the present application will be described.

The invention before the improvement is a technique of encoding printed matter management information to generate a barcode image and adding a barcode to the print content (original) to generate a predetermined printed matter (original original). This is because the printed matter (completed manuscript) added by the person who entered the document is taken in as a still image by the scanner, and the printed matter management information is recognized from the barcode image.
The presence or absence of retouching and the retouched image are acquired, and the retouched content is subjected to an image processing image such as character recognition as necessary to perform a predetermined event operation.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, it is a technique for grasping the contents of the addition by using a sheet devised so that the addition portion can be taken out. In the figure, some contents of the printed matter management information (management information 1 to management information 3) are also added.
The barcode 801 stores information (original content) that is the source of this information printing on a printing paper (original) 800.

The flow of processing when the print medium of FIG. 8 is used will be described. First, the printing paper 800 is read as a still image by the scanner device, and a touch-up superimposition image that is the original image added to the original is acquired. A bar code area is acquired from the acquired supplemented image. Predetermined image processing for obtaining the barcode area, for example, detecting the density of a rectangular area,
It is possible to employ an algorithm such as determining whether the detected portion has a striped structure.

Subsequently, the printed matter management information is acquired from the image in the barcode area, that is, the barcode content. This printed matter management information records position information, shape information, text information, input / output attributes, etc. of a predetermined area to be extracted in the supplemented image (manuscript written by handwriting etc.). Event information applied to a predetermined area (control information of image processing applied in a later step) is also stored. The event information will be described later. The position information can be based on a predetermined position in the barcode, for example, the apex at the upper left corner of the barcode.

Subsequently, based on the acquired printed matter management information, the element in which an event exists in each element (predetermined area) is taken out, and the event is executed. After processing the events for all the elements, the execution command defined by the event and the command defined in advance in the print medium are executed to the outside of the system.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, the management information 1 corresponds to the element 1 (BOX 13) which is the predetermined area, and the position information (Box, 13, (0000, 030) of the extraction area is provided.
0)-(0099, 0319)), presence / absence of a frame (Bord
er: None), display attribute (Type: Output)
t), display contents (Text: “name:”), and image processing (Event: Null) for the extraction area are sequentially described. With this management information 1, from the BOX 13,
The text "Name:" will be output. It should be noted that the dotted line frame in the drawing is shown to conceptually show the area of the BOX 13, and is not actually printed.

The management information 2 corresponds to the element 2 (BOX14), and the position information (Box, 14, (0
301, 0300)-(0899, 0319)), presence / absence of a frame (Border: None), display attribute (Type
e: Input), display contents (Text: “”), image processing for the extraction area (Event :: ParamNa)
me = Ocr_Result) is sequentially described.
With this management information 2, the BOX 14 causes the image "Maruyama Shikaku" in the area to be recognized by OCR.
Outputs the text "Maruyama Shikaku". In addition, BO
Since the areas of X14 and BOX15 are adjacent to each other, the character-recognized text "Maruyama-shikaku" may be substituted for the internal parameter "name".

As described above, the method of acquiring the printed matter management information from the barcode and processing it is very convenient in that the character portion can be easily extracted from the handwritten member registration form or questionnaire form, and the database can be easily constructed. It is highly likely. However, as described above, in practice, expansion and contraction and skew occur due to device characteristics during printing or scanning, and therefore improvement is necessary especially for acquisition of a narrow area. Next, the description will focus on the part improved by the present invention.

The first feature of the present invention is to print the bar code on which the printed matter management information is recorded and the mark for position correction on the same paper surface (original). The second feature is that the extraction position is corrected from the extracted sheet surface and the desired cutout area is extracted. In addition, the mark feature information on the barcode (hereinafter simply "mark information")
Is called in advance and is stored in advance, which is the third characteristic point.

The type of bar code may be a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code having a large amount of information.
Further, the mark information may be stored by encoding the information itself in a bar code, or by storing the information by applying the present invention to an appropriate system and referring to an index of a database table by a file path. Good. The method of storing the mark information and the type of barcode to be printed can be set arbitrarily.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a document to which the present invention is applied. What is different from FIG. 8 in appearance of the original is that rectangular marks 902 are present at four corners of the original.
Further, it is different in that mark information is added to the barcode 901 internally. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of data stored in a barcode. Further, FIG. 10 also shows an example of the content of the mark information. Here, for convenience, the mark information is described as mark information 1 to mark information 5.

As shown in the figure, the mark information includes the mark unit according to the mark information 1, the number of marks according to the mark information 2,
Mark shape / mark position / mark color according to mark information 3, base point information of coordinates according to mark information 4, mark information 5
It is composed of the coordinate display direction display by. When using a plurality of marks, it is preferable that each mark information is described in the same format as shown in the mark information 3. The bar code includes the printed matter management information shown in FIG. 8 in addition to the mark information.

Next, an image correction device to which the present invention is applied,
The processing flow of the image correction apparatus will be described. FIG. 11 shows
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image correction apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the image correction apparatus. The image correction apparatus 1100 is a barcode in a specific format in which a position correction mark (mark) 902 printed on a document (print medium) 800 and control information (printed matter management information) for extracting a predetermined area of the document 800 are recorded. The original read image is corrected based on 901.

Specifically, first, the image correction apparatus 1100
The document reading unit 1101 reads the document 800 (step S1201). Next, the barcode extraction unit 1102
Extracts the barcode 901 from the read document 800 (step S1202). As the extraction algorithm, the one described in the invention before improvement can be used. Subsequently, the barcode format determination unit 1103 determines whether the barcode 901 extracted by the barcode extraction unit 1102 is a barcode of a specific format, that is, a barcode including printed matter management information (step S120).
3).

If it is determined that the barcode 901 is a barcode of a specific format (step S1203: Y
ES), the mark coordinate reading unit 1104 reads the coordinates of the mark (mark) 902 for position correction from the barcode (step S1204). In the example shown in FIG. 10, the position of the mark 902 is recognized by the image correction apparatus 1100 from the mark information 3. On the other hand, when it is determined that the barcode 901 is not the barcode of the specific format (step S1203: NO), the process ends. Since the image correction apparatus 1100 can be applied to an image forming apparatus, when the read document 900 does not include a barcode of a specific format, the image correcting apparatus 1100 shifts to a normal image forming process, for example, a copy process. Control can also be employed.

Subsequently, the misalignment distortion calculation unit 1105 of the image correction apparatus 1100 determines the coordinates of the mark 901 read by the mark coordinate reading unit 1104 and the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading unit 1101. Based on and
The shift or distortion of the document image read by the document reading unit 1104 is calculated (step S1205). further,
A correction unit 1106 reads by a document reading unit 1101 based on the shift or distortion of the document image calculated by the shift distortion calculation unit 1105 and the printed matter management information in the barcode of the specific format extracted by the barcode extraction unit. The deviation or distortion of a predetermined area to be extracted is corrected from the obtained original image (step S1206). Specifically, the correction content corresponds to expansion / contraction correction and skew correction.

Since the bar code 901 of the specific format also stores the control information of the image processing for the predetermined area (elements 1 to 3 in FIG. 9) such as the management information 1 shown in FIG. The predetermined area extraction unit 1107 includes the correction unit 110.
The predetermined area corrected by 6 is extracted (step S12
07), the image processing unit 1108 causes the predetermined area extracting unit 1
Image processing is performed on the predetermined area extracted by 107 according to the control information based on the barcode 901 (step S1208).

In each component of the image correction apparatus 1100, for example, the image reading unit 1101 is a scanner device,
The remaining units can be realized by various hardware of a personal computer such as a CPU. At this time,
The algorithm can be stored in the hard disk as a computer program, and intermediate processing contents can be stored in the RA.
It can also be stored in M. Further, at the time of image processing, an ASIC may be adopted and a processing circuit specialized for image processing may be provided.

The essential difference between the processing flow described with reference to FIG. 8 and the processing flow of FIG. 12 is that expansion / contraction correction and skew correction are performed based on the position of the mark 902. In steps S1104 to S1106, the image correction apparatus 1100 detects at least one mark from the mark information stored in the barcode 901. Information on the mark position and the barcode area obtained in step S1102 is used for this detection.

The mark position information is, for example, the bar code 90.
It is desirable to have relative coordinates from a predetermined position in the barcode 901, such as one of the vertices of 1. In FIG. 10, as shown in the mark information 4, the lower left corner of the barcode 901 is the reference position. The reason for this is that in the case of coordinates from a reference position (for example, the paper surface edge or paper surface angle) that is free from the barcode, the following problems can occur.

That is, first, when the skew is generated, a margin is generated in the image corresponding to the paper surface angle as shown in FIG. 4 (d). At this time, the relative coordinates from the edge of the paper have a margin error, which is not suitable for skew correction and expansion / contraction correction. Secondly, it is necessary to detect the mark first, and after correcting the mark, acquire the barcode area and restore the printed matter management information.In this case, the printed matter does not always have the mark, This is because it is necessary for the system to know in advance what kind of shape and size it is, so that the system cannot flexibly deal with the originals arbitrarily set by the user.

Upon correction, the image correction device 1100
Sets a predetermined position of the barcode 901 on the read image as a first point (reference point). In the example shown in FIG. 10, the bar code 901 is located at the lower left corner. A corresponding area on the original image is cut out from this reference point, and a mark 902 having a shape, size, and color according to the mark information embedded in the printed matter management information is detected from the area. If necessary, the position of the center of gravity or the corner position of the mark 902 may be replaced as the first mark position, and the procedure of calculating the second point may be performed. It is important to cut out a region used for this calculation in a wide range in consideration of the influence of expansion and contraction and skew. The image correction apparatus 1100 can perform predetermined skew correction and expansion / contraction correction based on the first point and the second point obtained by the above process.

The mark information preferably has coordinate unit information. The unit representing the position of the image is a pixel corresponding to a pixel, and Twi corresponding to a logical unit.
There are ps and the like. Therefore, it is preferable to express the unit of coordinates in pixels or Twips. In the example shown in FIG. 10, Twips is adopted (see mark information 1). Since these units are defined on the side of the barcode 901, the hardware specifications are not limited, and a highly flexible hardware design is possible.

It is preferable that the mark information also describes the direction of the coordinate axis, that is, which side has the plus direction. In the example shown in FIG. 10, it is shown that the shafts are provided facing the upper side and the right side with respect to the paper surface (see mark information 5). By describing such information regarding the coordinate unit or the direction of the coordinate axis, that is, information regarding the coordinate system in the mark information, the image correction apparatus 1100 allows the image correction apparatus 1100 to detect the presence of the mark 902 in the document image read by the image reading unit 1101. It is possible to easily find the position to do. Therefore, a system can be constructed with a simple algorithm and circuit configuration, and a highly flexible hardware design is possible.

Further, it is preferable that the mark information also describes information about the number, shape or color of the marks 902. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the number of marks 902 is 4 (see mark information 2), the shape is square (see mark information 3), and the color is red (see mark information 3). A plurality of marks 902 are preferably recorded on the original. This is because it is assumed that the retouching overlaps the mark position and the mark 902 is overwritten to make it difficult to see, or the mark 902 may be erased with a correction fluid or the like. This is also because the skew correction and the expansion / contraction correction can be performed at a higher degree by using a plurality of points having different directions and different lengths than by performing limited correction at two points.

By coloring the mark 902, the following effects are produced. First, when a light color such as yellow, light gray, or light blue is used as the mark color, the appearance of the print medium is not impaired. Secondly, when a color scanner is used, it is possible to identify by color, and even if the user overwrites the mark by overwriting, it is easy to identify the mark portion by the color information, and the mark identification accuracy is improved.

In addition to the above, the information on the shape includes
Size, shape, presence / absence of fill, presence / absence of frame, etc. may be included. As described above, since information regarding the number, shape, and color of the marks is obtained from the barcode 901, it is not necessary to store the prescribed mark shape on the image correction apparatus 1100 side in advance, and the obtained shape information is used as a basis. The mark 902 can be detected. Therefore, a system can be constructed with a simple algorithm and circuit configuration, and a highly flexible hardware design is possible.

In other words, since the design of the hardware for carrying out the predetermined processing from the original with the bar code and the mark shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is low in dependence, the bar code and the mark are included. Manuscripts can be printed easily. That is, as a barcode recording method used when extracting the additional information portion handwritten on the document, a barcode that records the area to be extracted as the additional information portion and the image processing content for the area on the original document (see It is possible to employ a method of recording the barcode 901 referred to in 9) and the position correction mark (barcode 901 referred to in FIG. 9) of the area to be extracted. The recorded (printed) manuscript will be overwritten by handwriting, etc.
As described above, this document can be subjected to predetermined correction or image processing by the image correction device 1101.

When the coordinate, unit, shape, and color are not stored as the mark information, the system may be configured to confirm the location of the mark by using a predetermined attribute. For example, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the mark is detected from the entire screen of the document as in the conventional case.

As described above, according to the present invention, useful information for correcting various image distortions generated at the time of printing or scanning can be obtained from the bar code existing on the print medium, and the skew can be obtained based on these information. By performing the correction and the expansion / contraction correction prior to the acquisition of the modified image portion, the accuracy of extracting the modified image from the modified superimposed image is improved. Also,
Since the validity of the barcode can be evaluated more highly with respect to arbitrary input image data, it is possible to obtain more reliable and stable rewriting information.

Further, by adding relative position information based on the predetermined position of the bar code to the mark information, it is possible to eliminate the margin (offset) factor of the input image due to the skew or expansion / contraction occurring during printing or scanning. Therefore, the mark existing area on the input image can be cut out more accurately from the mark position information, and stable mark detection can be performed.

Further, by storing the unit information for the mark position information and the shape information of the mark itself as bar code data, it becomes unnecessary to store the specified value on the hardware side, and the attribute of the mark can be dynamically determined from the input image. Can be detected. For this reason, the restrictions on the marks when creating the print medium are reduced, and the degree of freedom in design is increased and versatility is improved. Furthermore, since only the determined marks need to be extracted by image processing, high-speed processing is possible and high-speed correction information acquisition is possible.

In addition to printing a plurality of marks,
By managing this number with barcode data, higher-performance skew correction and expansion / contraction correction can be performed. Also,
Even when a mark is overwritten due to accidental writing by the user, it is possible to apply a correction using a mark that has not been overwritten, which leads to improvement in reliability.

Further, by storing the color information of the mark as bar code data, it is possible to provide a print medium that does not impair the appearance, improve the mark identification accuracy, and provide a more stable system. . The latter effect is exerted even if the mark is overwritten due to the addition by the user.

[0094]

As described above, the bar code recording method of the present invention (claim 1) is a bar code recording method used when extracting an additional information portion written by hand on an original. An area on the manuscript to be extracted as an additional information part and a bar code recording the image processing content for the area, and a mark for position correction of the area to be extracted,
Since the image is recorded, even if the original is misaligned and read, or the original is distorted and read, it is possible to correct it based on the position correction mark and correctly extract the additional information part. As a result, it is possible to provide a document that can be correctly image-processed for the additional information portion.

The barcode recording method (claim 2) of the present invention is the barcode recording method according to claim 1, wherein the barcode contains information relating to the coordinates of the mark for position correction. It is possible to correctly extract the area of the additional information portion with the information only from the original information, and thus it is possible to provide a document that can be correctly image-processed for the additional information portion.

Further, the image correction method of the present invention (claim 3).
Is an image correction method for correcting a document read image based on a position correction mark printed on a document and a barcode of a specific format in which control information for extracting a predetermined area of the document is recorded. In the reading step, the original is read, in the barcode extracting step, the barcode is extracted from the original image read in the original reading step, and in the mark coordinate reading step, the barcode extracted in the barcode extracting step has a specific format. If it is a bar code, the coordinates of the mark for position correction are read from the bar code, and in the misalignment distortion calculation step, the coordinates of the mark read in the mark coordinate reading step and the original image read in the original reading step are read. Based on the positions of the corresponding marks, the deviation or distortion of the original image read in the original reading step is calculated, and in the correction step, the deviation or distortion of the original image calculated in the deviation distortion calculating step is calculated. Based on the control information in the barcode of the specific format extracted in the barcode extraction step and the original image read in the original reading step, the deviation or distortion of the predetermined area to be extracted is corrected, so that the original is Even if the document is misaligned or the document is distorted, it is possible to correctly extract the desired predetermined region based on the barcode and the position correction mark. Correct image processing can be performed on an area.

Further, the image correction method of the present invention (claim 4).
In the image correction method according to claim 2, control information of image processing for a predetermined area is also recorded in the barcode of the specific format, and in the predetermined area extraction step, the predetermined area corrected in the correction step is extracted, In the image processing step, the predetermined area extracted in the predetermined area extracting step is subjected to the image processing according to the control information based on the barcode, so that the predetermined area can be correctly image processed.

Further, the image correction method of the present invention (claim 5).
In the image correction method according to claim 3 or 4,
Since the coordinates of the position correction mark in the bar code are relative coordinates from the predetermined reference position in the bar code, even if the document is misaligned or the document is distorted, the bar code can be extracted at the predetermined It is possible to correctly extract the area, and thus it is possible to correctly perform image processing on the predetermined area.

Further, the image correction method of the present invention (claim 6).
In the image correction method according to claim 5, since the barcode includes information regarding the coordinate system of relative coordinates, the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read in the document reading step is easily extracted. This makes it possible to realize the deviation distortion calculation step by a simple method.

Further, the image correction method of the present invention (claim 7).
In the image correction method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, since the barcode includes information regarding the number, shape, or color of marks for position correction, the original read in the original reading step. It is possible to easily extract the position of the corresponding mark on the image, and thus the shift distortion calculation step can be realized by a simple method.

Further, the image correction apparatus of the present invention (claim 8).
Is an image correction device that corrects a document read image based on a position correction mark printed on a document and a barcode of a specific format in which control information for extracting a predetermined area of the document is recorded. The reading means reads the manuscript, the bar code extracting means extracts the bar code from the manuscript read by the manuscript reading means, and the bar code format determining means sets the bar code extracted by the bar code extracting means in a specific format. If the bar code format determining means determines that the bar code is a bar code of a specific format, the coordinates of the mark for position correction are read out from the bar code and the deviation is detected. The distortion calculating means, based on the coordinates of the mark read by the mark coordinate reading means and the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading means, the document reading means. The misalignment or distortion of the read original image is calculated, and the correction means adjusts the misalignment or distortion of the original image calculated by the misalignment distortion calculating means and the control information in the bar code of the specific format extracted by the bar code extracting means. The deviation or distortion of the predetermined area to be extracted is corrected from the original image read by the original reading means based on the above, and therefore, when the original is misaligned and read, or when the original is distorted and read. Also, it becomes possible to correctly extract the desired predetermined region based on the barcode and the mark for position correction, and thus it is possible to correctly perform image processing on the predetermined region.

An image correction device of the present invention (claim 9).
In the image correction device according to claim 8, control information of image processing for a predetermined area is also recorded in the barcode of the specific format, and the predetermined area extraction means extracts the predetermined area corrected by the correction means, Since the image processing means performs the image processing on the predetermined area extracted by the predetermined area extracting means according to the control information based on the barcode, the image processing can be correctly performed on the predetermined area.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 1)
0) is the image correction device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the coordinates of the mark for position correction in the bar code are relative coordinates from a predetermined reference position in the bar code.
Even if the document shift or document distortion is large, it is possible to correctly extract the predetermined region as long as the bar code is extracted, and thus it is possible to correctly perform image processing on the predetermined region.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 1)
1) In the image correction device according to claim 10, since the bar code includes information regarding the coordinate system of the relative coordinates, the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading unit can be easily determined. It becomes possible to extract, and thereby, the shift distortion calculating means can be realized with a simple configuration.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 1)
Item 2) is the image correction apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the bar code includes information regarding the number, shape, or color of marks for position correction, and thus the bar code is read by the document reading unit. Further, it becomes possible to easily extract the position of the corresponding mark on the original image, whereby the deviation distortion calculating means can be realized with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a scanner device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a scanner device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between ideal printing and image expansion / contraction / skew.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a cutout area in a case where a predetermined predetermined area is a check box element.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a cutout area of a member writing frame.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating clipping when a double line is added and superimposed on a document image.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a technique for grasping the content of the editing by using a sheet devised so that the editing portion can be taken out.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a document to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the content of a barcode attached to a document image.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image correction apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the image correction apparatus.

[Fig. 13] Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining the conventional clipping of a retouched image.

[Explanation of symbols]

800 manuscripts 901 barcode 902 mark 1100 Image correction device 1101 document reading unit 1102 Bar code extraction unit 1103 Bar code format determination unit 1104 Mark coordinate reading section 1105 Deviation distortion calculator 1106 correction unit 1107 Predetermined area extraction unit 1108 Image processing unit

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A barcode recording method used when extracting an additional information portion handwritten on an original, wherein an area to be extracted as the additional information portion and image processing content for the area are recorded on the original. A bar code recording method characterized in that the recorded bar code and a mark for position correction of the area to be extracted are recorded. 2. The bar code includes information regarding the coordinates of the mark for position correction.
Barcode recording method described in. 3. An image correction method for correcting an original read image based on a position correction mark printed on an original and a bar code of a specific format in which control information for extracting a predetermined area of the original is recorded. The original reading step of reading the original, the barcode extracting step of extracting the barcode from the original image read in the original reading step, and the barcode extracted in the barcode extracting step is a barcode of a specific format. In some cases, the mark coordinate reading step for reading the coordinates of the position correction mark from the bar code, the coordinates of the mark read in the mark coordinate reading step, and the correspondence on the document image read in the document reading step. Based on the position of the mark, a deviation distortion calculation step of calculating a deviation or distortion of the original image read in the original reading step, and a deviation distortion calculation step of the original image calculated in the deviation distortion calculation step. Deviation or distortion of a predetermined area to be extracted from the original image read in the original reading step, based on the deviation or distortion and the control information in the barcode of the specific format extracted in the barcode extraction step. An image correction method, which comprises: 4. The barcode of the specific format also records control information of image processing for a predetermined area, and a predetermined area extraction step of extracting the predetermined area corrected in the correction step, and extraction in the predetermined area extraction step. For the specified area,
The image correction method according to claim 3, further comprising an image processing step of performing image processing according to the control information based on the barcode. 5. The image correction method according to claim 3, wherein the coordinates of the position correction mark in the bar code are relative coordinates from a predetermined reference position in the bar code. . 6. The image correction method according to claim 5, wherein the barcode includes information regarding a coordinate system of relative coordinates. 7. The image correction method according to claim 3, wherein the bar code includes information regarding the number, shape, or color of marks for position correction. 8. An image correction device for correcting a document read image based on a position correction mark printed on a document and a barcode of a specific format in which control information for extracting a predetermined area of the document is recorded. An original reading unit for reading an original, a barcode extracting unit for extracting a barcode from the original read by the original reading unit, and a barcode extracted by the barcode extracting unit is a barcode of a specific format. Bar code format determining means for determining whether or not there is, and when the bar code format determining means determines that the barcode is a specific format, the coordinates of the mark for position correction read from the barcode Based on the reading means, the coordinates of the mark read by the mark coordinate reading means, and the position of the corresponding mark on the document image read by the document reading means. A deviation distortion calculating means for calculating a deviation or distortion of the original image read by the original reading means, and a deviation or distortion of the original image calculated by the deviation distortion calculating means and the bar code extracting means. A correction unit that corrects a deviation or distortion of a predetermined area to be extracted from the document image read by the document reading unit based on control information in a barcode of a specific format. Image correction device. 9. The bar code of the specific format also records image processing control information for a predetermined area, and the predetermined area extraction means extracts the predetermined area corrected by the correction means, and the predetermined area extraction means extracts the predetermined area. 9. The image correction apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: an image processing unit that performs image processing on the predetermined region that has been created according to the control information based on the barcode. 10. The image correction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the coordinates of the position correction mark in the bar code are relative coordinates from a predetermined reference position in the bar code. . 11. The image correction apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the barcode includes information regarding a coordinate system of relative coordinates. 12. The image correction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the bar code includes information regarding the number, shape, or color of marks for position correction.