JP2004258724A - Document creation support device and method, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To recognize layouts of a document or the like electronically read in by a reader, identify and capture constituent elements such as characters and images included in the document, and to convert each constituent element into a data format representative of the layouts. <P>SOLUTION: A document creation support device 10 is connectable to a reader 21 for scanning a document 22 with recorded document information including character areas and/or image areas to electronically read the document information as image data, and has an image inputting means 10a, layout recognizing means 10d, and data format converting means 10f. The document creation support device 10, when receiving an input of document information read by the reader 21, recognizes layouts of character areas and/or image areas constituting the input document information and converts the document information into a data format representative of the layouts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a document creation support apparatus, a method, a program, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to a document creation support apparatus, a method, a program, and a recording medium that use a layout recognition technique suitable for a computer system or the like. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
By editing various documents on paper as image data, editing to make it easier to edit on a computer can be done conventionally by cutting and pasting multiple documents on paper and creating a new document. Various technologies have been developed. A technique for recognizing a layout for each component of a document is known as a technique for making such editing work easy and efficient.
Document editing work based on information on layout components obtained by the layout recognition technology, in particular various editing work such as enlargement / reduction of table area, content change, partial selection, etc. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-163,087 discloses a device that can be easily and quickly performed by significantly reducing the operation burden on a user.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2001-274981
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Here, when converting image data captured by a scanner or the like into a data format of another application and using the data, layout information of each element of characters and images constituting the image data is not held between applications. After the data conversion, the user has to manually re-layout the data, which requires a lot of time for document creation. Also, when creating a catalog or the like, if an existing catalog form can be directly taken in as image data and edited on a desired application such as, for example, Microsoft Word (R) or PowerPoint (R), Catalogs and pamphlets can be created quickly and at low cost.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and recognizes a layout of a document or the like read by a reading device such as a scanner, and identifies components such as characters and images included in the document. A document creation support apparatus, method, program, and recording that converts captured components into a data format representing the layout, and enables reproduction and editing of the components on an application corresponding to the data format. It is intended to provide a medium.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is connectable to a reading device that scans a sheet of paper on which document information including a character area and / or an image area is recorded and electronically reads the document information as image data. Input receiving means for receiving an input of the document information read by the computer, layout recognizing means for recognizing a layout of a character area and / or an image area constituting the input document information, and a data format expressing the recognized layout. Data format conversion means for converting document information.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage unit storing document information including a character area and / or an image area, and selecting desired document information from the stored document information, and forming a character string constituting the selected document information. It is characterized by having layout recognition means for recognizing the layout of an area and / or image area, and data format conversion means for converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the document creation support device according to the first or second aspect, the layout recognizing unit specifies a range for recognizing a layout with respect to the document information displayed on the screen. When the classified region is a character region, any one of the position, length, height, direction, and inclination of the character region is recognized. Recognizing a plurality of objects and, when the classified area is an image area, acquiring layout information of the image area or the character area by recognizing any one of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, and inclinations of the image area. It is characterized by.
[0009]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, when the layout recognizing means recognizes the layout of the entire document information displayed on the screen, an area corresponding to a component included in the entire document information Is recognized as an image or a character, and when the classified area is a character area, any one of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, directions, and inclinations of the character area is recognized, and the classified area is In the case of an image region, layout information of the image region or the character region is obtained by recognizing any one of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, and inclinations of the image region.
[0010]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the layout recognizing means determines a layout of an image area and / or a text area included in the entire document information or in a range specified in the document information. As a result of the recognition, an area frame corresponding to each of the recognized image area or the character area is displayed on the screen, and layout information corresponding to the area frame can be displayed on the same screen as the recognition result. It is what it was.
[0011]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, a line is included as the component, and the color of the area display can be set according to each of the image area, the character area, and the straight area. Things.
[0012]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the layout recognizing means determines the layout of the image area and / or the character area included in the entire document information or a range specified in the document information. At the time of recognition, when the number of pixels in the region to be recognized is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the number of pixels is reduced to a predetermined number of pixels or less, and the layout is recognized.
[0013]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the layout recognizing means determines a layout of an image area and / or a character area included in the entire document information or a range specified in the document information. As a result of the recognition, an area ratio of the document information to the paper size is calculated in each of the image area and the character area of the recognition result, and the data format conversion unit converts the recognition result recognized by the layout recognition unit into data of a predetermined application. When converting to a format, a paper format including at least a paper size and a paper orientation to be used in the application is specified, and the size of the image area and / or the text area with respect to the specified paper format is set to the calculated area ratio. And adjusting the size-adjusted image area and / or character area based on the layout of the recognition result. It is obtained by and displaying by converting the data format to represent.
[0014]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the eighth aspect, when the data format conversion means replaces a data format and lays out a component laid out with another component, an area of the laid out component is stored in the area of the laid out component. It is characterized in that the area size of the other components can be adjusted and replaced accordingly.
[0015]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document creation support device connected to a reading device that scans a sheet of paper on which document information including a character area and / or an image area is recorded and electronically reads the document information as image data. In a document creation supporting method for assisting document creation by using an input receiving step of receiving input of document information read by the reading device, a layout of an image area and / or a character area constituting the input document information is set. The method includes a layout recognition step for recognizing, and a data format conversion step for converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout.
[0016]
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the document creation support method for supporting document creation, desired document information is selected from storage means for storing document information including a character area and / or an image area, and the selected document information is selected. A layout recognition step of recognizing a layout of an image area and / or a text area constituting the document information; and a data format conversion step of converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout. Things.
[0017]
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-implemented method for causing a computer to execute the function as the document creation support device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects. Is a program to be executed.
[0018]
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to the twelfth aspect.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal connection state of a document creation support device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 10 denotes a document creation support device, and the document creation support device 10 includes a CPU 11 and a memory. 12, a bus 13, a storage device 14, an input device 15, a display device 16, a recording medium 17, a recording medium reading device 18, a network 19, and a communication interface (communication I / F) 20. As shown in FIG. 1, the document creation support device 10 is a computer such as a PC (personal computer), for example, and performs a variety of calculations to centrally control each unit of the document creation support device 10, and various ROMs and A memory 12 composed of a RAM is connected by a bus 13.
[0020]
The bus 13 includes, via a predetermined interface, a storage device 14 such as a hard disk, an input device 15 such as a mouse and a keyboard, a display device 16 such as an LCD and a CRT, and a recording medium 17 such as an optical disk. And a predetermined communication I / F 20 for communicating with a network 19 such as the Internet. As the recording medium 17, various types of media such as an optical disk such as a CD (including a CD-ROM, a CD-RW, and a CD-R) and a DVD, a magneto-optical disk, a flexible disk, and various memory cards are used. be able to. As the recording medium reading device 18, specifically, an optical disk drive, a magneto-optical disk drive, a flexible disk drive, a memory card drive, or the like is used according to the type of the recording medium 17.
[0021]
The storage device 14 stores a document creation support program for executing the function as the document creation support device 10 of the present invention. This document creation support program is installed in the storage device 14 by reading from the recording medium 17 by the recording medium reading device 18 or by downloading from the network 19 such as the Internet. With this installation, the document creation support device 10 becomes operable. Note that this document creation support program may operate on a predetermined OS. Further, it may be a part of specific application software. As described above, the present invention can take the form of a program for causing a computer to execute the function of the document creation support apparatus 10, or the form of a recording medium on which the program is recorded.
[0022]
The document creation support program recognizes the layout of a document or the like read by a reading device such as a scanner, identifies and captures each component such as characters and images included in the document, and stores the captured component in the document. The layout is converted into a data format expressing the layout, and each component can be reproduced and edited on an application corresponding to the converted data format. That is, the document creation support program is linked to various applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, business card creation, catalog creation, and the like. Is reproduced as it is with the layout of the original, and editing can be performed. Thus, the user can quickly and inexpensively create various documents such as catalogs and pamphlets and business cards.
[0023]
Here, layout recognition refers to extracting a title or a paragraph of a sentence, a figure, a table, an image (including a photograph) from a document or image data in a unit that can be regarded as a unit, and the position and size thereof. , The type of each component (for example, a character or an image) is recognized, and related information is extracted. This can be realized by a known technique. For example, if the constituent element is a sentence portion, the position, length (width), height, direction, inclination, position of each character included in the line, size, etc. of each line constituting the sentence are also included. Is an image, the position, length (width), height, inclination, etc. of each image are included.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of the document creation support device 10 of the present invention. The document creation support device 10 includes an image input unit 10a, a display unit 10b, an operation input unit 10c, a layout recognition unit 10d, It has a correction unit 10e, a data format conversion unit 10f, and a storage unit 10g, and can be connected to a reading device 21 such as a scanner. The reading device 21 scans a document 22 on which document information including characters or images is recorded, and electronically reads the document information as image data.
[0025]
The image input unit 10a receives an input of document information (the document information includes an image region and / or a character region) read by the reading device 21 connected to the document creation support device 10. The layout recognizing unit 10d recognizes a layout of an image region and / or a character region constituting the document information received by the image input unit 10a. The recognition result including the layout information of each of these components is stored in the storage unit 10g.
[0026]
The correcting unit 10e corrects the result recognized by the layout recognizing unit 10d, and has a function of deleting some or all unnecessary results due to erroneous recognition, and changing or adding a recognition area. If the orientation of the read image is incorrect, the image has a function of inverting or rotating the image to correct the image or changing the number of pixels.
[0027]
The data format conversion unit 10f converts the document information into a data format representing the layout recognized by the layout recognition unit 10d. Thereby, for example, on various applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, business card creation, catalog creation, etc., the components such as the image area or the text area included in the document 22 are reproduced as the layout of the document 22 or similar. And edit it.
[0028]
Here, as another embodiment, the layout recognizing unit 10d outputs desired document data from the document data stored in the storage unit 10g in addition to the image area and / or character area data read by the reading device 21. The layout of the image area or character area data constituting the selected document data may be recognized. As a reading target, for example, in addition to reading a printed material such as a catalog or a pamphlet or a business card by the reading device 21, if an existing catalog image or a pamphlet image is stored in the storage unit 10g, it is directly stored. Image data and the like can be read from the unit 10g.
[0029]
Hereinafter, each means of the document creation support device 10 of the present invention will be described in detail.
First, various settings are made before the layout is recognized. The layout recognizing unit 10d specifies a range for recognizing the layout of the document information displayed on the screen. However, it is not necessary to specify the range when recognizing the entire document information. The range can be arbitrarily specified by the user, and can be specified by dragging an arbitrary range of the document information displayed on the screen with an input unit such as a mouse. At this time, the designated range is surrounded by a dotted line on the screen. In this manner, the area corresponding to the component included in the specified range is classified and recognized as an image area or a character area. When the classified area is a character area, the position, length, and height of the character area are determined. , Direction, or inclination, and when the classified area is an image area, the image area or character area is recognized by recognizing any one or more of the position, length, height, and inclination of the image area. Get layout information of Also, this component may include a straight line.
[0030]
Here, when recognizing an image area or a character area, for example, an image area or an image area including a photograph is recognized as an image file, and a character area is recognized as OCR (Optical Character Reader) recognized cell data. The result is displayed on the screen together with the layout information. By performing the OCR process in this manner, the image region and the character region can be classified. Here, the image in the recognized image area can be trimmed and stored as an image file. As a storage method, for example, there is a method of individually storing images selected on the recognition result display screen, a method of collectively storing all images on the recognition result display screen, and the like. Also, characters in the character area can be stored in the same manner.
[0031]
The layout recognizing unit 10d recognizes the layout of the image area and / or the character area included in the entire document information or the range specified in the document information, and forms an area frame corresponding to the recognized image area and / or character area. In addition to displaying on the screen, layout information corresponding to the area frame can be displayed on the same screen as a recognition result. In this case, the color of the area display, that is, the color of the area frame or the color of the area in the area frame may be set according to each of the components of the image area, the character area, and the straight line area. It becomes easy to distinguish the color of the image from the color of the area display.
[0032]
When recognizing the layout of the image area and / or the text area included in the entire document information or in the range specified in the document information, the layout recognizing unit 10d determines whether the number of pixels in the recognized area is equal to or larger than a predetermined value. The layout can be recognized by reducing the number of pixels to a predetermined number of pixels or less, and the time required for recognition can be reduced. Of course, it is also possible to recognize the number of pixels as it is. In this case, although processing time is required, high-resolution area recognition is possible.
[0033]
The layout recognizing unit 10d recognizes the layout of the image area and / or the character area included in the entire document information or the range specified in the document information. Calculate the area ratio to the paper size. Specifically, for example, when the paper size is A4, the area ratio of the image area or the character area to the A4 size is calculated (for example, 10% with respect to the A4 size). At this time, since the size (length × height) of the image region and / or the character region is known when the layout is recognized, the area ratio can be calculated based on the size of the recognized region. .
[0034]
When converting the recognition result recognized by the layout recognizing unit 10d into a data format of a predetermined application, the data format conversion unit 10f specifies a paper format including at least a paper size and a paper orientation used by the application. Further, the size of the image region and / or the character region with respect to the specified paper format is adjusted based on the calculated area ratio, and the size-adjusted image region and / or the character region are converted to the image region and / or the recognition result. Convert to a data format that represents the layout of the character area and display it. Specifically, for example, when the image area and / or character area of the recognition result has an area ratio of 10% of the A4 size and the specified paper size is the B5 size, the size of the B5 size is 10%. First, the image area and / or the character area are automatically adjusted. At this time, since the length (width) and the height (length and width) of the image area and / or the character area are adjusted at the same ratio, the layout can be reproduced in a similar form even in different paper sizes. . As for the layout position, the layout position after the data conversion can be determined by adjusting the position of the above-described layout information according to the scaling ratio of A4 → B5.
[0035]
Further, regarding the size adjustment at the time of the data format conversion, for example, the length (width) and height (length and width) of the image area and / or the character area, that is, the area, according to the scaling ratio of A4 → B5 May be adjusted according to the magnification. Also in this case, the layout position can be determined after the data conversion by adjusting the position of the layout information described above according to the scaling ratio of A4 → B5. According to this method, the same conversion result as described above can be obtained.
[0036]
Further, the document creation support device 10 adjusts the area size of another component according to the area of the component with respect to the component laid out by converting the data format by the data format conversion unit 10f, The layout can be replaced as it is. Since the user can arbitrarily replace and edit each component, a user original document can be easily created, and the size and layout can be appropriately adjusted by the user.
[0037]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a document creation support method to which the present invention is applied. This example will be described based on the device configuration shown in FIG. First, in step S1, a process of reading document information including an image area and / or a text area is selected (hereinafter, a process is represented by an image area). At this time, the user selects whether the reading destination is the externally connected reading device 21 or the storage unit 10g of the document creation support device 10 (step S2), and selects the storage unit 10g (the storage in the figure). ), Desired image data is read from the image data already stored in the storage unit 10g (step S3). When the reading device 21 is selected in step S2 (in the case of the reading device in the figure), the document 22 is read using the reading device 21 (in this example, a scanner) (step S4).
[0038]
After the reading process in step S3 or S4, the read image data is displayed on the screen (step S5), and the layout of the displayed image data is recognized (step S6). This layout recognition is performed by the method described above. Next, the recognition result obtained by recognizing the layout is corrected (step S7), and the recognition result is converted into the data format of the designated application while keeping the original layout (the layout of the document 22) (step S8). Next, the user displays and saves the converted image data on the specified application (step S9).
[0039]
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the document creation support method to which the present invention is applied, and is a sub-flow describing the process of step S6 shown in FIG.
First, in step S11, a process for recognizing the layout of the image data displayed on the screen is selected. At this time, the user selects whether the range to be recognized is the entire document 22 or the portion of the document 22 (step S12). If the portion to be recognized is the portion of the document 22 (in the case of the portion in the drawing), the portion to be recognized on the screen is set to the range. Specify (step S13). If it is determined in step S12 that the document 22 is the entire document (in the figure, the entire document), the process proceeds to step S14. Next, in step S14, the recognition level of the image data is set. The recognition level includes, for example, a direction (in the case of a character) for recognizing a component of image data, a setting of a binary image level, and the like. Next, the image data in the range (or the whole) specified in the document 22 is recognized, and the layout information is displayed on the screen for each component (step S15).
[0040]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image data selection screen displayed in a step of reading image data from the reading device 21 or the storage unit 10g. In this example, the image data stored in the storage unit 10g is displayed as thumbnails, and the user can select desired image data from the thumbnails. Here, it is assumed that the image data 31 has been selected. The document 22 may be read by the reading device 21 as image data.
[0041]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of image data selected in the step of reading an image from the reading device 21 or the storage unit 10g. In this example, the selected image (here, the image data 31) is displayed on the left side of the screen, and the result of layout recognition is displayed as the recognition result 32 on the right side of the screen. Here, since the layout recognition is not performed, it is blank.
[0042]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed in the layout recognition step. In FIG. 7A, the user specifies a range to be laid out in the image data 31 by dragging with a mouse or the like (in FIG. 7A, a portion surrounded by a dotted line is a specified range). At this time, when recognizing the entire image data 31, it is not necessary to specify the range. Further, the result of layout recognition after the range is specified is shown as a recognition result 32. As shown in FIG. 7A, attributes (image, character, straight line), data (image data, character data, straight line data), character direction (vertical writing or horizontal writing), and Layout information including a left position, an upper position from the top edge of the sheet, a width (length), and a height is displayed.
[0043]
Also, as shown in FIG. 7B, as a result of the area recognition, the image data 31 displays the area frames 31a, 31b, 31c,... 31a, 31b, 31c,... Correspond to the results of the recognition result 32 on the right side of the screen, respectively.
[0044]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed in the step of correcting the recognition result.
This example shows the switching of the screen display in the step of correcting the recognition result. Examples of the display method include “image + area display”, “image display”, and “area display”. Can be switched according to FIG. 8A is a screen display example when “image + area display” is selected, and is displayed in a state where the recognition area (area frame 31b) overlaps the image 31d. The same applies to the area frames 31a and 31c, which are displayed overlapping the characters and / or images. FIG. 8B is a screen display example when “image display” is selected, in which only the image 31d is displayed without displaying the recognition area (area frame 31b). Note that the same applies to the region frames 31a and 31c, which are not displayed on the characters and / or images, and only the characters and / or images are displayed on the screen. FIG. 8C is a screen display example when “region display” is selected, in which only the recognition region (region frame 31b) is displayed without displaying the image 31d. Note that the same applies to the region frames 31a and 31c, in which characters and / or images are not displayed, and only the region frames 31a and 31c are displayed on the screen.
[0045]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen in which another application is activated and image data 31 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 9A, a page setting screen is displayed when another application is activated. Here, A4 is specified for the paper size, and the paper orientation is set to portrait. As shown in FIG. 9B, the image data 31 is displayed on a desired application under the conditions specified on the page setting screen shown in FIG. 9A. As described above, the layout of the image data 31 is displayed in the same state as the layout of the image data 31 shown in FIG. 6, that is, the same layout as the state in which the image data 31 is loaded into the document creation support device 10.
[0046]
As described above, each embodiment has been mainly described with respect to each function in the document creation support apparatus of the present invention. However, the present invention is applied as a document creation support method as described as a method of executing each step in the document creation support apparatus. The form can be taken. Further, similarly to the document creation support device having these functions, a form for causing a computer to function as the document creation support device may be used, and a form of a recording medium on which the program is recorded may be used.
[0047]
An embodiment of a recording medium storing a program and data for realizing a document creation support function according to the present invention will be described. Specific examples of the recording medium include a CD-ROM (-R / -RW), a magneto-optical disk, a DVD-ROM, an FD, a flash memory, a memory card, a memory stick, and various other ROMs and RAMs. By causing a computer to execute the functions of the above-described apparatuses of the embodiments of the present invention on these recording media and recording and distributing a program for realizing a document creation support function, it is easy to realize the functions. I do. Then, the program is read by the information processing apparatus by mounting the recording medium as described above on an information processing apparatus such as a computer, or the program is stored in a storage medium provided in the information processing apparatus, and if necessary, By reading, the function of document creation support according to the present invention can be executed.
[0048]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, a layout of a document or the like read by a reading device such as a scanner is recognized, and components such as characters and images included in the document are identified and captured, and the layout of each of the captured components is expressed. The data format can be converted into a data format to be reproduced, and each component can be reproduced and edited on an application corresponding to the converted data format. This also allows the user to easily and quickly create documents such as catalogs and pamphlets, business cards, and the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an internal connection state of a document creation support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a document creation support device according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a document creation support method to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the document creation support method to which the present invention is applied, and is a sub-flow describing the process of step S6 shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image data selection screen displayed in a step of reading image data from a reading device or a storage unit.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of image data selected in a step of reading an image from a reading device or a storage unit.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed in a layout recognition step.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed in a step of correcting a recognition result.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen on which image data is displayed by activating another application.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Document creation support apparatus, 10a ... Image input means, 10b ... Display means, 10c ... Operation input means, 10d ... Layout recognition means, 10e ... Correction means, 10f ... Data format conversion means, 10g ... Storage part, 11 ... CPU , 12 memory, 13 bus, 14 storage device, 15 input device, 16 display device, 17 recording medium, 18 recording medium reading device, 19 network, 20 communication I / F, 21 reading Apparatus, 22 original, 31 image data, 31a, 31b, 31c area frame, 31d image, 32 recognition result.

Claims (13)

It can be connected to a reading device that scans a sheet of paper on which document information including a character area and / or an image area is recorded and electronically reads the document information as image data, and inputs the document information read by the reading device. Input receiving means for receiving the input document information, layout recognizing means for recognizing a layout of a character area and / or an image area constituting the input document information, and a data format for converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout A document creation support device comprising a conversion unit. A storage unit for storing document information including a character area and / or an image area; and selecting desired document information from the stored document information, and selecting a character area and / or an image area constituting the selected document information. A document creation support device comprising: a layout recognizing means for recognizing a layout; and a data format converting means for converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout. 3. The document creation support device according to claim 1, wherein the layout recognizing means specifies a range for recognizing a layout with respect to the document information displayed on the screen, and designates a component included in the specified range. The corresponding area is classified into an image or a character and recognized. If the classified area is a character area, any one of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, directions, and inclinations of the character area is recognized, and the classification is performed. Document creation support, characterized in that when the extracted area is an image area, layout information of the image area or character area is acquired by recognizing any one of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, and inclinations of the image area. apparatus. 3. The document creation support device according to claim 1, wherein when the layout recognition unit performs layout recognition of the entire document information displayed on the screen, an area corresponding to a component included in the entire document information is imaged. 4. Or, if the classified area is a character area, and if the classified area is a character area, any of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, directions, and inclinations of the character area is recognized, and the classified area is an image area. In the case of (1), a document creation support device that acquires layout information of the image region or the character region by recognizing any one of a plurality of positions, lengths, heights, and inclinations of the image region. 5. The document creation support device according to claim 1, wherein the layout recognition unit recognizes a layout of an image area and / or a text area included in the entire document information or a range specified in the document information. As a result, an area frame corresponding to each of the recognized image area or character area is displayed on a screen, and layout information corresponding to the area frame can be displayed on the same screen as a recognition result. Document creation support device. 6. The document creation support device according to claim 5, wherein a straight line is included as the constituent element, and a color of an area display can be set according to each of the image area, the character area, and the straight line area. Support equipment. 7. The document creation support device according to claim 1, wherein the layout recognizing unit recognizes a layout of an image area and / or a character area included in the entire document information or a range specified in the document information. In this case, when the number of pixels in the region to be recognized is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the layout is recognized by reducing the number of pixels to a predetermined number of pixels or less. 8. The document creation support device according to claim 1, wherein the layout recognition unit recognizes a layout of an image area and / or a text area included in the entire document information or a range specified in the document information. As a result, the area ratio of the document information to the paper size is calculated in each of the image area and the character area of the recognition result, and the data format conversion unit converts the recognition result recognized by the layout recognition unit into a data format of a predetermined application. At the time of conversion, a paper format including at least a paper size and a paper orientation to be used in the application is designated, and the size of the image area and / or the text area with respect to the designated paper format is determined based on the calculated area ratio. And adjusting the size-adjusted image area and / or character area to a layout of the recognition result. Document creation support apparatus and displaying by converting the data format to represent. 9. The document creation support device according to claim 8, wherein when the data format conversion unit converts a data format and replaces a component laid out with another component, the component is laid out according to an area of the laid out component. A document creation support device wherein the area size of the other component can be adjusted and replaced. Document creation is supported using a document creation support device connected to a reading device that scans a sheet of paper on which document information including a character area and / or an image area is recorded and electronically reads the document information as image data. An input receiving step of receiving input of document information read by the reading device, a layout recognizing step of recognizing a layout of an image area and / or a character area constituting the input document information, A data format conversion step of converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout. In a document creation supporting method for supporting document creation, desired document information is selected from storage means storing document information including a character area and / or an image area, and an image area constituting the selected document information is selected. And / or a data format conversion step of converting the document information into a data format expressing the recognized layout. A program for causing a computer to execute the function as the document creation support device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or for causing a computer to execute the document creation support method according to claim 10 or 11. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 12 is recorded.

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